Death and Mortality

Death and Mortality

1. Hamlet's ideas of death become more and real and personal and develop

   • ‘Infinite jest, of most excellent fancy’
     • infinite and ‘excellent’- Very hyperbolic language- The concept of death suddenly becomes much more personal- Alas poor Yorick’ - More dramatic as seen as emodiment of joy. In a sense he has become he court jester, as throughout the play he makes many jokes- the shared role perhaps makes him realise he also shares the same fate.
   • ‘My gorge rises at it’
     • Disusted and horrified that someone he had so much physical contact with has now been reduced to a lifeless object- - shows some fear to death in general-face to face- literally- realisation of the actuality of death
   • ‘Your gambols, your songs, your flashes of merriment’ Listing
     • Listing- describes yorick as the embodiment of joy and happiness- Idea he is mourning what is lost- and by describing it h mourns it too.- better understanding of his grief-
   • ‘Let her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must come’
     • Doesn’t matter what face she paints- this is how she will end up- in the end we are all equal- bitterness towards Gertrude – provides a stark contrast to joy. Imperatives like ‘GET to my Lady’s table and MAKE’ show this anger- Idea he hself s now angry at what has happened- not just reciprocating his fathers anger out of loyalty. – Also links again to his mysogyniatic attack on women- and his feelings about cosmetics
   • Hamlet is fascinated by the morbid reflections on bodily decay after death.
     • When revealing where Polonius's body is hidden he says "at supper. Not where he eats but where a is eaten" -Gruesome imagery is used by Shakespeare
       • Elizabethan society appeared to have a curious outlook towards death -public executions and corpses on display were frequent, as well as the very high mortality rates
       • For Hamlet "Death is mere negation; but at the same time, he is fascinated by the whole process of earthly corruption." L.C. Knights

2. When we first see Hamlet afterPs murder- not reflective or sensitive to his antics- rather he is more preoccupied with his own selfish endeavours- almost making him an incomplete hero.

   • 'Compund it with dust, whereto tis kin'
     • His ambiguity woith everything he says- especially when trying to find P's body- is surprisingly dismissive of the dead- shows a disrespect to Christian beliefs on burial. Perhaps he feels he is now above God's law. or his desire for revenge has taken over him. Fact that his speech is also in prose- in 4.2 adds to this disarray and links to the lack of control he now has on his overwhelming emotions.
     • His language, referring to the body as an 'it' suggests he is not only comfortable with what he did but willing to find amusement in it. - Does this make hims slightly hypocritical as he had jsut murdered someone despite his anger and losing himself.
   • 'not where he eats but where he is 'a eaten' (4.3)
     • Such a graphic description of P's body makes H and Claudius feel uncomfortable- no qualms about using his dead body to do it . Speaks in prose throughout this convo showing he has no restraint- and denying the king any satisfaction of being spoken to respectfully
     • The eccentricity of Hmalets behaviour mimics his emotion ofter the 'mousetrap and the appearance of the ghost- lends the scene a drakly comic tone. Acts to lighten the moosd after the strain scene of Hamlet and Gerrude in the closet and tense convo between King and Queen. Hamlet's satirical mood is a devlopment to his flippant attitude to P's death. He riddles R G with hostile contempt and send them on a wildgoose chase
   • We see another father has been murdered and so by default will compare the childrens reactions to Hamlets. Shakespeare develops Polonius’ children as stylised foils to two aspects of the Princes behaviour- Where Hamlet was overcome with melancholy and contemplated suicide- Ophelia goes mad and kills herself. Where Hamlet was commanded by the ghost to take revenge – Laertes plays the conventional revenge hero- free from all ethical scruples which could complicate this role. The naeivity and simplicity of Polonius; children’s behaviour brings out the complexity of Hamlet’s.

3. Hamlet chooses salvation of people over unecessary death. His ideas of death develop.

   • 'twenty thousand souls and twenty thousand ducats
     • Hyperbollic anger that so much blood will be spilt for a little plot of land that 'hath in it no profit but the name. Hamlet confirms that too much wealth and peace lead to war and trouble- dark outlook as though nothing stays peaceful. Links Fortinbras' actions as yet another disease in the world.
   • ‘That might be the pate of a politician… Or of a courtier’
     • Hamlet recognises how death reverses social order- enters into reflectiveness- Everyone meets the same end- death becomes less of an idea and philosophical matter and moe real for him.
     • The fact that all the skulls are treated the same shows that everyone is equal in the end. Throughout the play he has been more concerned with the spiritual side of death- this scene allows him to develop the physical side- realising everyone turns to 'dust' even 'Alexander'
   • Aexander looked o’this fashion I’th’ ‘earth?
     • to Alexander the Great- Idea someone so great could amount to something so insignificant- -Speaks in prose throughout this scene- fits with theme- ery close to him- not trying to separate himself through language.
     • One of the most significant scenes displaying Hamlet's fascination with death was in the Graveyard when he finds Yorick's skull. He questions the purpose of mortality if we are to die after what we've done in life
   • Alexader died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth to dust’
     • Listing in this manner shows it is a natural unavoidable process -Idea warriors far greater than his father are really gone- appreaciates their insignificance- Marks a release from the obligation to that ‘warrior’ he compared to god at the beginning of the play.

4. Such is a common theme in a revenge tragedy- Shakespeare involse two revenge tragedies encouraging us to compare our heroes(4.5)

   • 2nd Revenge tragedy-allowing us to counterpoint the language, values, behaviour of Hamlet and Laertes- the revenge heroes. The two heroes’ collisions in Act V represent Shakespeares critique of the inherited Revenge tragedy formula. He transforms a confused set of conventions into a challenging Drama. -Almost a parody exposition
   • ‘Forty thousand brothers / Could not with all ther quantity of love /Make up my sum’
     • Hyperbollic- whole confrontation introduces tension between H and L- Ophelias death angers them both. Idea his grief cannot match hamlet’s true affections.
   • Woul’t weep, woul’t fight, woul’t fast, woul’t drink up eisel’
     • Such strong claims- I’ll do’t’ – Contrast to way he acted to her vs decleration of love.

5. GRAVEDIGGERS

   • ‘If this had not been a gentlewoman she should have been buried outside a Christian burial’
     • Important ideas about the class system- links to abuse of power- and double standards- also relates to Ophelias death being suicide- contrary to how Gertrude described it.
   • ‘the houses he makes last till doomsday’
     • Represented ordinary folks. - constant contact with death- real sense of reality- everyman figure- Gravedigger- is relatable -colloquial prose of the first half of the scene provides a welcome change of tone and pace- the humour is profoundly serious as well as funny- represent a different way of exploring the themes of suicide, appearance vs reality, fame and thining- which utol now have been the subjext of a very sophisticated debate
   • that day when our last King Hamlet o’ercame Fortinbras’
     • Hamlet was born- He has buried Yorick- Ophelia and will berry the K, Q, H- idea he has outlived all of them- shown to be an immprtal presence—sings about the stages of human life that lead everyone into his rough indiscriminate care. – Refers familiarly to Adam and the Day judgement as if he was around since the beginning of time and will be around till the last trumpet is blown- idea death will always be.
     • Gravedigger outlives all the high-born characters he serves. Against perspective of death all the claims to superiority through hierarchy are nullified- economic/politacl and moral systems become the objects of laughter- in the GD view- doomsday corresponds to the overthrow of social inequality
   • 'for none neither'
     • Claims he is digging no human's rave- makes an important point about death- rank/material posessions do not matter- weall end up in the same place.

6. Hamlet's comparison of death to an "undiscovered country from which no traveller returns," may be reflective of the attitude taken towards death by Elizabethan societies. Mortality was not understood by audiences or Hamlet, explaining Hamlet's fear about what happens after death

   • The "undiscovered country"
     • Reflects the scepticism over life after death and presents Hamlet's curiosity about death and mortality. Death creates and pushes the plot of the play, with Old Hamlet's death being the motivation for Hamlet to seek his revenge and kill Claudius
       • Fintan O'Toole argued that "Hamlet is a play about death. Or rather, it is a play about the survival of the individual in the face of death

7. Ghost

   • First introduction to mortality as a theme is through Old Hamlet/Ghost. Due to his "unnatural death" he cannot pass peacefully through into the afterlife
     • In order to pass into the afterlife from what appears to be the "sulphurous and tormenting flames" of hell, the Ghost must use Hamlet to complete his unfinished business
     • The ghost's death initiates the plot of Hamlet, revealing that he was "stung" by a "serpent." One of the most prevalent themes in the play, death, begins with the Ghost.
     • Due to his unexpected death, the King does not have the chance to confess his sins' necessity in Elizabethan religion. This explains why the Ghost is "confined to fast in fires" as he was not pardoned before death.
     • Catholics may see the ghost as an evil agent, whereas Protestants may view the Ghost in purgatory while he has unfinished business. Depending on their religion, the audience may be deciding whether they trust the words of the Ghost

8. Hamlet appears conflicted over his own mortality, questioning whether to commit suicide throughout

   • In Shakespeare's infamous soliloquy "to be or not to be", Hamlet reveals his conflicting and emotion, of "whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer," rather than end his life. His mind "is sicklied over with the pale cast of thought," making it difficult to act. The use of diseased language, shows his struggle to live.
   • Hamlet appears to wish his "too solid flesh would melt," yet is fearful of dying, acknowledging the "dread of something after death"
     • Unlike Elizabethan society, Hamlet does not appear to have religious objections to suicide but fears what comes after, Shakespeare's society would believe that it is God's choice if you were to live or die, therefore suicide is against God's will
   • "Hamlet is a figure of nihilism and death" -Wilson Knight
     • "An over strong terror of death is often one expression of the fear of living" -T.S. Elliot

9. Suicide can be seen in other forms in the play as well; it is possible to interpret Gertrude and Ophelia's death as a method of taking control of their lives through suicide

   • Shakespeare presents the women in this play in inferior roles, submissive to their male counterparts, yet their deaths seem to contrast this. It may be that by committing suicide they are taking control and exerting power over their own life.
     • Many believe that Gertrude was aware of her actions through her use of imperatives "I will, I pray you pardon me,"
       • She is directly disobeying the King's orders. Many people also believe that Gertude's elaborate description of Ophelia's death is to disguise her suicide
         • Women in Elizabethan society were inferior to men, often acting submissively. Ophelia and Gertrude are reflective of Shakespeare's society. The limited roles of women may be challenged by Gertrude and Ophelia through their possible suicide, acting as an exertion of power
           • "Through madness, the women on stage can suddenly make a forceful exertion of their being" -Maurice Charney