Hamlet and Grief

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The Handling of Grief in Hamlet An ever present feeling in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is grief. Brought about by many different character’s deaths, grief is an emotion that turns toxic to the characters who struggle with it the most in Hamlet. According to dictionary.com, grief is defined as keen mental suffering or distress over affliction or loss; sharp sorrow; painful regret. With the untimely deaths of people close to the hearts of the play’s main characters, as readers we observe how they deal with grief in their own way. The play’s main protagonist Hamlet lets his grief over his father’s murder fuel his thirst for revenge, Ophelia lets the grief over the murder of her father Polonius drive her to apparent suicide, and Ophelia’s brother Laertes is pushed to conspire with Claudius to kill Hamlet as a result of his grief. Grief might as well be its own character in Hamlet because if it was it would always be center stage. The grief present in Hamlet comes in many different shapes and forms. Even for life today, until people learn how to deal with grief it will become an inherent part of a person’s character. It is interesting to note how Shakespeare portrays his male and female characters ability to handle grief. While the men (Hamlet, Laertes) are driven to irrational action/behavior, the woman Ophelia lets the weight of grief crush her. Perhaps Shakespeare is trying to display how men are better able to bear the “tough” things in life while women need to be sheltered and supported through any hardships. The character’s reactions to Ophelia’s suicide are also telling of what Shakespeare thought of women and the omnipresent idea of suicide prevalent in a number Shakespeare’s works. The question Hamlet ponders throughout the play is the value of living out a life. When grief is everywhere, where are the characters suppose to go to escape it?

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