Hamlets anger, which stems from his mother marrying Claudius, bears him serious thoughts of suicide. This results in an attempt at a religious and moral sin which shows a weakness in his character. Hamlet shows some moral sense when he decides not to kill himself due to religious beliefs, which is a paradox that leads to Hamlet’s downfall. His statement “thy commandment all alone shall live within the book and volume of my brain” (I.V.102-103) establishes his tragic decision to let nothing stand in the way of his vowed revenge assuring the death of Claudius, a longer life span and the immunity of punishment towards his mother. As act III begins, the reader sees Claudius’s plot against Hamlet progress.
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.
Hamlet also expresses the possibilities that the ghost could have been the devil. Although hamlet gets upset with himself he believes that the play he arranged would display Claudius’ guilt and then he will know for sure he killed his father. This reveals to the audience that Hamlet is a procrastinator and he is a coward. In Hamlet’s fifth soliloquy he contemplates the idea of suicide, he suggests that maybe the only reason we choose life is because we know so little about death other than it Is final. After contemplation Hamlet decides not to take his own life.
Hamlet questions whether to take action in avenging his father’s death or to commit suicide in his fourth soliloquy, located in the rising action of the dramatic structure of the play, seen particularly in the lines “puzzles the will/ And makes us rather bear those ills we have/ Than fly to others that we know not of?” Here, Shakespeare foreshadows the recurring theme of Hamlet’s inaction towards avenging his father’s death and uses rhetorical questions to aid in his self-analysis. This is such a controversial part of the play, as many believe that there is more to this speech then just the choice of revenge/suicide. One opinion on this soliloquy is that the contemplation of suicide accentuates the contemplation of what is and what isn’t. The indecision is highlighted within this soliloquy as Hamlet expects nothing less than a sacrifice, believing that he is condemned either way with his struggle of religious code vs honour code, therefore deeming both acts as sinful. This perspective clarifies that to be or not to be is not in fact about suicide but the overall uncertainty of thoughts and actions.
Hamlet assumes these actions from the actor because these are the actions that Hamlet would use to express his feelings. Hamlet then feels that he is not courageous enough to bravely kill Claudius and all he can do is mope. He puts himself at the peak of frustration since he has not accomplished anything yet and begins to doubt his ability to for revenge and calls himself a coward. He says he should have killed Claudius a long time ago. He then comes up with a plan to have the actors put on a play that is similar to the Murder of King Hamlet.
In the play Hamlet, Shakespeare uses the theme of corruption to metaphorically represent the deterioration of each Character’s physiological well being and state of mind when exposed to corruption that ends in death. The theme of corruption plays a role by instating the traits of death and mortality within each of the characters, both by choice and from exterior occurrences. Through the portrayal of Hamlet, a man who is obsessed with death, Shakespeare uses this obsession to explore both Hamlet's desire for revenge and his need for certainty when corruption disrupts the natural balance of order in his kingdom. In the process, Hamlet explores the many hardships that are bestowed upon him in order to reflect on the many characteristics that are associated with the exposure to corruption which lead to mortality. Hamlet becomes obsessed with the idea of death within the play, and as the story unfolds further, he begins to analyze death from multiple perspectives than ever before.
The death of one’s father and a ghostly visitation thereafter are events that would challenge the sanity of anyone. The circumstances of King Hamlet’s death render it especially traumatic. The late King seemed to be an idol to his son; Hamlet looked up to him and aspired to have the same qualities. Hamlet doesn't like King Claudius and sees him as a swindling usurper who has stolen not only the dead King’s throne, but Hamlet’s as well(2.4). Hamlet shows Gertrude that she has lowered her standards by marrying Claudius, When he refers to old Hamlet as, “A combination and a form indeed / Where every god did seem to set his seal” (3.4.55-61).
How does the Ghost persuade Hamlet to accept the role of revenger? Faced by the spirit of the late King and his father, Hamlet feels a sense of duty to avenge his father’s death. Shakespeare’s use of manipulative language encourages the audience to consider the possibility of emotional blackmail acting as the tipping point that convinces Hamlet to take on the role of revenger. In Scene 4 of the first act, when Hamlet has his first encounter with the Ghost, he notes that he “com’st in such a questionable shape”, suggesting a distraught mind. This is reflected in the contrasting lines such as “spirit of health or goblin damned”, implying that Hamlet cannot be sure whose ghost he is facing.
Ideas about death constantly recur in much of the imagery in Hamlet, not only in order to depict the character development and convey Hamlet’s true emotions to the audience, but also to serve as a metaphorical message on a larger scale. For instance, the imagery of death is utilized to help comprehend the depression Hamlet feels in his first soliloquy about suicide: “O that this too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew (Act 1, Scene 2),” followed by his comparison of the world to an unweeded garden. This is the first time that Hamlet unleashes his thoughts on the situation and creates a visualization of death. Hamlet thus communicates with the audience putting strong emphasis on his desire not to exist in this world anymore. An image of Hamlet’s dying body is produced, followed by a picture of a beautiful garden corrupted by disastrous weeds that will destroy the good life.
Prince Hamlet seems keen to avenge his father’s death, but throughout the narrative we see Hamlet hesitate to kill Claudius, he may be finding it hard as Claudius is the King and also a relative. The Ghost says he’s going to suffer in Purgatory until Prince Hamlet avenges his death by killing Claudius, as the way he died he didn’t have a chance to confess his sins, so he would go to heaven. “Doomed for a certain