By letting revenge be their top priority, Hamlet and Laertes were blinded by their emotions. Fortinbras, who remains calm throughout the play, is the only one to truly succeed. At the beginning of Hamlet, Hamlet mourns the death of his father and tries to understand why his mother married so quickly, especially with his uncle. He is so disgusted with the immoral state of Denmark that he wishes to die. He even contemplates suicide but his rational mind stops him from doing so.
Antigone is telling Creon that rather than listen to his man made laws that she would rather follow the higher authority of the God’s. This strong willed nature is what ends up leading to Antigone being sentenced to death. When Antigone chooses to hang herself rather than allow Creon to kill her, she further demonstrates her strong willed nature. Antigone’s unnecessary death clearly shows that she is a tragic character. Creon’s tragic flaw is that he is to prideful.
Hamlet continues to say that most of humanity would commit suicide and escape the hardships of life, but do not because they are unsure of what awaits them in the after life. Hamlet throughout the play is continually tormented by his fathers death and his inability to get revenge against Claudius and on several occasions seriously considers suicide, but always ends up backing out because it is a sin forbidden by God. We first see Hamlet contemplate suicide after Claudius and Getrude ask him to stay in Denmark, rather than return to Wittenburg to resume his studies against his wishes. In Hamlet's first soliloquy, Hamlet clearly wants to commit suicide, and wishes that his, “solid flesh would melt,/Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!” (I. ii. 133-134).
Here Hamlet enters with a dilemma: “To be or not to be”. Hamlet outlines a long list of the miseries, and asks who would choose to bear those miseries if he could choose to die. Hamlet goes on to describe miseries, specifically his disgust at his mother’s marriage. He thinks for a while that death may end all the troubles of life. But then he is unsure o the consequences of death.
“To be or not to be, that is the question; whether’ tis nobler in the mind to suffer...” (Shakespeare Act 3, Scene 1). This quotation proves Hamlet becomes inferior to others and the environment through his madness, causing him to express himself explicitly towards others. Hamlet’s madness not only causes his loved ones lives but it allows his “end” to come because he accepts every challenge from his opponent. Hamlet’s madness not only affects him but Ophelia, who is mentally torn apart by Hamlet. Ophelia was once flawless, but since her encounter with Hamlet she has fallen into the same madness and wants to kill herself.
For example, Hamlet, after learning that his father’s death was a murder, wants to be certain that he is being told the truth before taking revenge. Even after confirming that Claudius is the murderer, Hamlet thinks to himself, “And now I’ll do’t…/And so I am revenged,” contemplating whether or not to kill Claudius, and he still is not able to do it (Shakespeare. III. iii. 77-79).
God! How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable, Seem to me all the uses of this world! This is the first time that the reader sees Hamlet’s inner turmoil as he considers committing suicide over the death of his father but decides he cannot, for the consequence would be hell. It is important to note that purgatory and hell are referenced numerous times throughout the play as a consequence for giving into selfish thoughts or actions. In this particular instance however, this soliloquy also lends to the idea that Hamlet is insane due to the passing of his father.
Considering suicide, he doubts himself rationally in the event that it is legitimized to live with so much agony and anguish or if finishing his own particular life is the best conceivable choice. "To be, or not to be: that is the question" Hamlet makes this a stride further and works on the supposition that everybody would rather be dead than living, and is alive simply because he has a trepidation of slaughtering himself. Hamlet is no more addressing whether he needs to die, yet just whether or he finds himself able to slaughter himself, on the grounds that murdering himself clashes with his religion. Hamlet’s sadness over his father's demise and his mother's snappy marriage made him wish for death even before he discovered that his uncle killed his father. In Hamlet's first soliloquy, he wishes that his "too too sullied flesh would melt!
How does Shakespeare attend to the problem of knowledge in Othello? My thesis is that there is an epistemic crisis in Othello. Tragedy is an epistemological problem. It is the outcome of the problem of knowledge. Thesis underlines the notion that the play has an attitude towards the audience.
Furthermore, Shakespeare exhibits how Hamlet chose to devise a plan of acting mad, rather than avenging his father’s death immediately, progressing to his demise. On the other hand, Hamlet questions the appearance of his father: “The spirit that I have seen may be the devil”(II.ii.610,611). Consequently, Shakespeare conveys that Hamlet’s indecisiveness about his father’s murderer necessitates him to procrastinate more, and lead further to his death. However, Hamlet accomplishes the opportunity to murder Claudius, yet believes it is not the right time: “Up, sword, and know thou a more horrid hent”(III.iii.91). In fact, he desires that “...his soul may be damned and black as hell”(III.iii.97).