Hamlet is about a Danish Prince, Hamlet, who is urged by the ghost
of his father to avenge his death. The
ghost reveals to Hamlet that his brother (Hamlet’s uncle), Claudius, poured
poison in his ear to kill him and take the throne. The ghost also wants revenge because King
Claudius plans to take his wife, Queen Gertrude. Moved by this encounter, Hamlet vows to avenge
his father’s death (31). The play itself
is divided into five acts, which trace the path of Hamlet’s eventual revenge
and tragic death.
In Act 1, King
Claudius declares that he will marry Gertrude, despite the recent death of her
husband (10). Following this, Horatio
and Marcellus take Hamlet to see the ghost of his father, where he learns of
Claudius’ deceptions and vows to avenge his father.
In Act 2, Hamlet appears to go mad, so
Claudius and Gertrude get Hamlet’s friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to
uncover the cause of this madness (40-1).
Polonius, King Claudius’ advisor believes that Hamlet’s transformation
is due to his obsessive love of Ophelia, Polonius’ daughter (45). Hamlet admits to his friends that he is
faking his madness, and that he plans to show a play that mirrors Claudius’
actions to see his response.
In Act 3,
Hamlet questions the value of life and considers what it must be like to be
dead. The performance is given, which is about a man who kills a King by poisoning him in the ear. Claudius, clearly upset, departs from the
performance immediately (78). Polonius,
still curious about Hamlet’s madness, eavesdrops on Hamlet’s conversation with
his mother. Startled, Hamlet stabs
Polonius to death, and drags his body away.
In Act 4, Laertes, Polonius’ son, demands vengeance for his father’s
death, and Claudius agrees to plot against Hamlet’s life. Laertes plans to fence Hamlet, but he also
poisons the tip of his sword to ensure Hamlet’s death (117). As further back up, Claudius plans for Hamlet
to drink from a poisoned cup.
In Act 5,
during the duel, Gertrude unwittingly drinks from the poisoned cup and
dies. Laertes and Hamlet switch swords by
accident, but both are wounded and thus poisoned. Hamlet discovers the plot, and forces
Claudius to drink from the poisoned cup as well, and he dies (141). Upon avenging his father’s death, Hamlet
succumbs to his fatal wound and dies.
Only his friend Horatio left to tell the story (143).
I love the way this play raises questions about death. For me, this overshadows the play’s exciting violence and vengeance. I found it strange that the play opens with a paranormal event, because I’ve heard that Shakespeare tends to be fairly naturalistic. The only other Shakespearean play with ghosts I can think of is Richard III, and I remember thinking that the spirits in that play were only figments of Richard’s imagination or conscience. The same can’t be true in Hamlet, though, because Hamlet’s not the only one who can see the ghost of his father. What does this mean for the world of Hamlet?
Aside from the ghost encounter, there are two other scenes about death that made an impression on me. The first, of course, is Hamlet’s famous soliloquy about suicide (or at least that’s what I think it’s about). It reminds me of what Nietzsche says about suicide: “the thought of suicide is a powerful solace: by means of it one gets through many a bad night” (BGE, aphorism 157). Also, since I just finished Things Fall Apart, I couldn’t help but think about Okonkwo’s decision to hang himself when Hamlet questions:
Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep--
No more--and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to… (63)
Okonkwo does what Hamlet doesn’t; he opposes his troubles by ending them. He chooses sleep over heartache. Maybe Okonkwo is more tragic than Hamlet. Incidentally, I also thought that it was an intriguing parallel that the story of both Hamlet and Okonkwo’s life and death will be told by someone else. For Hamlet, it is his friend Horatio who will tell his story (142), and with this perhaps gain a new life after death. If Hamlet’s soul doesn’t persist, his name will. But for Okonkwo this is not the case. His life and death will be twisted and repurposed by his enemies. His very essence is doomed to disintegrate. Now that I put it that way, yes, I think Okonkwo is more tragic than Hamlet.
The other scene about death is the one where Hamlet examines the skull of a jester he once knew. The silent and physical cranium stands in stark contrast to the restless and demanding spirit of his father. All Hamlet can do with the skull is remember the man to whom it belonged. Once, I was in a physical anthropology class, and we had to examine the craniums of various extinct hominoids. It’s impossible not to think about the lives they lived, and also how someday my skull might be looked at in the same way.
The language and length of the play would represent obstacles to teenagers, I think, but with help I believe this play would be also be really interesting to angst-ridden young adults. Death, ghosts, the afterlife or no afterlife, meaning, indifference, existence, and nothingness… Because Hamlet becomes a space for these ideas and thoughts, I will seriously consider teaching from it someday. Besides, it’s a classic.
I love the way this play raises questions about death. For me, this overshadows the play’s exciting violence and vengeance. I found it strange that the play opens with a paranormal event, because I’ve heard that Shakespeare tends to be fairly naturalistic. The only other Shakespearean play with ghosts I can think of is Richard III, and I remember thinking that the spirits in that play were only figments of Richard’s imagination or conscience. The same can’t be true in Hamlet, though, because Hamlet’s not the only one who can see the ghost of his father. What does this mean for the world of Hamlet?
Aside from the ghost encounter, there are two other scenes about death that made an impression on me. The first, of course, is Hamlet’s famous soliloquy about suicide (or at least that’s what I think it’s about). It reminds me of what Nietzsche says about suicide: “the thought of suicide is a powerful solace: by means of it one gets through many a bad night” (BGE, aphorism 157). Also, since I just finished Things Fall Apart, I couldn’t help but think about Okonkwo’s decision to hang himself when Hamlet questions:
Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep--
No more--and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to… (63)
Okonkwo does what Hamlet doesn’t; he opposes his troubles by ending them. He chooses sleep over heartache. Maybe Okonkwo is more tragic than Hamlet. Incidentally, I also thought that it was an intriguing parallel that the story of both Hamlet and Okonkwo’s life and death will be told by someone else. For Hamlet, it is his friend Horatio who will tell his story (142), and with this perhaps gain a new life after death. If Hamlet’s soul doesn’t persist, his name will. But for Okonkwo this is not the case. His life and death will be twisted and repurposed by his enemies. His very essence is doomed to disintegrate. Now that I put it that way, yes, I think Okonkwo is more tragic than Hamlet.
The other scene about death is the one where Hamlet examines the skull of a jester he once knew. The silent and physical cranium stands in stark contrast to the restless and demanding spirit of his father. All Hamlet can do with the skull is remember the man to whom it belonged. Once, I was in a physical anthropology class, and we had to examine the craniums of various extinct hominoids. It’s impossible not to think about the lives they lived, and also how someday my skull might be looked at in the same way.
The language and length of the play would represent obstacles to teenagers, I think, but with help I believe this play would be also be really interesting to angst-ridden young adults. Death, ghosts, the afterlife or no afterlife, meaning, indifference, existence, and nothingness… Because Hamlet becomes a space for these ideas and thoughts, I will seriously consider teaching from it someday. Besides, it’s a classic.
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