Death and Mortality in Hamlet

Death/ mortality

"To be or not to be..." soliloquy (III. i. 64-98).

Hamlet debates on whether or not he should exist. He deals with internal conflicts on whether it is better to struggle through life commit suicide. He thinks that death will be the better option if men know what death would bring than to suffer through living life. Shakespeare makes use of various literary features to emphasize death. Hamlet uses the metaphor of sleep to represent death. He uses parallel structure to create rhythm and draw attention to life's woes. The ending of life is very appealing; however, he cannot do it because he is afraid that he might be sentenced for all his sins.

"Nothing but to show you how a king may go a progress through the guts of a beggar" (IV. iii. 34-5).

Hamlet replies to Claudius' question of where Polonius is. He says that Polonius is at dinner being eaten by worms. Then he goes on saying that King Claudius will be fed on by worms as well when he dies. He uses the story of how a king might go through the guts of a beggar to emphasize the natural order of life. No matter how valued the person is in life, when dead, everyone is the same and as dirt. He also uses this metaphor to emphasize the meaningless of possession, power, and belonging in life.

"Here's a skull now hath lien you I' th' earth three-and-twenty years" (V. i. 178-9).

This is describing Yorik's skull. Yorik was Hamlet's jester 23 years ago that he loved and played with all the time. Hamlet is a little stunned and dumbfounded while holding the skull because he had many memories of him in his childhood. The skull represents the inevitability of death. Everyone dies no matter what, and Hamlet is able to recognize this through the Yorik's skull.

"That skull had a tongue in it and could sing once. How the knave jowls it to the ground as if 'twere Cain's jawbone" (V. i. 77-9).

Hamlet and Horatio are in the graveyard and Hamlet comments on how the skull that the gravedigger is holding once was a living human being. The skull represents death, and makes Hamlet change his thoughts of wanting to die. He also recognizes that it is impossible to take to death the possessions held in life. No matter how valuable or how high in rank a person was, it is all meaningless after death because everyone is considered the same recyclable piece of earth when dead. The imagery of the knave jowling the skull into the ground further emphasizes the life's loss in meaning after death.

"No, not to stay the grinding of the ax,/ My head should be struck off" (V. ii. 28-9).

Hamlet is telling Horatio of what Claudius was asking the England officials