Hamlet And The Aspects Of The Play example essay topic

C.S. Lewis claimed that "the subject of Hamlet is death". Explore some of the ways in which death is presented in the play, showing how the theme would interest both Shakespeare's audiences and modern audiences. Throughout the centuries society's concerns and fascinations have changed in accordance with the events of the time. This has affected how audiences have viewed Hamlet and the aspects of the play that they have focused on and identified with have depended upon the preoccupations which have been most relevant to their generation.

Peter Hall commented on the diversity of the play, observing that "Hamlet is one of mankind's great images. It turns a new face to each decade. It is a mirror which gives back the reflection of the age that is contemplating it". Although the play deals with many issues including deceit, corruption, madness, revenge, love and war, C.S. Lewis selected death as the main theme, "in a sense the subject of Hamlet is death". His view would be shared not only by many critics today, but also by those who were among the play's first audiences.

In the early seventeenth century when Hamlet was written and first performed, death was a prominent issue in the minds of the Elizabethan and Jacobean audiences. Death in infancy was commonplace and due to the rank conditions of London's sanitation, disease was rife. The plague also wreaked havoc during the late sixteenth century and even led to the closure of London theatres between 1592 and 1594. This physical aspect of death is graphically presented Act V scene 1. Hamlet: "How long will a man lie I'th' earth ere he rot? Gravedigger: Faith, if a be not rotten before a die... a will last you some eight year or nine year.

A tanner will last you nine year... Why, sir, his hide is so tanned with his trade that a will keep out water a great while, and your water is a sore dec ayer of your whoreson dead body. Here's a skull now hath lien you i'th' earth three and twenty years". In this scene the characters are discussing the physical realities of death and how the body decays in the earth. The detail in which the gravedigger explains the decomposition of the body and the undignified way in which he treats the skeletons, for example tossing Yorick's skull to Hamlet, are somewhat shocking to modern audiences. They are unaccustomed to such graphic descriptions and black humour and may view these flippant comments as inappropriate, especially in the light of Ophelia's suicide in the previous scene.

However this scene would have been less shocking to audiences in Shakespeare's day, who often faced a physical reality of death due to the appalling conditions in which they lived. Many people would have enjoyed these factual details and Shakespeare's use of language, for example the word "rot" would make the images even more vivid and dramatic for the audience. Shakespeare's comprehensive analysis of all aspects of death, physical, spiritual and philosophical is very much in keeping with the mood of the time. In Hamlet's opening lines of his first soliloquy in Act I Scene 2 death is clearly on his mind. "O that this too too sullied flesh would melt, Thaw and resolve itself into a dew... How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world!" This speech would have an immediate impact on the audience who can identify with Hamlet's disillusionment and melancholy.

It has been said that, "Hamlet's language is at the emotional heart of the play". This is illustrated in the detailed visual images which Shakespeare used in Hamlet's speeches. The use of the word "sullied" is powerful in evoking the idea that Hamlet feels his soul has been soiled by the recent actions of his mother and uncle. In this speech Hamlet is exploring the spiritual and philosophical aspects of death and wishing that God had not forbidden suicide.

He longs to be free of the suffering and pain of life, but is not willing to go against God's Law. The issue of suicide is also explored later in the play with Ophelia. She, generally considered to be the most innocent, na " ive and poignant character, is extremely distressed by Hamlet's accusation of deceit and cannot understand his madness and the anger he shows towards her. The final incident, which causes her to lose her sanity and ultimately take her life, is the murder of Polonius by Hamlet.

The description of her death is often considered as one of the most poetic and moving passages in the whole play. "Therewith fantastic garlands did she make Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples... Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide, And mermaid-like awhile they bore her up... Till her garments, heavy with their drink, Pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay" The language in this quotation is very effective, for example the personification of the "weeping brook" suggests that it is crying because of the death of this young girl and the poignancy of her situation. The choice of language also creates dream-like images, for example "her clothes spread wide and mermaid-like".

Also the use of the word "melodious" suggests that Ophelia did not fear or struggle against death as most people would instead she embraced it. This scene is very emotive for the audience because it describes the suicide of a youthful, innocent girl who was unable to survive in the corrupt state of Denmark. She was unable to comprehend the numerous, wicked acts which we see during the play. The garlands of flowers that were hung around her neck are a symbolic image, which Shakespeare used frequently when describing Ophelia, in particular violets which were an image of fragility and beauty that she embodied. Suicide is still a relevant issue in modern society and with the increasing knowledge and understanding of psychology, modern audiences would perhaps have greater sympathy for Ophelia. However during the sixteenth century, suicide was strictly frowned upon because it was condemned in the Bible as being against God's law.

This is the reason why Ophelia is not allowed a Christian funeral and why she is condemned in death. Shakespeare also used his characters to explore what may happen after death. The most dramatic aspect of death for all audiences is the appearance of Ghost of Hamlet's father. The apparition speaks of the horrors of the underworld and gives the audience an insight into life after death. The speech presents the idea of eternity spent in purgatory and torment and the tales of which the ghost tells Hamlet, "Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy blood, Make thy two eyes like stars start from their spheres, Thy knotted and combined locks to part, And each particular hair to stand an end Like quills upon the fretful porpentine". In this speech the ghost uses disturbing images such as "freeze thy blood" which evoke fear and apprehension in the audience.

These images along with the haunting appearance of the ghost shock Hamlet and when he is instructed to avenge his father's death by murdering Claudius he is stunned and confused. Modern audiences have criticised Hamlet for delaying after the instructions of his father. However, the audiences of Shakespeare's day would have been more sympathetic to Hamlet because they believed that sprits were often evil or wanted to cause havoc and conflict. Although Hamlet had his suspicions of foul play, he did not want to trust the apparition.

Hamlet also explores the issue of the afterlife in his philosophical contemplation of life, death, the afterlife and mortality as a whole. The famous quotation "To be or not to be" is considered by many esteemed scholars to be one of the fundamental questions of life. Shakespeare then continues to explore the realms of the afterlife, "To die, to sleep; To sleep perchance to dream - ay, there's the rub: For in that sleep of death what dreams may come", In this soliloquy Hamlet explores the idea of death as a welcome release from the corrupt world and his troubled mind. However he is uncertain about the afterlife and has a "dread of something after death, the undiscovered country".

These intellectual aspects are more appealing to modern audiences, who have a greater curiosity and interest for a structured exploration of a person's thoughts and ideas. In Shakespeare's time some members of the audience would be fascinated by these complex ideas which Hamlet explores and the questions he asks about life and death. However others members of the audience would prefer the more shocking, physical descriptions of death and the action scenes, for example Hamlet's accidental murder of Polonius in Act Scene 4 or the duel in the final scene between Hamlet and Laertes. Another aspect of death which is mentioned in the play is death in war. This is demonstrated when Fortinbras and his army march through Denmark on their way to battle. Hamlet cannot understand the reasons behind war and he views it as a futile action.

"The imminent death of twenty thousand men Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause, Which is not tomb enough and continent To hide the slain?" Thousands of men will die in a battle over a piece of land which is not large enough for them all to stand on. They fight in battle when they themselves have no grievance and many will lose their lives for someone else's gain. Directors often accentuate this aspect of the play in times of war and Fortinbras' Machiavellian ideas became a central interest for Eastern European directors during the second half of the twentieth century. Jan Kott discussed this in his critical commentary of the play, "The Polish see Hamlet as a political play focusing on Fortinbras and his strong leadership.

They emphasise that humanity has no place in politics and one must be ruthless to survive". Jan Kott explained that East Europeans focused on the brutality of war and the merciless actions of Fortinbras, because they viewed him to be a strong leader who would sacrifice lives to enable him to succeed. This is ironic, as Shakespeare does not condone the heartless nature of Fortinbras. There are several other aspects of death which the play considers and these include revenge killing, when Laertes wants to avenge Polonius' murder and also the whole play revolves around Hamlet's deliberating whether to kill Claudius in order to avenge his father's death. Murder by poison is also a reality and a symbol in the play.

Claudius kills both Hamlet's father and mother with poison and there are several references to the way in which minds are poisoned. In the final scene death is caused both by deliberate planning and fatal accident. Death is a motif which runs throughout the play and is explored in many different ways. The audience is left with a haunting and powerful impression of death through the play's close examination of all its aspects, physical, spiritual and philosophical. Both in Shakespeare's day and in our own, the subject of death proves endlessly fascinating. 1540 words

Bibliography

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Winders Shakespeare's Imagery, Caroline Spurgeon (1935).