There is a strange obsession with death that has developed in Hamlet’s mind since the death of

his father. His father was murdered by Hamlet’s uncle pouring poison into his ear when he was
sleeping in the garden. He was always jealous of his brother becoming king and he devised a plan to
kill him and steal the throne right from under him. Once his mission was completed, not only sis he
steal the throne but he also stole his wife. After the death of the king, queen Gertrude married Claudius
and continued to live life as the queen.

Hamlet looks at death in many ways: he looks at it through spirituality, which is because of the
ghost, and he looks at it physically, for example, Yorick’s skull and the many bodies disintegrating in
the cemetery. Hamlet always questions the idea of death and how it is tied to spirituality, truth, and
uncertainty; he just wants to find truth in this world. Death is the cause of revenge in this play and also
the consequence. Because of the murder of the king Hamlet starts his journey for revenge and the
death of Claudius ends that journey.

Hamlet is scared to death (no pun intended) of his own death. He constantly questions whether
suicide is the right way to go and if it is morally legitimate in this world full of pain and disgust. He
longs for death in a sense, just because he wants his suffering and depression to end. He is only
scared to do so because he feels that he might spend eternity in hell for the deed because of his
Christian religion that prohibits it. In his famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy, Hamlet philosophically
concludes that no one would choose to endure the pain of life if he or she were not afraid of what will
come after death, and that it is this fear which causes complex moral considerations to interfere with
the capacity for action. (sparknotes.com)

There was also another obsession throughout this play which just so happened to be
incestuous sex. Once Claudius killed the king he married Gertrude, his sister-in-law (the queen).
Hamlet, on the other hand is obsessed with his mother’s sex life and in a way is in love with her. My
interpretation of the play is that he lusts after her and when he becomes angry and goes in to speak
with her he sleeps with her. In conclusion Hamlet’s family becomes very corrupted after the death/
murder of the king.

In this play objects are not used very often to represent themes or ideas. One thing that was
used was Yorrick’s skulls that Hamlet finds in the graveyard. Hamlet speaks to the skull and about the
skull of the king’s jester; he is fixed on death and on the rottening of the body. He urges the skull to go
to the chamber of his mother and not let her avoid death. When he traces the lips it indicates his
fascination with the physical consequence of death. Hamlet makes quite a few comments referring to
the decay of the human body, he note that Polonius will be eaten by worms and that kings are also
eaten by worms.

What makes Hamlet different from any play written before it is all
the action we see, especially from Hamlet himself. The action is held off by
him always trying to figure himself out. This play asks many questions
that other plays do not ask. Like: Can we really have certain knowledge
about ghosts? Does the ghost have reliable knowledge about its own
death? Is the ghost what it appears to be, or is it really a misleading
fiend? (sparknotes.com)

How is it that we can be for sure about a murder with no witnesses?

Can Hamlet know the states of Claudius’s soul by watching his behavior? If
so, can we know the facts of what Claudius did by observing the state of
his soul? Can Claudius (or the audience) know that state of Hamlet’s mind
by observing his behaviors and listening to his speech? Can we know
whether our actions will have consequences we want them to have? Can
we know anything about the afterlife? (sparknotes)

Many people have called Hamlet an indecisive play because of his

failure to act appropriately. The interesting way to look at it is that the
play shows is how many uncertainties our lives are built upon and how
many unknown things we take for granted when we do things and when
we evaluate other people’s actions.

Everything in this play is connected in one way or another, the

welfare of the royal family and the health of the state as a whole. In the
beginning of the play it explores the sense of anxiety that is around the
transfer of power from one king to his brother. Denmark is frequently
described as a physical body corrupted by Claudius and Gertrude and the
ghost is viewed as a sign to show them how corrupted Denmark has
become. Hamlet’s father was shown as a strong character and his brother
was portrayed as an evil politician who corrupted Denmark to satisfy his
own needs to be the king. In the end the rise to power of Fortinbras
suggests that Denmark will be strong again.

Hamlet was very upset about his mother deciding to marry Claudius
so soon after the death of her husband king Hamlet, this makes young
Hamlet cynical about women in general. This shows a particular obsession
with the female human sexuality and moral destruction. His hatred of
women is shown throughout the play and it is very important factor in
Hamlet’s relationships with his mother and the girl he loves. He urges
Ophelia to go to a convent rather than to experience the evils of sexuality
and exclaims his mother as a horrible woman for doing what she did.

HERE I WILL ANYLIZE MAJOR CHARACTERS

Hamlet:

Hamlet is an enigmatic character. There is always more to him than

other people can figure out. Hamlet actually tells other characters that
there is more to him than they will ever know. When Hamlet speaks, he
sounds like he is hiding something important maybe even something he
does not know. A student of the university who is interrupted by the death
of his father, he is philosophical and he is always thinking. He is
interested in hard questions or things that can’t be answered with any
certainty. He is always faced with evidence that his uncle murder his
father the king. He becomes crazy about proving that his uncle did it. He
is always questioning death and the afterlife and about suicide. He also
wants to know what happens to bodies after they die. But although he is
obsessive he also acts impulsively and rashly. When he does do things it’s
always quick and not premeditated, like when he kill Polonius through a
curtain without looking to find out who it was back there.

He seems to be crazy because of his erratic behaviors and wild

speech. Hamlet is extremely sad and is very disconnected with the state
of Denmark and his family. He cannot stand the acts his mother has
committed like marrying his uncle so soon after the death of his father. He
castigates Ophelia, the women he was once in love with. He does not trust
women and he is mostly disgusted with them because of his mother. Many
times he contemplates his own death and even suicide.

GERTRUDE

This play seems to ask more questions about Gertrude than it really
answers. Was she involved with Claudius before the death of her husband? Did she love her
husband? Did she know about Claudius’s plan to commit the murder? Did she love Claudius, or did
she marry him simply to keep her high station in Denmark? Does she believe Hamlet when he insists
that he is not mad, or does she pretend to believe him simply to protect herself? Does she intentionally
betray Hamlet to Claudius, or does she believe that she is protecting her son’s secret?
(sparknotes.com)

These questions can be answered in many ways. Gertrude is a woman defined be her desire for
affection which makes her extremely dependant on the men in her life. Hamlet’s most famous comment
about his mother is his angry condemnation about women as a whole: “Frailty, thy name is woman!”
this shows how much in agony his state of mind is in but this also showed how morally weak Gertrude
was. She never thinks clearly about the situations she is in, she only moves with her instinct: like when
she ran to Claudius after her confrontation with Hamlet. It seems that her grace and charm are only
exhibited with she is in social situations which also shows her rounded personality. Her reliance on
men is her only was of showing her abilities.