"Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to clay, Might stop a hole to keep the wind away." Using this quotation as a starting point, discuss how Hamlet’s attitude towards death changes during the play.

Hamlet’s attitude towards death changes dramatically. He changes from a troubled man, very fearful of the unknown, and of death, into a confident person, who understands the reality of death. Ultimately he dies, but this is only because of a dramatic change in his attitude towards death, and there are many reasons as to why his attitude changes so much. At the start of the play, we see Hamlet as a very troubled character. His father the King has just died, and his mother has hastily married his uncle whom is the new King. Hamlet is suffering from intense grief and is angry about the way his father's death has been dealt with. He becomes obsessed with death and its effects. It is in act 3 during his third soliloquy that he discusses death openly, and more bluntly he contemplates committing suicide "to be or not to be". Hamlet sees suicide very much as an escape from all of the troubles surrounding his present life. He longs for death in a time of such intense grief and misery, but he has doubts over whether it is morally the right thing to do "Or that the Everlasting had not fixed his cannon ‘gainst self-slaughter". At the time, Christian views on suicide were very strong. It was thought that suicide would lead to eternal suffering in hell. Hamlet knows that suicide is thought of as a sin, and he fears the afterlife. It is this fear, he concludes, "makes us rather bear those ills we have, than fly to others we know not of." It is because Hamlet fears the afterlife that he does not take his own life. He is worried that the afterlife will be no better than his present life, or even that it may be worse. It is the "Dread of something after death, The undiscovered country from who’s bourn No travellers return" Hamlet would have only very religious views on death and the afterlife. Suicide would bring everlasting suffering in hell, and he may end up having to serve in purgatory like his father. The strong religious views on the afterlife would impose fear and uncertainty on Hamlet. The sight of and discussion with the ghost of Hamlets father proves to have had a considerable effect on Hamlet. The Ghost of Hamlets father says that he will be in purgatory until his sins have been "burnt and purged away". The ghost however refuses to speak about "the secrets of my prison house" as he is forbidden to. This has a great effect on Hamlet and his attitude towards death. The mere fact that his father cannot discuss purgatory instils fear within Hamlet. Both the audience and Hamlet realise that there are unspeakable horrors that "would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood" in store in purgatory, and Hamlet obviously wants to avoid this at all costs. However, the notional idea of purgatory is quite different from the reality of death that is about to confront him. Three major characters die at different points in the play and Hamlet reacts differently to each. Hamlet's father is already dead when the play starts and this has obviously had a great impact on Hamlet. This is his first major encounter with death, and it leaves him grief stricken "How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world". It is the death of his father that spurs on his obsession of death and the afterlife and his endless thinking about it. However, in act 3, Hamlet kills Polonius, something he seems to have no problems doing. He holds no sympathy towards Polonius, even after he is dead "thou wretched, intruding fool farewell." And the action of stabbing Polonius is itself a very rash act, carried out with haste and more importantly, without remorse. However, his reaction towards Ophelia’s death is very different. He has sympathy for her and is stricken by her death "I loved Ophelia, forty thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love, make up my sum." Ophelia’s death is apparently caused by her madness, which was caused by the death of her father. Hamlet, however, does not realise this. He does not take this into consideration, and therefore shows no guilt for Ophelia’s death, when indirectly he caused by his physical neglect of her. I feel the death of all these characters, some close to Hamlet, others not, has an immense effect on Hamlet. He seems to have become immune to death. He shows a certain insensitivity towards death - as in the case of Polonius, and I feel he becomes numb not only to the effects of deaths around him, but to death itself. The gravediggers, whom we meet in act 5 play an important part in Hamlet changing attitude towards death. They too, through familiarity with death, have become immune to it. They talk about death in a very carefree and jokey way, and they even sing "o a pit of clay for to be made for such a guest is meet" whilst digging the graves. Hamlet first sees this as sacrilegious, however, the audience know that Hamlet has done far worse things, and will continue to do so. The gravediggers take their job seriously, yet at times are careless "[throws up a skull" and a certain amount of black humour is present in a lot of what they say. However, it is when Hamlet is watching these gravediggers that he realises they are numb to death, and that in a way they represent some of the reality of death. The gravediggers have a big effect on Hamlet, and he begins to think more deeply about death and fate. Soon after Hamlet has met the two gravediggers, he discovers Yorrick's skull. This brings about a very fast and dramatic change in Hamlet’s attitude, as the discovery of this skull leads Hamlet to begin understanding about fate. The skull is that of Yorrick’s, Hamlets old jester. The skull symbolises, not only fate, but the physical consequences of death. Comments such as "Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth into dust" indicate Hamlets understanding that no matter who you are, how important you were, that everyone ends up in exactly the same way. It is here where the quotation "Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to clay, Might stop a hole to keep the wind away" is used, again indicating Hamlets new found understanding of the inevitability of death. Hamlet’s attitude at this point is very brutal and callous. He seems to have no sympathy for the dead and he has become more insensitive towards death. Hamlet even makes a remark about his mother, and the inevitability of her death" now get you to my ladys chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must come." Hamlet’s remarks here are again, rather callous, he is saying that even his mother will die, no matter how thickly she paints her face and tries to avoid it. It is at this point in the play that Hamlet realises and comes to terms with the fact that he himself will also die one day, and end up exactly the same as every other person. With this acceptance of the inevitability of death, Hamlet moves on beyond the fear and horror of death. He realises that life is not just a preparation for death, but a period of time in which something of value can be achieved. Hamlet also begins to almost mock death and what it stands for. He begins to see much irony within it and quotations such as "a king may go a process through the guts of a beggar" show us this. He feels that it is useless for people to worry so much about death, as everyone ends up the same no matter who you are, or what you did. This is contrary to beliefs at the time, but Hamlet has discovered the reality of death and its inevitability so his attitude has changed dramatically. Once Hamlet has accepted death and the reality behind it, his attitude towards the afterlife changes too. In sharp contrast to the beginning of the play, he no longer worries about it. Instead, during the latter part of the play, he focuses more on what people think of you after death, rather than what happens to you. He now recognises that when you die you end up as dust on the ground, and that the only way to ‘live’ on is to have respect when you die, and for people to remember you. Hamlet feels his father was not given enough respect when he died, what with the hasty marriage of his mother and his uncle. Many people came to see the wedding rather than the funeral " I prithee do not mock me fellow student, I think it was to see my mother's wedding." Hamlet wants to ensure that after he is dead, he gets the respect he deserves, and that he is not forgotten. After he has killed Claudius, he wants people to know the full and true story, so that he gets the respect he, and indeed his father are due. He tells Horatio this "thou livest; report me and my cause aright to the unsatisfied" When Hamlet does die, the audience feels a certain amount of pity, but also triumph for him. Hamlet was ready for death, he had achieved what he felt he needed to achieve in his life. Hamlet’s death, unlike the others in the play, does gain him respect, as Fortinbras shows "bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage." Hamlet’s whole attitude towards death changed immensely during the play. He was afraid and fearful at first, and religious views were central to his own. By the end of the play however, he had accepted death, its inevitability, and he was no longer afraid of what was in store for him. His acceptance of fate and his ability to realise that life is not just a preparation for death, enabled him to achieve something of value - killing Claudius. Once he had done this, and ensured he would get the respect he deserves after death, he has done his worth, and death is just the next step for Hamlet.

1750 words

Greenblatt, Stephen - Hamlet in Purgatory