“… Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole, with juice of cursed hebenon in a vile and in the porches of my ears did pour the leperous distilment. ” (Shakespeare, Ham. , 1. 5. 61-64) The death of Hamlet’s father set the book onto a layout of revenge and despair. It caused Hamlet to change his mindset and later on influences everyone else. In such little time and quite a rush one by one their life was taken. They vanished. Only time can tell when their live flesh would be no more and all that is left of them are bones. Hamlet drives himself mad. Mad enough to kill his uncle and drag others down.
But why, why so much death? Have the minds of those in Denmark been poisoned enough to believe that death is the only and last result? Things could have been settled another way. Punishments could have been made but instead they were corrupted and death became a necessity. In Act 5 scene 1 Hamlet becomes more familiar with death and starts to accept the idea. He comes across a skull of his father’s former jester Yorick in the graveyard and ponders the idea that there was once a tongue in the skull that brought laughter to them but when he died it was all gone. That is when Hamlet ealized death wasn’t such a bad thing and that that was the only thing that separated people in the world. Just before that Hamlet himself was contemplating on suicide and after seeing the skull and knowing Yorick and having the love and respect for him he knew that it could all be taken away with one small action. Whether it be suicide, murder or of a natural cause.
When Hamlet approaches his father’s ghost they discuss his death. He explains to Prince Hamlet about how he was murdered and that his uncle King Claudius was to blame. From there the ghost of King Hamlet told Prince Hamlet to seek evenge on his uncle King Claudius for his death but not his mother Queen Gertrude and he obeys his father’s commands. He wants to kill King Claudius for intruding in his family, lying to everyone in Denmark about King Hamlet’s death and for using sweet, convincing words to get Queen Gertrude. As Lord Polonius was speaking to Queen Gertrude in her closet about Hamlet’s offense to his “father” King Claudius, Lord Polonius tells Queen Gertrude that she must be blunt with Hamlet and tell him about his wrong doings. Just then Hamlet approaches the closet and Lord Polonius hides behind a tapestry.
Queen Gertrude confronts Hamlet and he says to her that she won’t budge to stand in front of a mirror and see what’s inside her. What dishonor and betrayal she had brought to King Hamlet for moving on so fast and marrying King Claudius. She asks Hamlet if he was going to kill her then suddenly cries out for help Lord Polonius calls from behind the tapestry “What, ho? Help, help, help! ” (3. 4. 21) and that is when Prince Hamlet draws his sword thinking it was King Claudius behind and jabs it through the tapestry. “O, I am slain! ” (3. 4. 23) Within seconds Lord Polonius is dead. One woe doth tread upon another’s heel, so fast they follow: your sister’s drown’d, Laertes” (4. 7. 63-64)
After hearing the news about Lord Polonius, her father Ophelia went mad. Knowing that Hamlet the one man she loved and that her father didn’t want her having any sort of relationship or contact with has killed Lord Polonius drove her to have a mental breakdown. Ophelia lost all hope and sense of a stable mind. She would sing songs of death and of never loving another. While she was out picking flowers and weaving them into a crown at the top of a tree she leaned and the branch snapped.
She floated down the river singing her songs as her clothes tug her under the water, drowning her. With no desire to live or to attempt to help herself, Ophelia died. This could have been a suicide or a tragic accident. King Claudius and Queen Gertrude ask for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to go to Elsinore to watch Hamlet because they believe he has gone mad. Once they meet Hamlet he confronts them and tells them that he knows why they are there. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern immediately confess to him that they were sent from the Queen and King to find out what was the problem with him.
When they attempt to figure out why Hamlet has gone mad he tells them that they are spies. They’re stumped. So Hamlet gives them the opportunity to go back and tell King Claudius that he knows why they were sent to him. On their way to England Hamlet mentions to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that he had made arrangements for them to be killed once they arrive. When Laertes finds out about the death of his father and sister he finds himself crying and wanting revenge for whoever killed Lord Polonius.
He then joins in conference with King Claudius and he explains to Laertes that it was Hamlet who killed his ather and the reason why he couldn’t charge Hamlet for it because of his mother Queen Gertrude. So King Claudius produces a plan to get rid of Hamlet but would also benefit Laertes. He would challenge Hamlet to a duel in which Laertes sword will be dipped in poison and anything such as a simple scratch with the tip of the sword would kill Hamlet. In case Hamlet didn’t get stabbed or scratched with the sword King Claudius mentioned to put a poisoned pearl into a cup of wine if Hamlet won a round.
As the day of the dual approaches and they are about 2 rounds n Hamlet has not been stabbed or scratched nor has he took the toast between any round. After the first round his mother had asked Hamlet to drink from the cup as a toast in moving on to the second round, he rejects. He wanted to wait until he had won then he would accept. Queen Gertrude then toasts to Hamlet with the cup containing the poisoned pearl after the second round. “O my dear Hamlet! The drink, the drink! I am poisoned. ” (5. 2. 284-285) When Laertes acknowledges that she had drank from the cup he sneaks up behind Hamlet and cuts his arm. Queen Gertrude died. While Hamlet is slowly dying rom the poison demands to know who committed the crime.
Laertes comes clean. “It is here, Hamlet. Hamlet, thou art slain. Lo, here I lie, Never to rise again. Thy mother’s poison’d. I can no more. The king, the king’s to blame. ” (5. 2. 288-293) Hamlet then forces King Claudius to drink from the poisoned cup. King Claudius dies and Laertes after him. Horatio is the only one left and before Prince Hamlet dies he tells him to live and tell his story. King Claudius wanted to rule Denmark and didn’t want Prince Hamlet to be in his way. He thought it would be easy to be king ince he had got rid of his brother and married his wife. Since no one knew of how King Hamlet died there would be no problem. I believe that there were other ways the problems could have been approached. With everyone dying nothing was resolved. King Claudius was not in the right for killing his brother nor was King Hamlet.
They should have let it play out in God’s will just as King Hamlet wanted for Queen Gertrude for moving on so fast and marrying King Claudius. The Destruction Of Hamlet’s Death In Ha… The significance of the deaths occurring in Hamlet comes from he obsession he develops with death. His father’s passing was his greatest weakness and it took a toll on him and how he acts. How he chose to seek revenge on his uncle and how his mother decided to marry King Claudius. There is no proper way to cope with a death of someone so close to them but it is shown that both Prince Hamlet and Queen Gertrude have different ways of dealing with it. The drive and adrenaline was created by not knowing how to deal with the passing.
Everything was based on destiny yet their time ended so soon. He explains that God see’s ll and determines life and death of all but takes matters into his own hands and as time passes those who die have met their fate. Life and death share a thin line. There are no boundaries as to what can happen nor as to how it can. The fear of death kept their craving of being alive. The fear of death is what kept them to kill the ones coming after them. Therefore, the motif was no longer seeking revenge but the fear of death and hurt. Everything happened so sudden and quick. No doubt. No second thoughts. Done with no empathy. Little to no care. What I so was done had to be done. That’s death.
