‘The play Hamlet shows a disturbing fascination with death.’
Wilson Knight argues that ‘the theme of Hamlet is death.’ Accordingly, the presence of
death pervades the entirety of Hamlet, from the protagonist’s initial contemplations on
suicide, through to the later bloodbath of Act 5. Whilst Hamlet’s fascination with death in
his soliloquies are certainly ‘disturbing’, as is Ophelia’s demise, death is often not portrayed
as horrifying: the murders of Claudius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern delivering moments of
satisfying karmic justice, and the protagonist’s contemplation on the death in the
Gravedigger Scene offering a hopeful portrayal that death is the greatest equaliser. Thus,
whilst the play Hamlet shows a ‘fascination with death’, this ‘fascination’ is not always
‘disturbing.’
Hamlet’s suicidal soliloquies certainly illustrate a disturbing fascination with death. In Act 1
Scene 2, the prince desires the ‘melt[ing]’ of his ‘too too solid flesh’, viewing suicide as a
relief from the ‘thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to.’ He decides against suicide
upon considering ‘the Everlasting… had fixed his canon against self-slaughter’, yet continues
to debate ending his life later in the play, which further indicates death is a subject which
Hamlet cannot help but obsess over. In Act 3 Scene 1, the prince simply questions ‘to be or
not to be’, drawing attention to his depressed state. The 20 th century, a period in which
psychoanalysis became perhaps the most dominant form of interpreting the play, saw
interpretations which underscored his bitter existence; Laurence Olivier’s 1948 production
saw Hamlet hold a ‘bare bodkin’ towards himself at a cliff-edge when delivering his ‘to be or
not to be soliloquy’, the sea below perhaps symbolic of the ‘sea of troubles’ within his mind.
This likely inspired Trevor Nunn’s 2014 rendition of the play, where Hamlet can be seen
debating whether to overdose with pills. Interestingly, however, Hamlet’s contemplation on
death has garnered vastly different criticisms. Those of the Romantic era revered the prince
for his philosophising, William Hazlitt proudly claiming ‘It is we who are Hamlet.’
Contrastingly, A.C. Bradley offered in 1904 an anti-Romantic criticism that lamented
Hamlet’s pondering, this only serving to further delay his ‘already-delayed revenge.’
Nevertheless, the fact that criticism is dominated by Hamlet’s commentary on his own
mortality further proves that Hamlet is ‘fascinated’ with death.
Similarly, Ophelia’s demise is perhaps the most disconcerting of all the deaths in the play,
despite the audience not witnessing it. Shakespeare obscures her death in ambiguity, with
audiences, much like the Clown, left questioning if she ‘sought her own salvation.’ Lilla
Grindlay contends it would be ‘an independent act, a voluntary escape’ that grants Ophelia
authority. However, this argument is perhaps flawed for the implied suicide is mere
speculation and never confirmed, and thus, her death becomes almost a source of
entertainment for the Elsinore court. Certainly, David Leverenz offers more convincing
analysis than Grindlay, asserting that Ophelia’s death is ‘a microcosm of the male world’s
banishment of the female’.’ This is echoed by feminist critic, Amy Licence, who contends
that Ophelia’s clothes, which pull her down in the drowning scene, are symbolic of the
civilisation in which she lives, and thus represent the society that ‘destroys her.’ Indeed, her
mistreatment within the Elsinore court is illustrated throughout the play; Polonius forbids
her from conversing with Hamlet yet later ‘loose[s]’ her to him, upon which point Hamlet
chastises her and demand she ‘get [herself] to a nunnery.’ Even at her funeral, Hamlet and
Laertes take the opportunity to compete with each other, further suggesting she remains a
