How Does Hamlet Kill Himself

In scene one after Hamlet exits, and he’s taking Polonius’ dead body, Claudius asked Gertrude to tell him what happened with Hamlet. She tells him Hamlet killed Polonius and Claudius realizes that his life is in danger. Claudius asks where Hamlet went, and Gertrude says that he took the body away. The king orders Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to find Hamlet and discover where he has taken Polonius’ body. After that the scene ends and we are left wondering what Claudius will do now that he fears hamlet will kill him and wondering if hamlet is actually going mad or if he is just acting to be mad.

This shows that he is exploring the possibility that he may also be killed in his search for revenge. It almost sounds as if he is foreshadowing his own death because he says that ending the “heartache” is something he desires. Therefore, Hamlet seriously questions whether he should remain loyal to his father, because he takes

Hamlet realizes that he is dying and that he now has the excuse to kill Claudius

Throughout the play, Hamlet is dealing with conflict within himself. When Hamlet finds that he must take revenge on Claudius, he is unsure whether there is any point in having to kill, to take another human life, and whether he would be able to handle this. Hamlet fights inside himself. Is this right? Is this his duty? He considers suicide again, "To be or not to be, that is the question." Hamlet shows his philosophical nature, and talks himself out of the idea of suicide, fearing the unknown beyond. He is thoughtful and intelligent and not first a man of action.

Although Hamlet is convinced that King Claudius is the murder, he decides to drag this on as he ponders on his own physical existence and state of mind. He thinks about his own suicide and is caught up in the affairs of other characters like Polonius and Ophelia. Finally, he finally manages to scrape together the little amount of dignity and will left inside of him to seek his revenge:

As the play progresses, Hamlet’s actions tell he actively attempts to escape his self-proclaimed fate. Suspicions rise that Hamlet tests his free-will when he is inactive to plot the murder of his father. Instead, he develops a play to prove that the King is guilty, yet the play’s only effect is such, which does not bring Claudius closer to death. Finally, Hamlet has a chance to assassinate Claudius, but hesitates, believing that since the King is praying, he will go to heaven. This thought process and decision making demonstrates his attempt at free will. Hamlet’s assignment is solely to kill Claudius, yet his own thoughts get in the way, needing Claudius to waste away in hell and not heaven. In addition, when Claudius wishes to send Hamlet to England, he enthusiastically responds “For England!” (4.3.52), accepting being sent away, even though his mission is to kill Claudius, who resides in Denmark. In that instance, Hamlet is content with being shipped away, as he hopes to prolong his fate, hoping free-will will win over.

In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Hamlet, a studious young man and Prince of Denmark, struggles to face the death of his father and the task to kill his father’s murderer, Claudius. He was once known as a charming, smart young man before his father’s death. However, Hamlet experiences depression and anger at the world, causing him to look outwardly on society but failing to look inwardly on himself. The death of his father and the task for vengeance leads him to question whether or not he should follow through in killing Claudius. He becomes a man of thought rather than a man of action. In addition, the delay of King Claudius’ murder leads the readers to believe that he wishes not to kill him; he

Hamlet had the opportunity to kill Claudius at the chapel but restrained himself, he believed it was too good of a death for Claudius and that if he were killed his sins would be forgiven. This shows his lack of action and proves he is a procrastinator. In his soliloquies he constantly criticizes himself for the obvious avoidance of responsibility saying, "Am I a coward? Who calls me villain? breaks my pate across? Plucks off my beard, and blows it in my face? Tweaks me by the nose? gives me the lie i' the throat, as deep as to the lungs? who does me this?" (Act 2 Sc. 2, 571-575)

Hamlet continues on and almost complains on the state of the world, calling it stale, flat, and unprofitable, showing how truly miserable he is. Hamlet considers suicide as a possible option of escape from his life in a painful world, but feels as though religion is preventing him from doing so. Hamlet then provides us with the roots for his pain and the reason for his contemplation of suicide. Hamlet is is troubled by his mothers marriage to Claudius, but especially how quickly the two were married after his father's death. He continues to express his dislike and hatred for Claudius calling him a satyr, while praising his father and saying how excellent of a king his father was. In one of the final lines of the soliloquy Hamlet comments on how the marriage is a bad omen for Denmark, "It is not, nor it cannot come to good," (I. ii. 163). For the first time we are introduced to the idea of suicide which will continue to present itself as the play develops.

In the middle of the play he feels he is prepared to avenge his father’s death and kill Claudius. In his fifth soliloquy before entering his mother’s chamber he decides to be brutally honest with Gertrude, but not lose control. Hamlet is in a  mood in which he could “drink hot blood/And do such bitter business as the day would quake to look on” implying that he could essentially kill his mother with the state he is in at the moment, but he will not (3.2.97-98). During Hamlet’s sixth soliloquy he does not lose his thirst for blood towards Claudius but still manages to pull himself out of his plan. While Claudius is kneeling on the ground Hamlet sees him and makes the choice “To take him in the purging of his soul,/When he is fit and seasoned for his passage?/No.” he does not want to send Claudius’ soul to heaven so he refuses to kill him then(3.3.85-87). This shows Hamlet is still thinking through his plan but he is using his keen planning skills to make sure Claudius gets everything that he deserves to fully avenge his father. Hamlet soliloquies leads him that he is now ready to complete the

”Thus conscience does not make cowards of us all;/ And thus the native hue of resolution/ Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought;/ And enterprises of great pith and moment,/ With this regard, their currents turn away,/ And lose the name of action.” Hamlet here combines some themes of this play: death and life, the connection between thought and action. In act five scene five, he goes into Claudius’ room to kill him. Like the last time he went to kill him, he was on his knees praying. Why send him to Heaven when he should go to Hell? His father wasn’t given a chance to repent his sins before he was murdered, so why should King Claudius? Hamlet thinks about this for a minute, and decides to wait for a more reasonable

According to the bible, if you repent of your sins you will be forgiven and go to heaven when you die, Hamlet believes this and that is why he does not kill Claudius in this scene. Another reason he does not kill his Claudius based on the reason above, he will not give Claudius the glory of

Each year 35,000 people commit suicide. According to the Huffington Post and World Health Organization, by the year 2030, depression, but specifically suicide, will have outpaced cancer, stroke, war, and accidents. That number only describes the ones who actually accomplish suicide. In the United States alone surveys suggest an estimated one million people attempt to kill themselves, with females attempting three times more than men. Now these are some intensely high numbers, so instead of looking at the bigger picture – Let’s narrow it down. Down to one person in particular. Hamlet. Hamlet is a play written by William Shakespeare and something almost every person who has gone through a high school career has read, and maybe even watched in

Hamlet feels the moment of death is important and has to come at the right time. Hamlet had one well known opportunity to kill Claudius, but his hesitation came in when he realized he was praying. According to Karl S Guthke hamlet did not kill Claudius while he was praying because if he was to have stabbed him in the back at that moment he would go straight to heaven no matter how sinful his life was. ( Guthke 91) Hamlet shows how important the moment of death is when he says “that he will wait until lust and sin come back, and when his soul would be at the door of hell.” (Kilgore)He is constantly putting it off, because he is not ready, because he has not done thinking about it. Hamlet says he will not kill him now, he wants to find a moment that when killed he will be sent to hell.(Shakespeare)

Hamlet believes that when people do evil things they are sent to hell. A person that lived a righteous life they go to Heaven. This thought may had put fear into Hamlet. Evelynoconner states that “yet despite being suicidal, he does not kill himself because he fears divine retribution (that he’ll burn in hell forever)." Hamlet hated his life and the current situation he was in that he thought about ending his own life but was too scared about what would happen to him in the afterlife. In the book he says “To grunt and sweat under a weary life, but that the dread of something after death”. (Hamlet. Act 3 Scene 1. Lines 85-86). So if the thought of his religion made him hesitate to end his own life what would make it any different to end Claudius’s? In the end Hamlet realized after he was sent to England that he had no choice anymore. Claudius sent him there to be killed. That’s when Hamlet realized that it was either him or Claudius. Hamlets religion had a big role in why he delayed killing