death in hamlet? (1 Viewer)

[_deloso]

what are the main ideas/topics that I should talk about in my paragraphs regarding death in hamlet?
thank you in advance!

 

[yours]

death - important! Talk about suicide as a form of death - hamlet wishes for it in 'o that this too too sullied flesh would melt', then there's the murder of hamlet, you can link some disease imagery with his death to show aspects of corruption linked to his death, his ghost is ambiguous (if he's real, why is he seeking vengeance? He might be a demon - 'the devil hath power t'assume a pleasing form'), reflects values of shakespeare's time though the same ambiguity about death exists today - what lies beyond? the mystery of death fascinates us all
next suicide link = ophelia's death, she is given a burial despite her 'suicide', so there's a contemplation on suicide as a form of death and what may or may not justify it. This fits in better with a feminist argument where you can claim patriarchy 'kills' her.
Hamlet furthers ideas about death in 'to be or not to be' where he decides people don't commit suicide because the conscience makes 'cowards of us all', this is different to his original religious reasoning about the 'canon'.... this shows his development.. then use the 'gravedigger' scene where hamlet realises the commonality of death, is also fascinated by its physical nature and the decay of human flesh after death - he mentions 'alexander' and other greats who turn to dust like us all.

There's so much you can say, google 'hamlet' and 'mortality' - I like shmoops for quotes, but there's lots of sites 'out there'.
Good luck!

 

[_deloso]

death - important! Talk about suicide as a form of death - hamlet wishes for it in 'o that this too too sullied flesh would melt', then there's the murder of hamlet, you can link some disease imagery with his death to show aspects of corruption linked to his death, his ghost is ambiguous (if he's real, why is he seeking vengeance? He might be a demon - 'the devil hath power t'assume a pleasing form'), reflects values of shakespeare's time though the same ambiguity about death exists today - what lies beyond? the mystery of death fascinates us all
next suicide link = ophelia's death, she is given a burial despite her 'suicide', so there's a contemplation on suicide as a form of death and what may or may not justify it. This fits in better with a feminist argument where you can claim patriarchy 'kills' her.
Hamlet furthers ideas about death in 'to be or not to be' where he decides people don't commit suicide because the conscience makes 'cowards of us all', this is different to his original religious reasoning about the 'canon'.... this shows his development.. then use the 'gravedigger' scene where hamlet realises the commonality of death, is also fascinated by its physical nature and the decay of human flesh after death - he mentions 'alexander' and other greats who turn to dust like us all.

There's so much you can say, google 'hamlet' and 'mortality' - I like shmoops for quotes, but there's lots of sites 'out there'.
Good luck!

thanks. But should I talk about death as an essay or as a paragraph. Like should I prepare my quotes and techniques about death for an essay or do 1 paragraph of 3-4 different themes? I think I would prefer the latter since I can talk about different aspects in the play and provide different insight on the given question. What do you think?

 

[umz93]

Death as a paragraph/series of paragraphs. Make sure all your themes are tightly linked in the paragraphs. For example I linked death, religion and society together for my trials and it worked out really well.

 

[yours]

thanks. But should I talk about death as an essay or as a paragraph. Like should I prepare my quotes and techniques about death for an essay or do 1 paragraph of 3-4 different themes? I think I would prefer the latter since I can talk about different aspects in the play and provide different insight on the given question. What do you think?

I would talk about death for only 1 paragraph, 2 if you have a lot of evidence. You cannot put all your eggs in one basket for this module, because the question will give you specific ideas that may not link well to mortality e.g. Love. How do love and mortality go together? They don't, really. You would have to discuss different types of love and why they resonate.

Also @ above, that sounds good but I don't think it's necessary to get 18/19/20. I think nothing beats quotes in this module.

 

[umz93]

Quotes are the foundation, its what you do with the quotes that can allow your marks to sky rocket. Try and find a minor character/event/setting and analyze the HELL out of it, it shows you have detailed knowledge of the play.

 

[katoji]

Death as a paragraph/series of paragraphs. Make sure all your themes are tightly linked in the paragraphs. For example I linked death, religion and society together for my trials and it worked out really well.

How did you link these together? Could you give me examples of your linking sentences?