Throughout history the concept of death has continually sparked many arguments, theories and views. This is seen in two older playwrights’ in particular, Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Plato’s The Apology. These pieces question their society’s attitudes towards suicide and further argue for a social re-characterization of the opinions of death at the time. Through this argument it can be concluded that these texts analyze suicide in a positive light, promoting and encouraging the benefits of death and providing a further exploration of the meaning of life. Ultimately, death is understood and portrayed positively in both texts. Societal values and opinions of death and suicide at the time are challenged through the discussions presented in both
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The most notable example of this is portrayed in the engaging and popular soliloquy of Act 3 Scene 1, which starts with the rhetorical question “to be or not to be, that is the question”. Hamlet is seen constantly questioning what it means to live and what it means to die, perhaps to show the questioning nature of the time, but also arguably to begin a justification of why death should be sought after, leaving suicide a plausible suggestion. In this soliloquy, Hamlet is fighting and questioning himself and his own thoughts, he wonders if it is nobler to end the nastiness or to end himself “Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And, by opposing, end them? To die”. In addition, throughout both texts those who fear death are presented as cowardly “Thus conscience does 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”. Additionally, Hamlet is constantly seen battling with himself as he struggles to fight his depression. It can be inferred that this terrible battle with self and all the problems in the world around him is then contrasted with the positively portrayed death, more specifically – self slaughter. Not only is …show more content…
In Hamlet it is argued that Christian tradition is the only thing that has deterred him, a further characterisation of the re-evaluation context. Suicide and Christianity is dealt with in a variety of ways, beginning with the wish that there was no law against self slaughter, implying that was his only deterrent “Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew, or that the Everlasting had not fixed His canon 'gainst self-slaughter!”. However as the play continues, reference to Christianity diminishes slightly and Hamlet seemingly moves away from the Christian influence. He mentions that no-one has returned from the dead to tell us what it is like, suggesting that he no longer cares about or believes in the Christian law or society’s views. In contrast, the end of the play and use of Athena’s death then revisits the originally Christian idea through the small part of the grave diggers “Is she to be buried in Christian burial when she willfully seeks her own salvation?”. This is seen as the final reference to the societal and Christian dissatisfaction. While this can be portrayed as a negative view of suicide, when compared to the attitude portrayed in the rest of the play, it becomes a mere hurdle rather than a deterrence and in the scheme of things death is still portrayed
The most notable example of this is portrayed in the engaging and popular soliloquy of Act 3 Scene 1, which starts with the rhetorical question “to be or not to be, that is the question”. Hamlet is seen constantly questioning what it means to live and what it means to die, perhaps to show the questioning nature of the time, but also arguably to begin a justification of why death should be sought after, leaving suicide a plausible suggestion. In this soliloquy, Hamlet is fighting and questioning himself and his own thoughts, he wonders if it is nobler to end the nastiness or to end himself “Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And, by opposing, end them? To die”. In addition, throughout both texts those who fear death are presented as cowardly “Thus conscience does 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”. Additionally, Hamlet is constantly seen battling with himself as he struggles to fight his depression. It can be inferred that this terrible battle with self and all the problems in the world around him is then contrasted with the positively portrayed death, more specifically – self slaughter. Not only is …show more content…
In Hamlet it is argued that Christian tradition is the only thing that has deterred him, a further characterisation of the re-evaluation context. Suicide and Christianity is dealt with in a variety of ways, beginning with the wish that there was no law against self slaughter, implying that was his only deterrent “Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew, or that the Everlasting had not fixed His canon 'gainst self-slaughter!”. However as the play continues, reference to Christianity diminishes slightly and Hamlet seemingly moves away from the Christian influence. He mentions that no-one has returned from the dead to tell us what it is like, suggesting that he no longer cares about or believes in the Christian law or society’s views. In contrast, the end of the play and use of Athena’s death then revisits the originally Christian idea through the small part of the grave diggers “Is she to be buried in Christian burial when she willfully seeks her own salvation?”. This is seen as the final reference to the societal and Christian dissatisfaction. While this can be portrayed as a negative view of suicide, when compared to the attitude portrayed in the rest of the play, it becomes a mere hurdle rather than a deterrence and in the scheme of things death is still portrayed