A Study of Physical and Figurative Death in Hamlet
Abu Obaydah Maky Sagheer
Istanbul Aydin University, Institute of Graduate Studies, English Language and Literature Department
Auz Auktum
Istanbul Aydin University, Institute of Graduate Studies, English Language and Literature Department
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25130/jls.4.3.8
Keywords: Death, Revenge, Personal existence, Afterlife truth, Morality
Abstract
Hamlet is the most famous work in English literature. In which, Shakespeare‘s brilliance takes the reader to another level of analyzing literary texts. The themes Shakespeare deals with in Hamlet are not new, but it is the first literary work that tries to explore the nature of death. Through Hamlet‘s character, Shakespeare mentions different views of death. Hamlet is a tragic play that is full of bloodsheds, not only because it tries to define the nature of death, but also there is already the death of social values in Hamlet‘s society. This study aims at analyzing the concept of death for Hamlet taking into consideration the different views and doubts about death. It also analyzes the metaphorical death of social and moral values in Elsinore society. These physical and figurative deaths lead to make Hamlet one of the most tragic works in human history. What the reader concludes at the end of this study is that death is something abstracting, and it is inevitable for everyone. However, only one character survives the bloodbath at the end of the play because of his moral attitude.
