Discuss Hamlets attitude to death and the afterlife Essay Example for Free

Discuss junctures attitude to death and the afterlife EssayDiscuss Hamlets attitude to death and the afterlife, giving an indication as to how both contemporaneous audience and modern audiences might view it. Hamlet deals with situations, which require a single-minded response. However, by the end of the twentieth century a large section of people were unfamiliar with church worship and words of the bible, which makes modern interpretation of it much more difficult which Elizabethan and Jacobean audience of Shakespe ars time on the other hand had strong beliefs in religion, includes specifically the afterlife. Hamlet shares the views of the contemporary audience and we must therefore try to understand his religious perspectives in the course that contemporary audiences would have done. To the modern audience the religious ideas and beliefs of Hamlet may seem strange 1 There is never an ideal production of Hamlet any interpretation must limit. For our decade I think the play provide be about the disillusionment which produces apathy of the will so secret that commitment to politics, to religion or to life is impossible Hamlet is always on the brink of action, but something inside him stops the final committed action.It is an sensation which can encounter in the youth today. I agree with this statement but I think that it is Hamlets conscience that holds him back from killing Claudius rather than untarnished disillusionment. For the Shakespearean audience, a religious theme would have been established at the very beginning of Hamlet when the ghost fades on the crowing of the clock and Marcellus says more or less say that ever gainst that season comes Wherin our Saviors birth is celebrated, This bird of dawning singeth all night long And wherefore, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad.The nights are wholesome, then no planets strike, No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm, So hallowd and so gracious is that time No spirits are allowed to walk the earth in the day. The Crowing of the cock could also be a religious reference to St Peters denial of Christ before the crucifixion, all of which would have been readily understood by a less secular audience than a modern one. When Laertes discovers that Hamlet killed his father, Polonius, his reaction is in complete contrast to Hamlets when he discovers what happened to his father.Laertes is prepared to go to quarry to avenge his fathers death and is more concerned about getting his revenge than what happens to him. The final result of Laertes decisiveness is the death of Hamlet. Laertes gets his revenge, but at great cost. In a traditional revenge tragedy the search for revenge would predominantly lie with the hero of the play. However, Shakespeare makes Hamlet very aware of the consequences of his actions, which is why this is not the emblematic revenge tragedy that Jacobean audiences were familiar with.This is because Shakespeare wanted to show that Hamlet has a morality th at rises above vengeance. Laertes takes on the role of the character who demands vengeance heedless of the consequences. Hamlet, as I have already suggested, is very much a thinker and considers the consequences of his actions. He procrastinates about taking revenge throughout the play and ironically it is Claudius who suggests the fencing match and the poisoned wine, which ultimately allows Hamlet to honour the Ghosts wishes and kill Claudius.When Hamlets fathers ghost first appears to him, he wonders whether or not to accept it at face value. This is because Shakespeare has admit the church belief that no soul could ever return from the grave so all in reality were evil spirits or devils who are attempting to entrap mortals into their power. On first seeing the ghost Hamlet says Angels and ministers of grace defend us Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damnd, Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell, Be thy intents wicked or charitable, Thou comst in such questionab le shape That I will speak to thee. Ill call thee Hamlet