As Hamlet’s death approaches, we are overwhelmed with conclusions about the nature of death and its impact in a human’s life. Hamlet questions how death doesn’t discriminate individuals, it takes all individuals as humans and not for whom they are: “Do you think Alexander looked o’ this / fashion i’ th’ earth?” (V.i.204-205). The idea of becoming dust, of having a smell grow in your bones and live on forever in our bodies comprehends the importance of our lives, not our deaths. As Hamlet confronts his imminent death and how he will transform into a lifeless skull, we are presented with a dispassionate individual who understands his existence as the culmination of his suffering, as the importance of acting on behalf of his father and his own desires. In the screenshot to the right we see this individual, one who tries to comprehend what life and death truly signify, one who sees and confronts death in this skull, the bones of what once was a joyful individual.
In the preceding moments to Hamlet’s death we are exposed to the character’s reflections on destiny and afterlife as he states: “There is a / special providence in the fall of a
sparrow. If it be / now, ‘tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be / now; if it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all” (V.ii.233-236). As we try to comprehend life and how the decisions we make should or are reflected in our afterlives we are presented with the crudest shadow form of our existence, that which reveals our fears, our impotence and loneliness as we journey on to our final quest. The complexity of such an understanding is captured by the screenshot to the left, the reflection of a fractioned Hamlet, an individual who hopes to be ready for that unavoidable next step.
As Hamlet’s death approaches, we are overwhelmed with conclusions about the nature of death and its impact in a human’s life. Hamlet questions how death doesn’t discriminate individuals, it takes all individuals as humans and not for whom they are: “Do you think Alexander looked o’ this / fashion i’ th’ earth?” (V.i.204-205). The idea of becoming dust, of having a smell grow in your bones and live on forever in our bodies comprehends the importance of our lives, not our deaths. As Hamlet confronts his imminent death and how he will transform into a lifeless skull, we are presented with a dispassionate individual who understands his existence as the culmination of his suffering, as the importance of acting on behalf of his father and his own desires. In the screenshot to the right we see this individual, one who tries to comprehend what life and death truly signify, one who sees and confronts death in this skull, the bones of what once was a joyful individual.
In the preceding moments to Hamlet’s death we are exposed to the character’s reflections on destiny and afterlife as he states: “There is a / special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be / now, ‘tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be / now; if it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all” (V.ii.233-236). As we try to comprehend life and how the decisions we make should or are reflected in our afterlives we are presented with the crudest shadow form of our existence, that which reveals our fears, our impotence and loneliness as we journey on to our final quest. The complexity of such an understanding is captured by the screenshot to the left, the reflection of a fractioned Hamlet, an individual who hopes to be ready for that unavoidable next step.
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