A Relationship to Death: An Examination of William Shakespeare´s Hamlet

Abstract

Hamlet is an extraordinary play, which is full of deception, drama, intrigue, melancholia and death. This essay will examine Hamlet´s relationship to death in selected acts, scenes and soliloquies from the play. The purpose is to investigate how Hamlet´s relationship to death changes during the play and why. To ascertain the answer to these enquires, I shall use psychology, particularly, the theory of Dr Michael J Diamond´s work and apply it to Hamlet in the sections which will be examined. The analysis in the final subsection will elaborate on Hamlet´s honour and death. In the end, it will be possible to show that Hamlet´s relationship to death is initially a refuge from pain, but that it successively becomes associated with honour.