why do we have to accept death?

[porcupinebaby]

What I know is that hamlet accepts death, but why?

[Gladys]

For Hamlet, life is no better than "an unweeded garden".


How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable
Seem to me all the uses of this world!
Fie on't! ah, fie! 'Tis an unweeded garden
That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature
Possess it merely.

As for us,


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.

[mike thomas]

Ever seen Durer's Melencholia? It tells exactly why young Hamlet is so down in the dumps.

But learn to read the symbols first.

Read the opening lines from Julius Caesar, then look at, and around about, the feet of Durer's sad lady.

Read the references to dogs in WS, then see Durer.

Its all there, but its hard to see a fly upon a mountain.

[Scarlett O'Hara]

I guess, for Hamlet, it's simply a case of finding nothing worthwhile in life and perhaps presuming that death will bring him what he believes he needs. He might need some sort of resolution and there is nothing more conclusive than death. Also, Hamlet is not some over-dramatic character, he is rather logical and rational and thus perhaps when knowing that when life begins it must end, he accepts his own mortality. Throughout the play he does struggle though, like with the Alexander the Great analogy he uses.
He is a rather intricate character, isn't he?
To an extent I think I understand what he is experiencing, but then again question myself, asking exactly what you are asking.
Why must we succumb to our own mortality?

[Gladys]

Hamlet accepts death because to die is human - there being no choice - and to reconcile with the inevitable is rational: "yet it will come".

Why must we succumb? I, like Hamlet, see little merit in devoting precious time to an intractable question.

[Beewulf]

To say that, in Act V, Hamlet has come to accept death is missing the point a bit. Immediately before the final scene, Hamlet admits to Horatio that his mind is troubled by some inchoate fear:

But thou wouldst not think how ill all's here about my heart

Hearing this, Horatio is quick to suggest that Hamlet listen to his fear and ask that the duel (which by the way, is a competitive match and not meant to inflict injury on either side) be postponed until Hamlet feels less troubled:


If your mind dislike any thing, obey it: I will forestall their repair hither, and say you are not fit.

Earlier in the play, Hamlet would have probably heeded Horatio's advice; now, however, Hamlet has left behind second guessing (i.e., "thinking too precisely"):


Not a whit, we defy augury: there's 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:

First Hamlet dismisses "augury," i.e., prophetic skill, as a way to anticipate or avoid misfortune. Then he refers to the Gospel of Matthew, and Jesus' statement that although sparrows are bought and sold for pennies, even these seemingly worthless creatures do not live or die without the intercession of providence (God). Ultimately, one must not worry about the future, but be ready for that whatever happens and respond appropriately.

More than accepting the fact of death, Hamlet is accepting the need to act. Action may lead to death, but the time and place of one's death has been established by God. Thus, it makes little sense to avoid the necessity to act simply to preserve one's life. This is what takes him confidently to the duel. Ironically, if he had opted out, Hamlet would have lived, and about ten minutes after he refusal to fight Laretes, the surprising entrance of Fortinbras would have quickly altered the political landscape in Denmark, perhaps forcing Polonius from power. Maybe Shakespeare's point is, "Don't be like Hamlet; trust your instincts."

[Gladys]

To say that, in Act V, Hamlet has come to accept death is missing the point a bit. Immediately before the final scene, Hamlet admits to Horatio that his mind is troubled by some inchoate fear:


But thou wouldst not think how ill all's here about my heart

The issues are so complex. From the first, heart-sore Hamlet has been losing the will to live in "an unweeded garden".


Ultimately, one must not worry about the future, but be ready for that whatever happens and respond appropriately.

Far from acting courageously in faith, Christian or otherwise, Hamlet is the stoic with hope abandoned: "Absent thee from felicity awhile,| And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain".


More than accepting the fact of death, Hamlet is accepting the need to act.

Rather, Hamlet aimlessly declines to act, deferring vengeance for his murdered father. As Horatio suggests, Hamlet behaves recklessly and death comes none too soon, in his and our vale of tears.

[Beewulf]

Gladys,

I don't necessarily disagree with your observations about Hamlet. I do argue that the Hamlet who begins the play is significantly different from the man who ends the play, and that one of those differences is that he puts aside the need to over-think his actions. For example, while it's true that during much of the play, he, as you put it "declines to act" and defers "vengeance for his murdered father" he does, in Act V, kill Claudius, thus revenging his father's murder--as well as his mother's. Remember too, that Hamlet is guilty of Polonius' murder, although, unlike Cladius', this murder was not premeditated. Perhaps it's poetic justice that Hamlet must die for his crime, even as he makes another man pay for his.

[Gladys]

I do argue that the Hamlet who begins the play is significantly different from the man who ends the play, and that one of those differences is that he puts aside the need to over-think his actions.

Hamlet does change late in the play, at Ophelia's funeral and the Laertes' duel. He changes from the angry young man to the mature adult, who no longer expects much of life while looking death in the face.


Remember too, that Hamlet is guilty of Polonius' murder, although, unlike Claudius', this murder was not premeditated. Perhaps it's poetic justice that Hamlet must die for his crime, even as he makes another man pay for his.

When Hamlet, in the heat of the moment, kills Claudius for his role in the deaths of Gertrude and Laertes, he has become the arm of royal justice, as Fortinbras and Horatio clearly perceive. After all, the venerating words of Fortinbras, "Let four captains | Bear Hamlet, like a soldier, to the stage", are not applied to Claudius the slain king.

How ironical that Claudius's killing should lead to veneration for Hamlet rather than regicidal disgrace, and yet it avails him naught. Ashes to ashes. :(

[Beewulf]

Gladys,

You wrote, that as part of Hamlet's development, he "no longer expects much of life while looking death in the face." While I'm pressed for time, I would like, at a later date, to use textual analysis to demonstrate that while Hamlet can now look death in the face, his response to death is not that he "no longer expects much of life," but that he now understands the ephemeral nature of life. There will be more to say on this, but I've got to go.

[Gladys]

...his response to death is not that he "no longer expects much of life," but that he now understands the ephemeral nature of life. There will be more to say on this...

That Hamlet well understands the ephemeral nature of life is clear even early in the play:


How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable
Seem to me all the uses of this world!

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A little month, or ere those shoes were old
With which she followed my poor father's body
Like Niobe, all tears- why she, even she
(O God! a beast that wants discourse of reason
Would have mourn'd longer) married with my uncle;

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Why, what should be the fear?
I do not set my life at a pin's fee;
And for my soul, what can it do to that,
Being a thing immortal as itself?

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You cannot, sir, take from me anything that I will more
willingly part withal- except my life, except my life, except my life,

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What a piece of work is a man! ...
And yet to me what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me-

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