Death and Afterlife in Hamlet

 Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet is widely considered one of the best adaptations to date, and he is regarded as the best Shakespearean actor in many circles. Although the play does feature a few comedic scenes, overall it has, quite fittingly, a very dull and melancholy theme to it.

Death and afterlife in Olivier’s Hamlet is presented with uncertainty which is portrayed through Hamlet’s indecisiveness. In the famous “To be, or not to be” scene, Olivier (Hamlet) watches over waves crashing violently on some rocks beneath him from the top of the ramparts, where he considers suicide as he draws out a dagger, but decides against it as he seems to fear “…in that sleep of death what dreams may come”. It seems as if Hamlet is weary of life, but fears what may come after, which proves to be the deciding factor in him choosing to live. This theme of uncertainty of what happens after death seems to recur throughout the play.


Another instance where Hamlet is bothered by this doubt is when he chances upon his uncle praying. Hamlet has the opportunity to kill Claudius but does not as he wants his uncle to go to hell and not heaven. This pivotal scene is rather underwhelming, because Hamlet decides to catch him in an act of lust than in an act of prayer. And all of Hamlet’s assumptions are based on the suppositious idea of a man going to heaven regardless of any sins committed if he dies while praying.


Death is not an uncommon occurrence in Hamlet, as almost all the main characters of the play are found to be dead towards the end, including Hamlet. The deaths begin with Polonius, who is “accidentally” stabbed by Hamlet, and it ends with Hamlet’s death. 


Ophelia’s death is quite peculiar, as Olivier had omitted a section of the original play in his adaptation. In Act 5 Scene 1 of the original play, two clowns are discussing the unusual circumstances of Ophelia’s death where they debate on whether she would have been given a Christian burial had she not been nobility; however, this scene has been excluded in Olivier’s version. Ophelia is shown floating away in a state of delirium, which could mean that Olivier wanted to show Ophelia’s death as a result of her insanity.


Death is chaotic in Hamlet from the start. Most of the characters meet their ends in the most unanticipated ways. The tragic cornucopia of death at the end of the play is an example for this. Queen Gertrude is poisoned when she drinks from a chalice set aside for Hamlet, while Laertes is stabbed by Hamlet who gains control of Laertes’ own poisoned blade in the match against Hamlet. 


I think that in Hamlet, Shakespeare wanted to depict life and death as wholly uncertain with a touch of calamity. We are all bound by the laws of unpredictability and Shakespeare brings this out in Hamlet in a more dramatic and tragic manner.

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