The Philosopher Hamlet

(Related to Unit 1: Death)

Hamlet is considered to be one of if not THE most complex characters ever created. “Hamlet” is Shakespeare's longest play and Hamlet the character has more lines than any other character in any of Shakespeare's plays. The fact that this play is so long and that Hamlet is given so much to say leads me to think Shakespeare was trying to say something very important. In particular, two important and related issues he addresses are the problem of death, and the problem of change.

The French Existentialist writer, Albert Camus, directly addresses the topic of death in the context of suicide in his interpretation of "The Myth of Sisyphus." He the book with the following line: "There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy. All the rest....comes afterwards." I believe this is one of the primary messages Shakespeare is pounding into us through the character of Hamlet.

Hamlet is surrounded by death, but he is the only character in the play who confronts it philosophically (Claudius laments murdering his brother, but only because he feels guilt; Ophelia avoids dealing with her father’s death through insanity; and Laertes only reacts to his father’s death by seeking revenge). In “the” soliloquy, "To be, or not to be…", Hamlet’s philosophical training really comes through and this is evident in the first line. He doesn't say, "To be, or not to be, hmmmm, that's a really good question". He says it is THE question, and this is exactly what Camus said—it is THE question, the only question, and until you have dealt with it, all the other questions are meaningless.

Camus and Shakespeare are both saying that until you have confronted the possibility of suicide and come to an answer on what you're going to do about the fact that you are going to die and you have the option of facilitating that act, you can't deal with any other life issues well because your answer to confronting death frames all the other answers. This means that Hamlet is Shakespeare's philosopher. He is also obsessed, as obsessed as anyone could be, with death.

For example, in the gravedigger scene Hamlet pics up Yorick's skull and looks right into its empty eye sockets. (side note: you gotta wonder why he and Horatio are sort of leisurely wandering through a cemetery....rather morbid.) This particular action, looking into the empty eye sockets is something to take note of because Shakespeare gave almost no stage direction in any of his plays; yet here he does and instructs the actor to pick up the skull. Every version that I have seen, live or movie, everyone who plays Hamlet does the same thing, they look into those eye sockets. In that moment, Hamlet is looking into the eyes of death itself.

This action is philosophically significant because, historically, in Western Philosophy and the indo-european mindset, metaphors and allusions to vision have direct reference to knowledge and understanding. To look into the eyes of someone is to know them. To see through the eyes of someone is to understand the world as they do. The eyes are the portholes to our innermost being because that's where knowledge and understanding lie. This is the philosophical and cultural legacy we have carried for 2500 years. So, when Hamlet looks into Yorick's "eyes," he is trying to understand death. He hasn't killed himself, and he has acknowledged that the fear of the unknown is what keeps him alive ("for in that sleep of death what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause......For who would bear the whips and scorns of time.....but that the dread of something after death..." Act 3, Sc. 1). In a metaphorical way he is looking to Yorick for the knowledge of what happens after death.

Also, the idea of change is prevalent throughout this play, and death is the biggest change of all ("the undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns” (Act 3, Sc. 1). When Hamlet comes home from school his whole world has changed, so much so that he no longer has a ground upon which he can figure out what is true and what is false. From the beginning, the only truth that he is given comes to him by a ghost—from death itself. As Hamlet is the only character to directly confront death, he also turns out to be the only character who confronts change. Gertrude is obviously in denial otherwise she wouldn't be so shallow and obvious. Claudius facilitated the big change in Kingship but wants to very quickly make the kingdom at ease and go on with things as they were (this is evidenced in Act 1., Sc. 2 where he addresses the court). Polonius gives no hint of any problems with the switch. And Ophelia dies because the changes that happen are too much for her to handle. Hamlet, because he has the philosophical mind and is obsessed with death, can work within the dramatic changes and manipulate them to his advantage at every turn. An interesting bit of irony in this is seen in how the only character who can match wits with Hamlet is the gravedigger—a man whose job it is to deal with the dead.

Hamlet understands and can work with change. He is obsessed with death. He shows the torment involved in being cognizant of the inevitability of our own demise. "O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!" (Act1 Sc.1) My guess is that my cat does not worry over things like this. Her greatest concern is figuring out where to nap. Only people worry about dying. Only people wish to die. Only people question why it is we have to die because it's only people who know they're going to die. This play begins and ends with death, and it's Shakespeare's way of saying, wake up!