The Existential Hamlet

The multiplicity of the multifaceted themes in Hamlet by William Shakespeare has been itself a theme of many scholarly discussions over the centuries. Among its many aspects, the existential Hamlet with its focus on the human existence, life, death and life beyond death is perhaps the basic one that first catches our attention. When a heinous crime like murder or betrayal is committed, the natural and the moral order are disrupted the balance of life is shaken. The results that may emanate from it in the form of a cycle of crimes, natural and psychological disorders and paralysis are essentially disastrous. In such cases, the life destroyed wrongly and untimely suffers in afterlife and brings a death-in-life existence for those who were close to him on earth. The maddening emotions of revenge and remorse predominate then over the living ones and lead them to the unnaturalness of mind and action. Hamlet having from the very start murder and death, a restless apparition, a dying and degenerating soul, incest and revenge and remorse perhaps exemplifies this better than any other work of art.

From the very start, Hamlet is pale, gloomy and unhappy that is in contrast to the dazzle of the court. He likes to be alone and his lonely words unveil his mental suffering more vibrantly O, that this too too solid flesh would melt,Thaw and resolve itself into a dewOr that Everlasting had not fixdHis canon gainst self-slaughter O God O GodHow weary, stale, flat and unprofitableSeem to me all the uses of the worldFie ont ah fie . . .(I, ii. 129) It seems that Hamlet has lost the sense of life and more significantly, of lifes significance. He has been so blinded by his misery that he is unable to see the light in life. It is true that he has reasons for his this mental state-first his fathers death and secondly his utter disgust at his mothers second marriage revealed in his soliloquywithin a monthEre yet the salt of most unrighteous tearsHad left the flushing in her galled eyes,She married.(I. ii. 153)Hamlet feels intense pain at his fathers death and agony at his mothers quick forgetfulness(Knight 18). To Hamlet, his mothers move is surely infidelity and as Claudius, the king and her husband, is the brother of the late king, Hamlets father, his mothers second marriage is an incest. Hamlets agony is unbearable his father has been murdered and his mother has been dishonored forever by her act of marriage.

Hamlet sees his dead fathers apparition and talks to it. His pain is deepened by the secrets of death(Knight 18) from the restless apparition I could a tale unfold whose lightest wordwould harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood.(I, v, 15) Then he gets the hidden fact that his fathers murderer is now the king and is also the husband to his mother. Hamlets mental agony is finally and horribly intensified. Hamlet could have only recovered from the appalling mental state he presently in to the normal one if he were able to forget about his father. He could also have forgiven his mother then. But the fact that the murderer is on Denmarks throne constantly reminds him of the devilish crime. Hence forgetfulness is impossible. The irony of the Ghosts parting words are terrible(Knight 19)Adieu, Adieu Hamlet, remember me. (I. v. 91) This has a phenomenal influence on Hamlets mind and Hamlet realizes that he has been trapped by the fate and repeats Now to my wordIt is Adieu, Adieu Hamlet remember me.I have sworn t. and keeps his oath throughout the play. Life has lost meaning for Hamlet who has again lost the sense of purpose. But to Hamlet comes the command of a grave act-revenge. He is now determined to avenge his fathers murder and punish the murderer.

The disease of the longing for revenge spreads fast on Hamlets mind and soon his soul is infected. There is now only one thing that can save his soul-his love for Ophelia. He hath, my lord, of late made many tendersOf his affection to me(I, iii, 99), Ophelia admits to Polonius. But unfortunately he is also deprived of it. Ophelia deserts him, when he needs her, in obedience to Polonius command. The result is pathetic on Hamlets part as if he is mad, As if he had been loosed out of HellTo speak of horrors(II. i. 77) Now his extreme melancholia(Knight 22) leads him to abnormal behaviors. He becomes more and more cynical. His psychological disintegration is now apparent as the thought of foulness is to him the basis of lile(Knight 22)For if the sun breed maggots in a dead dog(II. ii. 183).

Hamlets horror at the fact of death and disgust at life are the outward expressions of his sick soul. In his case, the illness is deeper than his loss of Ophelia, his mothers incest or his fathers death. It is not that Hamlet does not avenge his fathers murder due to his lack of courage or his hatred for bloodshed. One reason behind this is that his wits diseases(iii.ii.341)his will is paralysed and confused. Analyzing himself inwardly, Hamlet now curses and hates himself for he realizes his lack of passion(Knight 23). He hates himself the more for his futile self-hatred. He is now ambiguous to himself. Now Hamlet considers his past love for Ophelia as childish. To him, love is not anything different from sex and sex is not from uncleanliness. Being sick of the world, of man, of love (Knight 25) Hamlet denies finally the significance of humanity. His mental destruction is a speedy process. He becomes cruel to Ophelia and his mother. He finds a diabolical pleasure in tormenting the king by the murder of Gonzago and when he finds the king conscience-stricken at prayer, takes a devilish joy in the thought of preserving his life for a more damning death. It may also be his paralysed will and thoughts for which he could not kill. But he kills Polonius in error. It has been argued by many critics that death is truly the theme of Hamlet, for, besides the apparent deaths-Polonius and Ophelia die and the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are arranged by Hamlet, most significantly there is the spiritual death of Hamlet. So Hamlet focuses in his soliloquy on the terrors of an after life. But death is only one of the many themes of the play. Hamlet who oscillates between the principle of good that is love and that of evil which is loathing and cruelty (Knight 29) is only a physical representation of the inner struggle of human beings. The theme of the totality of human existence from life, death to something beyond is profoundly touched by the play.