Cadet Will Reeves
4/10/17
Help Received: See works cited
Short Assignment on Hamlet
Part 1
According to Christians standards of morality and English law in early modern English thought, suicide was a sin and a crime against oneself. However, English writers and playwrights offered varied and complex perspectives on suicide (Jordan 212). In A Custom of the Isle of Cea, Michael de Montaigne outlines several different non-Christian views on suicide. The classical view holds that one’s life is subject to the treatment one receives at the hands of others; however, one has control over one’s death. Moreover, common medical practices include one’s body being cut and bled, so if one has a very serious disease or issue, one must take extraordinary measures to combat that disease or issue, such as the taking of one’s own life. Besides, one’s body is one’s own property, so one is not committing theft by taking one’s own life. However, de Montaigne also presents the view that one’s life is not in fact one’s own, but instead ultimately belongs to God, and must be used for his glory. De Montaigne offers a third views that excuses or justifies suicide in extreme cases, such as when one is facing an imminent threat of rape or torture (de Montaigne 213-14).
The Protestant clergyman John Sym offered an explanation for a person’s motivations to commit suicide. Sym posits that a person may be overcome with frustration or disappointment toward some event in their life. For example, a person may be unable to find a suitable sexual partner, or those already married may find that their spouse frustrates their desires in some way. However, Sym condemns this as an “unreasonable” motivation to kill oneself. Lastly, Sym suggests, a person may commit suicide because they have undergone some experience that has caused them unbearable shame (Sym 215-16).
In Biathanatos, the poet and clergyman John Donne challenges the teachings of the Church and the laws of England prohibiting suicide. Donne draws the concept of the law of self-preservation into his argument. According to Donne, the law of self-preservation means that one is always trying to obtain what it best for oneself. In some cases, this may mean killing oneself to escape some great evil. If one brings about a “greater good” for oneself through death, one does not violate the law of nature. Donne justifies this with biblical teaching. He refers to the commands of Jesus to his followers to “hate” their own lives. That is, Christians must be willing to sacrifice their lives for God and his glory. Thus, in some cases, Christians should act on this
“hatred” of themselves by killing themselves (Donne 217-19).
Part 2
In his soliloquy in Act III, Scene 1, Hamlet engages in a debate with himself over whether he should end all of his present earthly troubles by taking his own life. Hamlet concludes that it is cowardice that makes men choose the harsh circumstances of earthly life over the great unknown of what lies in wait for them after death. In this soliloquy by Hamlet, Shakespeare presents a new, twisted view of suicide that likely would have surprised his original audiences.
Early in the play, it becomes clear that Hamlet’s outlook on life in general is very bleak, which is understandable concerning his circumstances. Hamlet does not seem to see any joy or pleasure in living. He produces a long list of things that make life miserable: “The whips and scorns of time, /Th’ oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely, /The pangs of disprized love, the law’s delay, /The insolence of office, and the spurns /That patient merit of the’ unworthy takes” (III. i. 70-74). Thus, for Hamlet, death is a welcome thought. In fact, he calls death “a consummation devoutly to be wished” (III. i. 63-64). Suicide would then be a means for a man to finally obtain rest and peace. Of course, the most common early modern English view was that suicide was a sin against God and crime against oneself. God called on people to withstand “the heartache and the thousand natural shocks /Which flesh is heir to” because their lives were not their own, but his, and were intended to bring him glory (III. i. 62-63). Suicide, then, was a selfish act that deprived God of a human life that he created to serve and praise him. Moreover, this selfish act could be interpreted as cowardice, because, through suicide, a person chooses flee from the trials and tribulations of life instead of persevering through them so that God might be magnified.
In Hamlet’s soliloquy, however, Shakespeare does not present suicide as an act of cowardice. Instead, for Hamlet, it is cowardice that prevents him from carrying out the act of killing himself. He wonders aloud, “Who would fardels bear, /To grunt and sweat under a weary life, /But that the dread of something after death…/Makes us rather bear those ills we have /Than fly to others that we know not of?” (III. i. 76-78, 81-82). From Hamlet’s point of view, it is clearly reasonable that a man would rather escape the harsh circumstances of his life by bringing about his own death than simply endure his earthly tortures. It is his own fear, that is, his own selfish desire not to experience suffering, that restrains him from taking a risk that could result in even worse suffering than what he is experiencing on earth. Therefore, Hamlet laments, “Thus conscience does make cowards of us all” (III. i. 83). For Hamlet, it is not some noble higher calling to continue living for God’s glory that stops him from plunging his “bare bodkin” into his heart—it is instead his own cowardice (III. i. 76).
Works Cited
De Montaigne, Michel. A Custom of the Isle of Cea. Hamlet. By William Shakespeare. Ed. Constance Jordan. New York: Pearson Education, Inc., 2005. 213-15. Print.
Donne, John. Biathanatos. Hamlet. By William Shakespeare. Ed. Constance Jordan. New York: Pearson Education, Inc., 2005. 217-19. Print.
Jordan, Constance, ed. Hamlet. By William Shakespeare. New York: Pearson Education, Inc., 2005. Print.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Constance Jordan. New York: Pearson Education, Inc., 2005. Print.
Sym, John. Life’s Preservative against Self-Killing. Hamlet. By William Shakespeare. Ed. Constance Jordan. New York: Pearson Education, Inc., 2005. 215-16. Print.