Hamlet: Don't Leave This World Without a Fight
There comes a point in life when we ask ourselves the real meaning of our existence. There is a feeling of emptiness inside that never goes away, even when we try to fill it with answers and concepts. These questions have to do with our awareness of death, and it is also a confrontation with the meaninglessness of life in general. This philosophy is knows as existential angst and The New Oxford American Dictionary defines it as, “philosophy concerned with existence, especially human existence as viewed in theories of existentialism”. Shakespeare introduces us to Hamlet, a very bright young man who seems to constantly question death and humanity. Hamlet’s existential philosophy consist of ending as nothing more than dust. No matter how important we might become when we are alive, or how many goods we might possess, death is inevitable.
When Hamlet says, “Alas, poor/ Yorick! I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite jest,/of most excellent fancy. He had bore me on his back a/ thousand times, and now how abhorred in my/ imagination it is! My gorge rises at it (183-187),” he is reminiscing about the good old days with Yorick, the jester. He remembers Yorik as someone who was always fun and creative. This scene tell us that Hamlet respected Yorik and he feels sad to see him in such a state. Hamlet even mentions that he feels sick at the sight of his jester’s skull and thinks about the time when Yorick was still alive.
Hamlet then says, “Here hung those/ lips that I have kissed I know now how oft. Where be/ your gibes now? Your gambols, your songs, your/ flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table on/ a roar? Not one now, to mock your own grinning?/ Quite chopfallen? (187-194).” He keeps remembering Yorick, the times they played, and the kisses he gave him as a child. Hamlet misses all of Yorick 's jokes and says that now that he is gone and the skull is all that is left, there is no one laughing and no one making Yorick, or
When Hamlet says, “Alas, poor/ Yorick! I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite jest,/of most excellent fancy. He had bore me on his back a/ thousand times, and now how abhorred in my/ imagination it is! My gorge rises at it (183-187),” he is reminiscing about the good old days with Yorick, the jester. He remembers Yorik as someone who was always fun and creative. This scene tell us that Hamlet respected Yorik and he feels sad to see him in such a state. Hamlet even mentions that he feels sick at the sight of his jester’s skull and thinks about the time when Yorick was still alive.
Hamlet then says, “Here hung those/ lips that I have kissed I know now how oft. Where be/ your gibes now? Your gambols, your songs, your/ flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table on/ a roar? Not one now, to mock your own grinning?/ Quite chopfallen? (187-194).” He keeps remembering Yorick, the times they played, and the kisses he gave him as a child. Hamlet misses all of Yorick 's jokes and says that now that he is gone and the skull is all that is left, there is no one laughing and no one making Yorick, or
Cited: New Oxford American Dictionary 3rd edition 2010 by Oxford University press, Inc. Print Shakespeare, William. “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” Introduction To Literature, ed/ by Kathleen Shain Cai, et. al. New York: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2011. Print