The quote “To be or not to be” from Shakespeare’s Hamlet means to live or to die. Within the scene you can tell he is going through a lot. He seems to be very heavy minded and confused. He says death would be more peaceful than to live. He mentions that both living and death are scary, not knowing which each holds. Eventually being brought to the point that not knowing what happens after death is more daunting than anything. This means that we as people who go through mental issues, think too much and feel in a position to not be able to do anything. We feel sort of out of control of the future (living) and death because neither is truly in our hands.
In act one scene three Hamlet is falling apart not knowing what happens after death. He is trying to show mental health in real world people today. I will be defending this statement. Hamlet in the scene is very heavy minded, he seems sad, and has some anxiety thinking about living vs. death. In the scene he is contemplating suicide and realizes he trapped in world of not knowing. “To die, to sleep no more, and by sleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to tis a consummation devoutly,” (“Mel Gibson”). In this quote Hamlet is clearly saying and thinking about life after death and what it could be. He does not know what the future holds or what after death holds. This is a serious topic some people today go through and in the scene it shows the real emotions and thoughts. Hamlet is trapped in a state of mind fighting with himself. The scene also takes place with tombs and shows the reality of his mind.
Thanatophobia is the fear of death. In the scene you could tell Hamlet was experiencing some thanatophobia. It is clear in the scene that Hamlet is experiencing this. “If your thoughts about death (or dying) are extremely distressing, time-consuming, or stop you from doing important things, you might be experiencing death anxiety.” (“Death Anxiety”). In the scene you can tell he thoughts are distressing and time-consuming. People today also experience this. It can stop them from doing important things as well. It is a common experience but some people experience it worse than the normal person. This is something that proves people today can experience mental health like this. The quote from the article above matches up with the distress and feelings that Hamlet was going through.
Anxiety in today’s society plays a huge factor in everyday life. “Anxiety is both a mental and physical state of negative expectation.” (“What is Anxiety”). For example, depression, sleep issues and trouble concentrating are just some of the issues leading to anxiety in today’s world. Also trauma can lead to anxiety from triggers such as a death, significant events, and anything involving someone important to you. Anxiety also comes in many aspects throughout life in general. There is a mental part of anxiety that could be possibly more detrimental than being run down physically. Sweating, shaking, and trembling are also signs of physical anxiety and if not treated can be harmful to the mental aspect. Also how you treat your mental and physical anxiety goes a long way recovery wise. If you drown your problems in negative thoughts and decisions it will lead to poor health overall.
Anxiety is also something that can lead to suicide if not treated correctly, suicide has become more common throughout this day in age. Suicide is one of the most common causes of death and has only grown every year since it has spiked. “Anxiety disorders are associated with suicide attempts” (The Relationship Between Anxiety Disorders and Suicide Attempts: Findings from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions”). Suicide affects people of all ages, mostly 10-14, and 20-34. Suicide is a leading problem in todays world and only continues to grow worldwide. Around 12.3 million people have thought about committing suicide and about 1.7 million have committed the act. Moral of the story is suicide needs to be talked about more with loved ones and if you plan an action for self harm you need to immediately speak up and find recovery. Depression can also be a factor of anxiety. Which is another reason it is so prevalent in today’s world.
Hamlet was displaying these emotions in the scene being reviewed. He was displaying multiple signs of death anxiety and was contimplating suicide. In other scenes Hamlet also expressed he wants to kill Claudius. In these scenes you see the same type of compilation of life and death. What it would be like if he was still living vs him dying. I think that Hamlet was going through some serious mental health issues in both scenes. Neither one is a “normal” way to act. The way he is acting still matches up with our anxiety and suicide ideas today. This scene was written a long time ago and mental health has gotten increasingly worse but Hamlet was still experiencing those same symptoms.
Some people may say that anxiety and depression are not the same as today. People’s reasoning for anxiety and depression is much different from today’s reasons than it was back then. Social media and other modern influences take much more of a toll on people today. “Is the leading cause of disability for ages 15-44.” (“Facts about depression”). This is why mental health is so much more common and prominent in today’s world. Modern school and work takes so much more on our mental health than what people experienced back then.
The reasons for this not being true is because some mental health is completely held by genetics, especially anxiety. There are other causes for anxiety and depression such as traumatic events, and unhandleable amounts of stress. Although it is true that mental disorders are more common today, the symptoms and experience with it is the same. Hamlet was expressing all the emotions of people with death anxiety today. You can’t say that the symptoms were different when people in those times had the same experience with symptoms. Even though it is more common doesn’t mean that you can say it was completely different.
Hamlet was obviously struggling in act one scene three. I wanted to show how the scene connects and compares to anxiety and depression today. I thought this was important because mental health hasn’t changed much besides becoming more common. All of Hamlet’s emotions matched up with people’s struggles and symptoms today. Even though there might be different causes today as well with work and school being different, the emotions are the same.
Works Cited
“Facts about Depression.” Hope For Depression, 25 Jan. 2021, http://www.hopefordepression.org/depression-facts/?utm_source=google_cpc&utm_medium=ad_grant&utm_campaign=depression_facts&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA84CvBhCaARIsAMkAvkL9SFsma4g0uEr5v7rwNtM33-DI-PtEliCD0Ux2vdms8sHGCfQo3BUaAuXSEALw_wcB.
“Mel Gibson – Hamlet’s Soliloquy.” YouTube, YouTube, 19 Dec. 2013, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei0fnP9s0KA.
Nepon, Josh, et al. “The Relationship between Anxiety Disorders and Suicide Attempts: Findings from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions.” Depression and Anxiety, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Sept. 2010, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2940247/.
Sprockets and Springes 