Existentialism is a philosophy concerned with finding self and the meaning of life through free will, choice, and personal responsibility. The belief is that people are searching to find out who and what they are throughout life as they make choices based on their experiences, beliefs, and outlook. I find that Hamlet, in his questioning of life or death and to take action or not, fulfills many existentialist ideals. Though existentialism wasn’t labeled until the 20rh century, Shakespeare can almost be viewed as existentialism’s prolific precursor, as a writer who focuses on existentialist ideas in his own theatrical and poetic terms before they were fully developed in the philosophical and literary terms of the 20th century. This is especially exemplified in “Hamlet”, and even more specifically in the “To Be or Not To Be” speech, in which Hamlet questions death and human existence, and the choices every person makes regarding those. In his soliloquy, Hamlet is confused with the absurdity of the world and why one may live if death is easier, or if death truly would be easier. He seems obsessed with his pursuit of determining the reason for his existence, as any good existentialist would be, because hee is confounded by the purpose of his life which he gradually realizes is to avenge his father’s death. Hamlet has “inescapably to choose and create his identity or essence or self because man, according to existentialism, has no fixed nature”. This freedom of choice brings “commitment and responsibility, and therefore, it causes anguish”. Hamlet lacks the ability to make decisions; he hesitates and ponders extended periods of time before arriving at a decision as he suffers from perplexity in his self or selves. At his core, Hamlet seems to be the ideal prototype of an existentialist seeking his or her identity, and openly poses the questions that would form the basis of existentialism several centuries later.
Of course Hamlet is the main character and steals the show, his massive word count alone cements that, but, Ophelia is right up there next to Hamlet in terms of interesting characters and is too often overlooked. Hamlet is too obviously obsessed with death in the most clichè manner and wants to commit suicide to escape his suffering, but can't find the courage because he doesn't know what will come after death, posing an existential question and causing his inability to act. This lack of courage fills him with self loathing and adds to his angst over the whole situation. Ophelia also suffers similarly after the death of her father but she is able to do what Hamlet can't convince himself to do- she commits suicide, though this death is a bit debatable. Gertrude describes her death in heaps of detail and presents it as an accident but most believe think that's disputable; given the contempt for those who commit suicide at the time, it seems likely she is fabricating the ...
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