Grief from Hamlet to Life

Subject: Grief from Hamlet to Life
From: McCandlys Harrison
Date: 2 Mar 2017

In British Literature, I chose to read the book Hamlet, I chose this book at first because it’s a classic. I’m a theatre student so it was an obvious choice for me. The story of Hamlet, for those who don’t know, is a Shakespearian tragedy about a young prince whose father has died. He learns through his friends that the ghost of his father lives on. He eventually talks to him and the king sends him on a quest to get revenge for him, he ends up dying in the end and accomplishing his goal at a hefty cost. But what led me to the issue I chose is a quote from Hamlet.

““Seems,” madam? Nay, it is. I know not “seems.” 'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, Nor customary suits of solemn black, Nor windy suspiration of forced breath, No, nor the fruitful river in the eye, Nor the dejected 'havior of the visage, Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief, That can denote me truly. These indeed “seem,” For they are actions that a man might play. But I have that within which passeth show, These but the trappings and the suits of woe.” I feel that this quote really represents the feeling that everyone with grief feels. Grief is shown all throughout the book and even in the world itself that you can’t see. There is grief for a fallen king, grief for a nation going downhill, grief everywhere. Grief is something that overwhelms Claudius when he tries to pray, Ophelia making the jump, and Hamlet driving his obsession. I’m not an official expert, but I am very familiar with the issue of grief.

I chose grief because I’ve dealt with a lot of grief in my life so I know what I’m talking about. I’ve have many people that were closed to me end up dead most notable was my Grammy and my best friend Adam. With Adam I didn’t feel the same experience that Hamlet went through. When Adam died my friends were distraught and my own family was kind of there to support me. So I had people around me that seemed to go through a similar struggle. With my Grammy however I didn’t get any support from friends and family, so I understand how he feels. The world is against you and you just can’t believe what’s happening so you go through the stages of grief. I want to help people, so I wrote with that in mind.

This letter is for anyone who has experienced grief and felt alone because of a loss of a close friend or family member. I was once someone who felt alone and I felt like no one understood me like Hamlet. According to ecology.com 151,600 people die a day, so there are so many people that experience grief throughout the entire world. As long as people have feelings and people die, there will be Grief. That’s who this is for, now is when I tell you what its for.

The purpose is to show people that grief isn’t forever and it’s going to be okay if you just get through it. There’s always going to be grief, so instead of denying it or avoiding it. We should accept it, go to someone for help, be vulnerable, find a way past the depression grief brings. Make yourself deal with it, because the more it festers the worse it gets. I want to help people with this letter know that there are people like you and that you aren’t alone. Your circumstance is special to you but there are others that go through similar tribulations. I’m almost finished just hang in there.

There’s so much loss in the world that we try to avoid, we look for little things to keep our minds off of the bad things in life. Hamlet couldn’t let go of his father’s death and instead of dealing with feelings, he went and obsessed over his new quest. There’s a healthy middle between pulling an Ophelia and committing suicide from grief and other reasons, and pulling a Hamlet and obsessing over something. If you’re reading this then you have probably experienced grief, so from one expert to another… It’s going to be okay, you are strong enough. No matter what, find something that drives you every day and run with it, just don’t obsess please.

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