Hamlet Act V: Afterlife

Every person in the world will at one point die. People view death in different ways, some view it as a horrible thing and others are grateful of this event. Personally, I view death as a bad event but I am aware of its inevitability, in some way accepting death. After death, the afterlife starts. In the afterlife, according to the Roman Catholic religion which I am part of, one goes to heaven if one has acted accordingly to God's commandments in earth. There are many other theories of the afterlife, a very common one being that death is just the end and nothing else will follow. In Hamlet both ideals of death are presented.

Shakespeare reflects the Roman Catholic theory of afterlife by saying "Her death was doubtful,/ And, but that great command o'ersways the order,/ She should in ground unsanctified been lodged/ Till the last trumpet" (Act V sc i ln 234-237). Suicide, being the doubtful element in Ophelia's death, excluded her from entering into heaven. God decides when a person should die, making suicide an obstruction of his plans for this person's life. This obstruction in God's plans forces Ophelia's soul to lie in the tomb without being able to be sanctified and admitted into heaven, until the end of the world. The last trumpet symbolizes the apocalypse, condemning Ophelia to remain there until everything is gone. On the contrary, if murder would have ended Ophelia's life, she would go to heaven. Strictness characterizes this religion because if one commits suicide or isn't baptized in his life, no matter how good you acted in life you wouldn't be admitted into heaven because you lack the initiation in the church of God.

The other theory is the circle of life. A person is born from nature and he will end up as nature. According to Shakespeare: "Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alex-/ ander returneth to dust; the dust is earth" (Act V sc i ln 216-217). The earth, being the one that feeds and nurtures the human, makes it inevitable for humans. At the end the human will return everything to the earth when he dies. I personally don't believe this theory because after death something must happen, but I do understand the cycle of life where everything returns to its original place. Seeing this theory in another way, our dead body and soul will serve as the food for a new body and soul. This could be the afterlife in this theory, living in another person and helping this individual survive. I think my religion has greatly shaped me in my idea of afterlife but regardless of that I firmly believe there exists something after you die.