Johnson 1
Monica Johnson
Brit. Lit. Honors
Ms. Comtois
4 May 2009
Stages of Grief in Hamlet
In the opening pages of the play Hamlet , by William Shakespeare, it is quickly realized that Hamlet is upset about his father’s death and his mother’s remarriage to his uncle. An event may lead to a downfall known as the “stages”. According to Jami L.
Jones, “depression may be a reaction to a disturbing event,” and in this case Hamlet is reacting to his father’s death. It is normal for people who have just lost a loved one to experience the stages of grief. The first stage is denial, the second is anger, third is guilt, fourth is depression, fifth is upward turn, sixth is reconstruction and the seventh stage is acceptance (Jones). As some people who have just lost their father would, Hamlet started going through these stages. However, he does not make it through the seven stages. The seven stages have not changed much at all over time. This is known because the seven stages of grief are the same in Hamlet, a story written long ago, as they are in one of today’s most popular television shows, One Tree Hill. The seven stages has not changed must at al over the years, people still grieve, and it is proven in both early and modern pieces of writing. The connection between these two stories is the fact that neither
Hamlet, nor Lucas completes the cycle.
The seven stages starts in Hamlet when Hamlet learns of the death of his father because the “death of a loved one, loss of a limb, even intense disappointment can cause

Johnson 2 grief” (Ross). The event that started the seven stages in One Tree hill is the main character’s, Lucas, loss of his uncle, Keith, who has acted as a father figure Lucas’s whole life when his father abandoned him. Lucas and Keith, and Hamlet and his father had the same relationship, which resulted in their similar reaction to both Keith’s and
King Hamlet’s death.
Hamlet never expected the death of his father, and in some ways he still does not believe it. This is the first stage of grief; denial. Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, A doctor at
Memorial Hospital says, “We tend to deny the loss has taken place,” just as Hamlet did.
Hamlet had trouble dealing with his fathers death, he did not grasp on to the fact that it actually happened, “I would not hear your enemy say so/ Nor shall you do my ear that violence” (1.2.77-78).
In One Tree Hill, Lucas had a hard time swallowing the fact that his father figure was dead. He couldn’t believe it. Lucas is talking about death when he says, “Does this darkness have a name? This cruelty, this hatred. How did it find us?” (Schwahn). He shows his denial when he says to his friends that Keith is not dead and he doesn’t believe he is dead.
He does not understand how or why it happened, all he knows is that he father is dead. This is when Hamlet experiences the stage of Anger, the second stage. He is furious at the decision his mother made to re-marry Hamlet’s uncle so quickly after his father’s death. Hamlet isn’t so much angry at his father’s death, but more angry with his mother.
He cannot comprehend his mother’s decision to re-marry. Hamlet has not gotten over his fathers death, and he is not close to getting over it either, how could his mother already be over it? That question is never answered, Hamlet never fully knows the reason it took

Johnson 3 his mother such a short time to get over a death, when he never fully recovers. He is so angry, that at one point, Hamlet scares his mother so much, that his mother is scared for her life,
Hamlet: Mother, you have my father much offended.
Queen: Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue.
Hamlet: Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue.
Queen: Why, how now, Hamlet?
Hamlet: What’s the matter now?
Queen: Have you forgot me?
Hamlet: Nor, by the rood, not so. You are the Queen, your husband’s brother’s wife, and (would it were not so) you are my mother.
Queen: Nay, then I’ll set those to you that can speak.
Hamlet: Come, come and sit down; you shall not budge. You go not till I set up a glass, Where you may see the (inmost) part of you.
Queen: What wilt thou do? Thou wilt not murder me? Help, ho! (3.4.13-27)
Hamlet is so angry at his mother, that for a brief moment he imagines life without her.
His anger reaches a point to where his mother comes out and asks him if he intends to kill her. She somewhat understands where he is coming from but she does not fully comprehend why he is so upset about her remarriage.
Keith dies, not of natural causes but he is murdered. To the rest of the characters, it was known that a student, Lucas’s friend, a well known kid in the town, killed Keith before putting the gun to his head and killing himself. The students at the school set up a small shrine in front of this boy’s, Jimmy’s, locker. Lucas expresses his anger by walking

Johnson 4 up to the shrine and kicking it, destroying all the cards and pictures, and breaking the glass that once used to be candles. Another friend, Mouth, tries talking to Lucas about it.
Mouth lets him know that Jimmy’s funeral is coming up. Lucas responds by yelling at
Mouth saying that Jimmy killed his uncle and does not deserve anything, let alone his presence at Jimmy’s funeral. Lucas is not normally like this, he is normally a level headed teenager who is well likes by everyone. This the proof of Stage number 2, anger.
The third stage is guilt.
The fourth stage of grief is depression. This seems to be the biggest stage Hamlet goes through. Throughout the play it is mentioned that Hamlet is wearing dark clothing, clearly here he is still mourning over the death. Also it is seen during the reading that
Hamlet is harsh and sarcastic to his mother and uncle, this reaction reflects the “conflict with [his] parents,” says Jones. Hamlet first starts to show his depression with his father’s passing. His first sign is when he is introduced wearing a complete black suit.
Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted color off, / And let thine eye look like a friend on
Denmark. / Do not forever with thy vailed of lids / Seek for thy noble father in the dust. /
Thou know’st ‘tis common; all that lives must die, / Passing through nature to eternity.
(1.2.70-75)
It is clear that Hamlet is in dark clothing and still in the mourning of his father’s death.
This shows his conflict with his mother and uncle because he is objecting to his mother’s requests. The other cause for Hamlet’s depression is his mother’s quick decision to remarry her husband’s brother.