Throughout the play Hamlet undergoes five distinct characterization changes, or

shifts. These shifts follow the five stages of grief laid out by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross.

Kubler-Ross conjectured that when faced with grief in the form of loss or catastrophe, in

the form of being diagnosed with a terminal illness, or suffering the loss of a loved one,

most people follow the five stages laid out in her model: Denial, Anger, Bargaining,

Depression, and finally, Acceptance. These stages can be reached in any order, and with

varying degrees of frequency, often one will revert back to an earlier stage to go through

it again before moving on.

ANGER

As Kubler-Ross’ model indicates, Denial is commonly the first stage, but for

Hamlet, Anger was the first stage. After hearing the ghost’s story for the first time

Hamlet is enraged. “ O all you host of heaven! O earth! What else? And shall I couple

hell? O fie! Hold, hold, my heart…thy commandment all alone shall live Within the book

and volume of my brain…O most pernicious woman! O villain, villain, smiling, damned

villain!” Prior to this scene with Hamlet and the Ghost of his father, he hadn’t been very

prevalent in the play, so we can identify this as his first stage of grief, brought on by the

reappearance of his father, and the new knowledge that the ghost brought to light. This

one event lays out the rest of Hamlets life, Hamlet realizes his inevitable fate from the

start, thus starting his path down the stages of grief towards the end of his own life.

DEPRESSION

The next stage Hamlet experiences is Depression. As Hamlet realizes what he

must do to avenge his father’s ghost, he begins to act crazy. In the first part of this stage
he alarms Ophelia by interrupting her during her sewing. “O my lord, my lord, I have

been so affrighted!… My lord, as I was sewing in my closet, Lord Hamlet, with his

doublet all unbraced; No hat upon his head; his stockings fouled, Ungartered, and down-

gyvèd to his ankle; Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other; And with a look so

piteous in purport As if he had been loosèd out of hell To speak of horrors—he comes

before me…He took me by the wrist and held me hard Then goes he to the length of all

his arm, And, with his other hand thus o'er his brow, He falls to such perusal of my face

As he would draw it. Long stayed he so.” His actions here are similar to that of someone

in the depression stage of Kubler-Ross’ model. He also exhibits his depression in his “To

be or not to be” soliloquy, showing his suicidal musings. His behavior is erratic and

frightening to those around him, yet he is unconcerned, and continues on as nothing is out

of ordinary. This sets in motion a new chain of events. Because of the alarm he has

caused Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are sent to spy on him. Also, at this time,

Claudius is first alerted to Hamlets new, odd behavior, causing him concern that perhaps

Hamlet’s new behavior is related to his past foul deeds.

DENIAL

From his depression, Hamlet next moves to Denial. He momentarily doubts the

validity of the ghost’s claims at the very end of act II. “Why, what an ass am I! This is

most brave, That I, the son of a dear father murdered, Prompted to my revenge by heaven

and hell, Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words And fall a-cursing like a very

drab.” Here, Hamlet curses his cowardice for doubting the apparition, but still cannot

shake the feeling that he must be certain about the ghost’s assertions before he acts on
them. Hamlet’s decision to validate what the ghost has told him shows that Hamlet is not

just a blind follower. Many would mindlessly seek revenge if charged by the soul of their

father, but Hamlet questions the ghost and decides to make sure for himself. This is an

instance of characterization for Hamlet because he is acting out of the norm and showing

that he is not a puppet of fate.

BARGAINING

Hamlet quickly moves from his denial to bargaining, by making a split-second

decision to attempt to trap the king in a production put on the an acting troupe set to visit

the castle. “I have heard That guilty creatures sitting at a play Have, by the very cunning

of the scene, Been struck so to the soul that presently They have proclaimed their

malefactions. For murder, though it have no tongue, will speak With most miraculous

organ. I’ll have these players Play something like the murder of my father Before mine

uncle. I’ll observe his looks. I’ll tent him to the quick. If he do blench, I know my course.

The spirit that I have seen May be the devil, and the devil hath power T' assume a

pleasing shape. Yea, and perhaps Out of my weakness and my melancholy, As he is very

potent with such spirits, Abuses me to damn me. I’ll have grounds More relative than

this. The play’s the thing Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.” Here he shows a

classic example of this stage. Usually, with people such as terminally ill patients, this

stage includes pleas for just a little more time, until they can view a landmark event in a

loved ones life, such as a graduation, etc. But Hamlet bargains with himself, saying this

will be the deciding factor. This proves to be crucial because Hamlet receives the

validation he was looking for, regardless of whether he truly desired it or not.

After Hamlet gets the validation he needs from the play, he moves on to the final

stage; Acceptance. He now knows what must be done by him to avenge the death of his

father. Hamlet shows here that he is set on completing the task laid on him by his father’s

ghost. “I do not know Why yet I live to say “This thing’s to do,” Sith I have cause and

will and strength and means To do ’t…How stand I then, That have a father killed, a

mother stained, Excitements of my reason and my blood, And let all sleep—while, to my

shame…Oh, from this time forth, My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!” At the

end of this passage Hamlet resolves to not think of anything other than his stepfather’s

blood from that point on. This shows Hamlets determination to now do what he has

accepted that he must. Also, in this stage of Hamlets grief, we see another acceptance

come to light. As Hamlet and Horatio are talking with the gravedigger, he comes to

another realization. “Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth to dust;

the dust is earth; of earth we make loam; and why of that loam whereto he was converted

might they not stop a beer barrel? Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to clay, might stop a

hole to keep the wind away.” Here Hamlet is coming to terms with life in that all lives

and people will eventually just be dust, remembered and revered by no one. In the last

pages of the play, Hamlet strides confidently into what he knows will be his death. He

has already read the letter the king wrote to have him killed in England, so he knows the

king wants him dead. Hamlet is smart enough to know that he will not come out of the

duel alive. Yet, in his stage of acceptance he can only decide to end both his life, and

fulfill his destiny in one fell swoop, which, by killing the king in his final moments, he
does.