HauntedDeath is the end of the road. However, just as important as death is what comes after. Almost every culture or religion features some sort of afterlife, whether it is the Valhalla and Hel of the Norse religion, the Underworld of the Greeks, or the Heaven and Hell of Christianity. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the titular character is obsessed with what happens after death, driving much of his action (and inaction) throughout the play; however, ultimately, his struggles teach him a vital life lesson that is still preached today. Hamlet's desire for revenge begins indirectly with his obsession with death. When he discovers from Horace that a ghost resembling his father haunts the castle, he decides to go and talk to the apparition. In Shakespearean times, this decision would likely have been considered irrational due to various fears and superstitions regarding ghosts. When he sees the ghost with his own eyes, Hamlet is so haunted by the mortal figure that he decides that “whether [his] intentions are evil or charitable, / [it] comes in so objectionable a form / that [he] will speak to him. [it]” (I, iv, 21). The ghost informs Prince Hamlet that Claudius has killed King Hamlet. After Hamlet finds out, he decides to avenge his father and kill his uncle. It is not easy to kill a king, given the various protections normally afforded to one, and given an opportune opportunity, one would assume that he would accept it. However, when Hamlet discovers Claudius kneeling, appearing to be praying, in perhaps the most ideal moment of the entire play, Hamlet seizes the opportunity, claiming that he will wait until "he is drunk in his sleep, or in his anger / Or in the incest". pleasure of his bed, / to play, to-swear or abo...... middle of paper...... everything” (V, ii, 116). He is ready to face the onset of his death. Hamlet's obsession with death entirely influences the outcome of the tragedy. His actions and inactions are initially driven by fear of mortality and the uncertainty of the afterlife. However, towards the end of the play, he no longer fears death, but embraces it with the readiness with which he preaches and accepts it when it arrives. Although he is still fixated on his own mortality, he ultimately takes advantage of the obsession to achieve his goals; the lesson Hamlet learns is one that many try to follow today. “Carpe diem”, we say, live every day as if it were your last, do what you truly believe in, because otherwise you would be wasting your time. This lesson, one of many taught through Hamlet, is one that might well be learned by the multitudes of people who hate their lives and live in misery..