This study will compare Hamlet, in William Shakespeare's play, and Michel de Montaigne, in a number of his essays, focusing on their self-questioning and thoughts about death. Both recognize the deeply flawed nature of humanity, especially of themselves. However, the personalities of the two, as expressed in these works, are strikingly dissimilar. Hamlet is relentlessly serious in his thoughts of self and death because of his terrible circumstances: he must either murder his uncle or go mad from his own cowardice. Montaigne, on the other hand, is more inclined to both humor and an acceptance of the injustices and uncertainties which make up much of life. These differences are also evident in the styles of the two. Hamlet employs a formal style of speaking, reflecting his princely position and his intellectual severity, while Montaigne is determined to keep his writing down-to-earth.
Hamlet knows almost immediately the killer of his father, and the bulk of the play involves his delays in taking revenge and his reflections on life which arise as a result of the suffering brought by his father's murder, his hatred of his mother and uncle, and his hatred of himself for delaying the acts of revenge. The doubts and thoughts on death which he entertains have also to do with the burden placed on an already introspective personality by his dire situation. The severity of Hamlet's brooding also flows in part from the fact that he confides in no other human being, but keeps his dark thoughts to himself where they breed and fester. Also, as he delays, everyone around him, aside from Horatio, increasingly arouses his suspicion and even paranoia.
Montaigne may possess as contemplative a personality as Hamlet, but he is merely writing essays, and not brooding on the fateful requirement that he murder his uncle who is now the king who earlier killed his father the previous king. This difference accounts for the major differences between Ha...