Alienation In Hamlet

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Alienation in ¬The Outsider and Hamlet explained through death.

Societies tend to impose certain expectations upon their citizens and those who act differently often find themselves estranged. The societies in The Outsider by Albert Camus and Shakespeare’s Hamlet are clearly no exception. Their protagonists, Meursault and Hamlet, find themselves alienated from their societies due to fundamental differences in values and influence; which can be identified though their reactions to death and its juxtaposition with their societies’ reactions and expectations of them. Both works center largely on death allowing analyses to be made on their reaction to the death of a parent, the act of murder and their own imminent death.

Both characters suffer …show more content…
Their subsequent reactions however are rather dismissive. After Hamlet mistakenly stabs Polonius, his initial reaction is one of anger and cold-heartedness: “Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell!” (Shakespeare 3.4.36) Hamlet does not accept the responsibility for his actions for he sees it as Polonius’s own fault for having spied on him. This action shows that Hamlet values loyalty to his father over the potential harm to others. This murder and subsequent lack of remorse could reflect badly on Hamlet however as Ian Johnston explains; if Elsinore is evil, then Claudius and Polonius are the villains and Hamlet’s actions are due to an attempt to retain his integrity and are therefore justified. (Johnston) Hamlet’s values do not include the wellbeing of others, but that does not discount the nobility of his values; consequently the values of the court, which are seemingly just, stem from that same sense of loyalty. Laertes’ reaction to finding out that Hamlet murdered his father, wishing of Hamlet, “To cut his throat i' th' church!” (Shakespeare 5.7.136) Is similar to Hamlet’s own reaction to Old Hamlet’s death. Suggesting that Laertes is not much different from Hamlet and that the driving force in Hamlet’s isolation is due to his unique predicament rather than a difference in …show more content…
From this the true cause of their alienation is clear; Meursault is separated due to a difference in values and Hamlet because of his influences. Meursault does not value social rules and therefore is not influenced by them. Hamlet has different influences from the others in his society, and therefore similar values manifest themselves differently. Ultimately, Meursault and Hamlet both, find themselves estranged because their actions, a direct result of their values and influences, do not fit the expectations imposed by their
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