Shakespeare's Hamlet is a tragic play about murder, betrayal, revenge, madness and moral corruption. It touches on philosophical ideas such as existentialism and relativism. Prince Hamlet often wonders about the meaning of life and the degradation of morals as he agonizes over his father's murder, his mother's incestuous infidelity, and what he should or should not do about it. At first he is simply depressed; he still mourns the loss of his father while his mother marries his uncle. After learning of his uncle's betrayal and his mother's adultery, his already negative outlook diminishes further. He struggles with the task of killing Claudio, feeling burdened by being asked to find a solution to a situation that has been forced upon him. Death is something he struggles with as an abstract idea and relative to himself. In the end he manages to reconcile himself with the idea of ​​death and reality. Hamlet seems to be a rather philosophical character. He is skeptical and expresses views that nowadays can be described as existentialist and relativist, but these terms did not exist in Shakespeare's time. Existentialism analyzes existence and how human beings appear to exist in this world. It's about the individual; rediscover yourself and find meaning in life according to your own measurements. This is exactly what Hamlet is going through. Faced with the jarring conflict of avenging his father's death, Hamlet finds the meaning of life shortly before dying himself among others trapped in this mess. He was tasked by his father's ghost to kill Claudius in an act of revenge, which would be considered noble (although in this case it is a regicide avenging a regicide; treason for treason). Society's ideals require that he... middle of paper.... Life is typically lived by deception and death is something we do not understand and therefore try to ignore. Life is chaotic and only has the meaning you give it. Once suspended in that false order, Hamlet finds himself facing the true and chaotic nothingness of life and death after the murder and betrayal of his father. King Hamlet's ghost demands the social norm of revenge, and Prince Hamlet finds himself struggling with the whys and hows of this plot. He is able to see that society is built on falsehoods. “Noble” action is a constructed notion of and relative to each person. He comes to accept the idea of ​​death and faces it. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2009. Print. "Existentialism: A Philosophy". All about philosophy. Np, 2012. Web. 22 February 2012. .