“The rest is silence” (5.2 line 356), these are Hamlet's last words, and yet, ironically, for over 400 years we have not been able to stop talking of him. What gave this character such lasting power? We are intrigued by Hamlet because he is a real personality, not just a role model or humor. So, through his flaws, his inconsistencies, and his analysis of what it means to be human, we can see ourselves reflected in him. As the 19th century critic AC Bradley stated, Hamlet is a “symbol of a tragic mystery inherent in human nature”; Hamlet characterizes the human condition. Hamlet's exploration of mortality is particularly notable in his soliloquy of Act 3, Scene 1. He asks what the purpose of life is, if we exist only to suffer “Pain and the thousand natural shocks/ Whereof flesh is heir” (Lines 63-64)? Why do we force ourselves to endure this when we could just end it all? It is fear, a paralyzing fear of the unknown; “For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, / When we have shed this mortal coil, / Must give us pause” (Lines 67 – 69). Hamlet's first line in this soliloq...