A Selfish Last Wish

In his final moments, Hamlet’s makes one final request to Horatio. In the desperate nature of this, a primal desire unseen in Hamlet appeared. A desire to leave a legacy. Even if it could not be a son to carry his name, he wished, atleast, for books to remember he existed as something else than a mad prince. After all, with the King’s efforts to destroy his credibility, the only thing Hamlet would leave with out Horatio’s help would be “a wounded name”. He was so desperate that he asked Horatio (who wanted to commit suicide because of his suffering) to: “in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain/ to tell my story”(5.2.380-84). This seemingly selfish act could have selfless reasons or not depending on the interpretation.

If we assume Hamlet wishes only for his name to be remembered, then this is a selfish act. With his last breath he asked his friend in pain to suffer even more only to ensure his memory would be cleansed from his uncle’s efforts. Also, the lack of interest in his legacy during the rest of the play proves such a thought came only in his dying moment. Only when he saw his impending death he felt the urge to save his legacy. This means that his emotions were the driving force behind this last plea and not a carefully planned strategy.

We could also view this as a selfless act. In order to take revenge on his father’s death, Hamlet was forced to do several dishonorable things (like taking taking the life of Rozencrats and Polonius) . This, in combination with the King’s efforts to make Hamlet’s “madness” evident, had ruined the name of Hamlet and therefore, his father’s. Seeing that his actions actually tainted his father's memory, he had to ask Horatio for help in finishing this task. In this interpretation, he used his dying breath to fulfill his mission of allowing his father to rest in peace. Carrying the revenge was important but so was ensuring the status of his father’s name.

I find this last interpretation to be less probable because Hamlet makes no reference to carrying his father’s legacy or name in any other part of the book. Up to that point, he focused on revenge and it only changed when the fear of death consumed him. In this last instant his selfish desires overcame him, and left behind a realized selfish last wish.