The withdrawn Prince no longer feels a desire to be amongst men or women. All is worthless, dead dust to him. Hamlet condemns himself for being a rogue and a pigeon-livered coward. He hates his inactivity and his life. Hamlet wonders whether it is better to live with misery or die with uncertainty.
Life is nothing but suffering and enduring fortune's unfair blows.
Suicide is the ultimate defense against life's troubles. Hamlet is afraid of the uncertain afterlife and those unknown nightmares that may be in store. Death offers peace, but the dreaded unknown makes men too cowardly to commit suicide. Driven mad by Polonius' murder and Hamlet's betrayal, Ophelia fell from a willow tree into the river. Without struggle, the singing maiden surrendered to the water and drowned.