In William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, the play produces an integral lesson in freemasonry related to the immortality of the soul. The immortality of the soul is a religious belief which implies that as humans our souls through soteriology may become separated from the physical body and elevated to an everlasting life.
The soliloquy of Hamlet in Act III, Scene 1, the character asks the question: “To be, or not to be?”. The entire soliloquy can be found online. But I want to point out that Hamlet contemplated ending his life in a desperate hope that he would sleep or simply void his existence. The pain Hamlet feels in the moment of the speech forces him to consider life or death. Hamlet understands the uncertainty of life and through death (“sleep”) he considers the afterlife as shaped by his experiences and the societal and cultural norms of his time. His doubts and fears reflect the uncertainty and anxiety that many people feel when faced with the prospect of their own mortality. The prospect of morality is the reason to consider the afterlife.
Hamlet refers to the afterlife as “The undiscovere’d country, from whose bourn No traveller returns“. Our lives are never smooth. Journeys in life are filled with bumps along the way but the immorality of the soul as a goal to the living Mason is discovered country which we seek and hope to hear the words “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” (Matt. 25:21) at the very moment we are elevated to an everlasting life in which we eventually return.
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Well done