「死亡」是《哈姆雷》的中心議題之一，劇中兩段有名的獨白－－「啊，願這齷齪透頂的肉體溶解」與「要生存，或不要生存」－－具體展現出哈姆雷對生命的困惑與對死亡的嚮往。承襲英國早期現代死亡的哲學傳統，莎劇藉由鬼魂的回訪人間與骷髏頭的出土，讓哈姆雷個人式的冥想具備思考式的哲學對談，劇中骷髏頭往往促使哈姆雷對生命及死亡的意義作更深層、哲學式的探索，而手持骷髏頭的哈姆雷，彷彿在與哲人對話的當下體悟出生與死的意涵，從而超脫生死。某種程度上，骷髏頭所具現的認知功能讓哈姆雷的心靈思考產生思辨性對話。 本文先勾勒英國早期現代死亡的哲學思想，特別是死亡的象徵（memento mori）傳統，然後分析戲劇文本中相關的情節，並以布萊納的莎劇電影《哈姆雷》為例，探究電影文本如何利用視覺影像具現原劇中之生死哲思，將生與死的思辨顯影，抽象式的文字思考如何轉譯為具體可見的影像符號。

Death is one of the thematic concerns of Hamlet. The two famous soliloquies, “O that this too too solid flesh would melt” and “To be or not to be,” pointedly disclose Hamlet’s doubt toward life and longing toward death. Influenced by the philosophy of death in the early modern England, Hamlet depicts how Prince Hamlet engages in a dialogue-like meditation on the philosophy of death initiated by the return of the Ghost and the appearance of Yorick’s skull. In particular, the skull facilitates Hamlet to encounter death and explore its significance. Holding the skull on his hand, Hamlet seems to talk to a wise old man, exchanging philosophical dialogues with it. Through it, Hamlet not only dawns on the significance of life and death, but also frees himself from the entanglement of human mortality. As can be seen, the skull seems to initiate a series of cognitive activities that facilitate a philosophical inquiry within Hamlet’s mind. A brief introduction to the early modern philosophy of death, in particular the tradition of memento mori, is first presented. Next, a reading of the cinematic text of Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet reveals how filmic images embody the philosophy of life and death, and how verbal words turn into visual images.