Death as a Form of Art

People have always been intrigued by death, and so it seems only natural that they would express in art a concern with idea of non-existence. It is difficult to say whether or not violence and death depicted in paintings, plays, and films have helped people better comprehend the finality of death, but it certainly has been a timeless topic of interest. In the gruesome scene from Hannibal Lecter, the prisoner Hannibal murders and mutilates the officers with the grace and ease of an artist creating a new painting. The deaths in these scenes are so violent and disturbing, but they are brilliantly articulated. It seems that Hannibal has no reason for murdering these men, except for pleasure, and the audience is left to consider the ease at which a person can become non-existent. In The Spanish Tragedy, a play that was performed for the pleasure of an audience, the characters are inspired by Revenge, and they very easily murder one another. Some even face true death and not a staged death in their own play, which they perform for the pleasure for the king.  At the end of The Spanish Tragedy all the significant characters are dead, and once again the audience is left to wonder how an artistic performance can be created out of something so frighteningly violent and final.