Hamlet: Soliloquies Essay

The play “Hamlet” depicts the life of a prince who wants to avenge his father’s death. In his journey, he takes the lives of many, but manages to kill Claudius, the one who killed his father. The soliloquy being analyzed is located at the end of Act 2 Scene 2. This extract takes place after Hamlet is left alone in a room in the castle. A character in this soliloquy is Hamlet. In the extract, he is releasing his fury as a player could get more emotional about his father’s death than Hamlet. He is reflecting at what he has done and what will he do to avenge his father.

William Shakespeare is one of the best known authors of all time, and of his many pieces, Hamlet is one that stands out. Written around the year 1600, it is a classic amongst Shakespeare’s tragedies due to its length and in depth character development, themes, and plot. One such example is seen in Act 2, Scene 2, from lines 593-617, where Hamlet is lamenting in his second soliloquy about many things. Through the use of imagery and comparisons, Shakespeare suggests that Hamlet is being self-deprecatory and self-critical in addition to a expressing violent regretful temperament about not being able to avenge his father’s death during his second soliloquy from lines 593-617.

In the play, Hamlet (1603), William Shakespeare creates a character, Hamlet, that feels overwhelmed by the weight he puts on himself while seeking vengeance for his father’s murder. Shakespeare is able to illustrate Hamlet’s fragileness through the use of vivid imagery, negative attitude, and aggressive diction. Shakespeare’s purpose in this piece is to show Hamlet during his lowest time in order to reveal a significant portion of his character.

The soliloquy spoken by Hamlet in Act IV, scene IV illustrates a remarkable shift in Hamlet's personality. Up until this point, Hamlet has been an extremely indecisive and submissive character. In Act II, Hamlet decides that "the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king". However, at the play’s conclusion and Claudius' admission of guilt, Hamlet is still uncertain and cannot decide what action to take against his uncle. When Hamlet comes across Claudius while he is praying, Hamlet lets him live because he rethinks his plot for revenge and decides that it is best to postpone it until a more propitious time presents itself. Hamlet continues to demonstrate submissiveness and inaction when he obeys his father’s murderer’s instructions to go to England in Act IV. After Hamlet has embarked on his journey, away from Denmark, he finds Fortinbras leading a large army to acquire a small piece of land. His soldiers do not care for or fight for wealth, but to bring honor to their respective countries. Hamlet has an epiphany. He realizes that he has been extraordinarily passive and hesitant due to his excessive analysis of revenge and lays out a plan of action. He resolves that his behavior thus far has only led to cowardice.

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a complex play regarding the kingdom of Denmark, and the unusual stage it is going through. The main focus of the play concerns Hamlet, prince of Denmark, and his feeling of ambiguity toward his recently lost father and his remarried mother. Hamlet is a complicated character who plays assorted roles in order to manipulate people. These various roles make it problematic to develop a sense of the real Hamlet. Only during the soliloquies is the reader given a chance to understand Hamlet, they allow the reader to attempt to decipher who is the real Hamlet and what is an act. The first soliloquy allows the reader to initially delve into the character of Hamlet, by showing his anger and distaste towards his

Hamlet’s soliloquy also advances the plot of the play and intrigues the audience. In the beginning of the speech Hamlet beings to panic and doubt himself. Hamlet says to himself, “How all occasions do inform against me, / And spur my dull revenge!”

Hamlet’s first soliloquy comes in act one scene two, as Hamlet reflects on the current state of events. The chief focus of this soliloquy is essentially the rottenness of the king, queen and the world in general. In this passage the reader is introduced to Hamlet pseudo-obsession with death and suicide, which later will become a chief point of indecision. In this particular speech, however, Hamlet is fairly confident. He wishes that his “too too sullied flesh would melt”

Hamlet’s personality, while hinted at by other characters and his own actions, remains something of an enigma throughout the play. His soliloquies are necessary, therefore, to gain a fuller understanding of it. One of two main aspects of his personality revealed this way can be found in the most iconic lines of the play. Hamlet is shown to be depressed before the “to be or not to be” soliloquy, but it is this speech in which he shows the depth of his grapple with life. He contemplates killing himself outright, questioning “[w]hether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer [t]he slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, [o]r to take arms against a sea of troubles, [a]nd, by opposing, end them?” (Act 3, Sn. 1, ln. 58-61). This soliloquy exposes the depressed mood he has had throughout the play up to this point and shows it for what it really is. Another key point of Hamlet’s personality emphasized through soliloquy is his devout loyalty to his father, the king. When Hamlet speaks to the ghost of his father, his suspicions seem to be true: Claudius, the king’s brother, murdered the king in order to gain his crown. Upon learning this, Hamlet is initially shocked, but then flies into a rage, cursing his uncle and calling him a “smiling, damned villain” (Act 1, Sn. 5, ln. 25-112). The fact that Hamlet is willing to kill his own uncle in order to avenge his father goes great lengths to show his devotion. It is clear from this that loyalty is a crucial element of Hamlet’s character. As well as allowing the audience a much better understanding of what type of person Hamlet is, this insight into his personality gives a glimpse of his

The Significance of Hamlet’s “To Be or Not To Be” Soliloquy Hamlet’s “To Be or Not To Be” soliloquy, located in Act III Scene i of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is one of Shakespeare’s most famous soliloquies and is potentially one of the most well known soliloquies in all of English literature. In this famously profound soliloquy, Hamlet confesses his views on the nobility of suicide, life on earth, and the afterlife to inform the audience of his current mental state and to leave the audience wondering if he is foreshadowing his future actions. Firstly, Hamlet confesses his thoughts regarding the nobility of suicide in his soliloquy. In the first lines of his soliloquy, Hamlet says: “To be, or not to be, that is the question: whether ‘tis

In his first soliloquy, Hamlet bemoans the fact that he cannot commit suicide. He wishes that his physical self might just cease to exist, "melt, / Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew." He complains that his religion prohibits suicide and claims that he would sooner die than continue watching his mother engage in her vile incest. These thoughts torment him, but he knows that he can't speak them aloud to anyone. Hamlet's passionate first soliloquy provides a striking contrast to the controlled and artificial dialogue that he must exchange with Claudius and his court.

In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare the main character, Hamlets’ personality can be understood through his soliloquies. All of Hamlet’s soliloquies show Hamlet’s deeply rooted self-hatred and his willingness to die. In Hamlet’s most famous soliloquy, “To be or not to be, “Hamlet operated on the assumption that everyone would rather be dead than living, and the ones that are alive are alive because they fear killing themselves. During this soliloquy Hamlet questions whether or not he really wants to face death and whether he is able to kill himself, hamlet is confused and unsure of himself since killing himself conflicts with his religion.

After his mother echoes Claudius' request, Hamlet agrees to stay. Hamlet is left on stage after everyone else leaves. He speaks a soliloquy expressing his anger at the present circumstances in his life and discusses his depression as a result of these events. The scene ends with Horatio, Marcellus and Bernardo entering and talking with Hamlet about the ghost they have seen. Hamlet agrees to join them this coming night to see the ghost himself. Note: a soliloquy is the thoughts of a character being expressed out loud. These thoughts deal with the true feelings of a character and give insight into what a character is thinking about and how his mind works. This first soliloquy is one several spoken by Hamlet throughout the play. Each one gives us further insight into what Hamlet is feeling at the time. Text: Act I, Scene ii

Hamlet’s most famous soliloquy shows Hamlet’s deepest thoughts since the beginning of the story. Hamlet first contemplates whether is better to just live with the pain of his father’s murder or to take action and seek revenge for his father. Hamlet also believes that death is the same as going to sleep, forever. He thinks that if he could end all his troubles and sorrows by going to sleep, this is something that he would most welcome. His hesitation to kill himself is because when you sleep, you have dreams, which would be disturbing. Hamlet also believes that a corrupt leader, Clauduis, is now ruling the country that once was ruled by a very noble king. Hamlet believes he has to live with the tyrant’s injustice, the rudeness of man, the slow process of receiving justice for their crimes and the unfairness that the innocent or humble have to suffer. Hamlet also reflects on that how our

Hamlet is very aware of his own fate and the fate of all men: to die. He already knows of fatalism, but he cannot accept it. The thought of death perplexes and frightens Hamlet. But death, to Hamlet, is not a choice to be made. “To be or not to be, that is the question”(3.1.57). “To be or not to be” is not a choice, it is a question and a question is a thought and thus a type of freedom, but death is an end, and thus “none of our own.”

By Hamlet’s third soliloquy he still has not taken action to avenge his father’s death and hates everyone around him, including himself. He begins his soliloquy with the famous line “To be, or not to be?” With this line Hamlet is asking whether is it better to be alive or to be dead. In this soliloquy Hamlet contemplates suicide and discusses the trials of life. He wishes not to have to deal with the hardships of life, but realizes that he is not brave enough to take his own life. Not only is he, like most humans, afraid of the unknown, but he is also afraid of committing a sin and damning his soul. At the end of his third soliloquy Hamlet has yet to do as his father’s ghost told him and Hamlet is still angry with himself for being such a coward.