Why Is Hamlet's First Soliloquy

When the audience first meets Hamlet he is grief-stricken and upset with his mother for her hasty remarriage to his uncle. Directly preceding Hamlet’s first soliloquy he is firmly scolded by his mother and uncle for mourning his father and is denied permission to return to the University of Wittenberg. In his soliloquy, Hamlet says, “O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt,/Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,” (1.2.133-134.) Hamlet is expressing his desire to die, but is unwilling to kill himself because he does not want to be sent to Hell. In this statement, the audience is able to see that Hamlet is deeply depressed and ready for death. Also in the first soliloquy, Hamlet says, “O, most wicked speed, to post/With such dexterity to incestuous sheets,” (1.2.161-162.) Hamlet makes this statement in order to reflect his anger with his mother for marrying her brother-in-law, a marriage he deems incestuous, within a month of his father’s death. This statement shows that Hamlet’s depression is not only caused by his father’s death, but also by his mother’s apparent betrayal of his father. Hamlet’s first soliloquy shows him to be very depressed and establishes a strong base for his character to develop.

In On the First Soliloquy Stanley Wells’ discusses how powerful Shakespeare wrote the play and character Hamlet. Wells’ starts out by discussing how every actor and even actresses enjoy performing the role of Hamlet. He states, “The performer has the opportunity to demonstrate a wide range of ability.” (Brinkley 985). The character Hamlet goes through many emotions throughout the play which is why there is such a “wide range of ability” and actor can show when playing the character. It is through the many soliloquies throughout the play that Hamlet releases his emotions. Wells’ claims that Shakespeare’s play’s use of soliloquies “is one of the most brilliant features”, but the challenge they propose is “How to let Hamlet reveal himself without

Hamlet, one of Shakespeare’s tragic plays, portrays the story of a young man’s quest to avenge his murdered father and his quest to find his true identity. In his soliloquies, Prince Hamlet reveals to the readers his personal perceptions of the events that take place in his homeland, Denmark, and of which are either indirectly or directly tied to his father’s murder. Many critics and scholars agree that while Hamlet’s soliloquies reveal the search of his identity and true character, his soliloquies universally illustrate man’s search for his true identity.

Finally, the soliloquy creates an atmosphere of sadness, hatred and anger because Hamlet is grieving his father’s death but is also angry at his mother for marrying his uncle. He is clearly not satisfied with the world and calls it “an unweeded garden” (1.2.135) where all the evil things flourish. In addition, the atmosphere becomes very gloomy as Hamlet talks about his desire to end his life.

Shakespeare's Hamlet is the home of Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” soliloquy. In this soliloquy Hamlet is pondering whether it is better to be or not to be- to be alive or to be dead. In Hamlet’s eyes he has no power while alive- he is at the mercy of all the misfortune life brings. Alternatively death is something to be desired- it is escape from everything life throws his way. Death comes in the form of sleep. Hamlet comes to the conclusion that life is a passive, powerless state, compared to death which he believes is an empowering, and active state that he averts due to the unknown.

Soliloquies are used by writers because they offer the reader or audience the opportunity to know more about the character, his true self and inner thoughts, as well as pieces of information that cannot be revealed through a normal conversation between characters. Shakespeare uses this method with his characters very often to provide a deeper understanding of his characters, and Hamlet speak seven of this, being each one necessary and important for the plot development. Each of this soliloquies gives a deeper understanding of Hamlet’s ideas and feelings, as well as the changes he goes throughout the play.

Soliloquies play an important role in Hamlet’s development as a character. Hamlet expresses himself with these soliloquies, along with sharing some of his personal struggles. Knowingly, he doubts himself and his beliefs, often wondering if he makes the right decision. The conflict almost certainly begins with himself, “To be or not to be- that is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles and, by opposing, end them” (Shakespeare 67). He clearly wants to avenge his father but struggles internally with himself on how to go-about his actions. Hamlet wants to know if all the trouble he goes through, really worth the struggle.

Topic: ANALYSIS OF HOW HAMLET ACT III SOLILOQUY TIES ACT I AND II SOLILOQUIES TOGETHER

Shakespeare uses soliloquy as a dramatic tool to unveil the man behind the disguise. The true nature of the protagonist, Hamlet, is riddled by false appearances and deliberate attempts to deceive characters within the play, mainly characterised by his conscious intention “To put on an antic disposition”. Whilst the audience is disorientated by Hamlet’s erratic moods and inconsistent behaviour – the alternation between passive inaction, failing to act when he has an opportunity to avenge and kill Claudius whilst he prays, and volatile linguistic attacks in Gertrude’s chamber – the soliloquies provide consistency. They are intimate, private, confessional accounts in which Hamlet does not have to ‘act’ as he does around other characters.

In the book HAMLET a device called a soliloquy takes place, Hamlet's soliloquies occurs when the characters leave hamlet alone and he speaks to himself out loud. Shakespeare takes the time to express Hamlet’s thoughts and feelings so the reader

Hamlet begins his soliloquy in act two scene two by regaining the audiences’ attention and making himself comfortable to fully express his true feelings. Next he starts to describe himself as a “peasant slave” denoting how poor and low he feels to the point where he is not far from being completely worthless. Hamlet further expresses that it’s horrible that a person should be forced to play his character; even in a fictitious story. How could a human being put their pride to the side in order to live a life like mine filled with so much sorrow? It should tear their soul or literally kill them to reenact what I went through. This person must shed tears during their rendition and speak with a shattered speech pattern; taking as if his words were

    The soliloquy is a literary device that is employed to unconsciously reveal an actor's thoughts to the audience. In William Shakespeare's, Hamlet, Hamlet's soliloquy in Act II, ii, (576-634) depicts his arrival at a state of vengeful behaviour through an internal process. Hamlet moves through states of depression and procrastination as he is caught up in the aftermath of the murder of his father and the marriage of his mother to his uncle. The soliloquy serves to effectively illustrate the inner nature of Hamlet's character and develop the theme of revenge.

Shakespeare’s employment of dramatic struggle and disillusionment through his character Hamlet, contributes to the continued engagement of modern audiences. The employment of the soliloquy demonstrates Shakespeare’s approach to the dramatic treatment of these emotions. The soliloquy brings a compensating intimacy, and becomes the means by which Shakespeare brings the audience not only to a knowledge of secret thoughts of characters, but into the closest emotional touch with them too. Through this, the audiences therefore gain a closer relationship with Hamlet, and are absorbed by him because they are able to resonate with his circumstances, as he is faced with enduring truths of the human condition. Through these, the struggle and

Hamlet was written in the early 1600s.The tragedy of Hamlet is one of William Shakespeare's most famous plays. It is popular because of the way Shakespeare uses Hamlet to show the complexity of the human mind is. Shakespeare uses soliloquies to reveal Hamlet’s innermost thoughts. Through the soliloquies, the audience learns of Hamlet's struggle to face his internal conflicts, deciding when to avenge his father and his disgusted feelings about his mother’s lustful marriage. Also the soliloquies, which will form the basis of my essay, help the audience to trace Hamlet’s mental process. Shakespeare explains the influence someone’s state of mind can have on the decisions that they make in Hamlet.

Most significantly though, is some absolute contrasts displayed here with Hamlet earlier on and with his first soliloquy. He declares all the ‘books’, ‘forms’ and ‘pressures’ of his childhood and education as ‘baser matter’ despite having desired to go back to study at Wittenberg beforehand. Hamlet makes it clear that ‘[the Ghosts] commandment all alone shall live within the book and volume of [his] brain’ (the alliteration of ‘book’ and ‘brain’ adding a pronounced determination to his tone), the religious allusions presenting a complete displacement from the humanistic Christian values expressed in his comments on ‘the Everlasting’ fixing his ‘canon ‘gainst self-slaughter’ in his first soliloquy, where he also condemns his flesh as ‘too too solid’, the same ‘sinews’ that he now calls upon to ‘bear [him] stiffly up’.