Why Is Hamlet's First Soliloquy

Shakespeare sprinkles subtle lines alluding to Hamlet’s apparent cowardice and failure as a classical revenger. In addition to this, Shakespeare may intentionally delay Hamlet’s revenge and remove emphasis from his passion to break the trend of morally blind, obsessive, psychopathic avengers as traditionally depicted in plays such as “The Spanish Tragedy”.

In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Hamlet, a studious young man and Prince of Denmark, struggles to face the death of his father and the task to kill his father’s murderer, Claudius. He was once known as a charming, smart young man before his father’s death. However, Hamlet experiences depression and anger at the world, causing him to look outwardly on society but failing to look inwardly on himself. The death of his father and the task for vengeance leads him to question whether or not he should follow through in killing Claudius. He becomes a man of thought rather than a man of action. In addition, the delay of King Claudius’ murder leads the readers to believe that he wishes not to kill him; he

“To be, or not to be, that is the question,” (3.1.64). This famous line in William Shakespeare's Hamlet perfectly encapsulates Hamlet’s internal struggle throughout the play. Hamlet tells the story of the young prince of Denmark and his desire for revenge on the uncle, Claudius, who murdered his father. As is the case in many works of literature, Hamlet changes greatly throughout the play. However, because of his attempts to act insane, it can be difficult to precisely map the changes in Hamlet’s character. By carefully investigating his seven soliloquies, where he is alone and has no need to “put on an antic disposition,” one can understand and interpret how Hamlet’s character develops throughout the play.

Shakespeare’s character, Hamlet, is known for his indecisive personality. It is a trait that humanizes Hamlet in the sense that every man is flawed. However, this feature is Hamlet’s main

In Hamlet, Hamlet knows that he must avenge the death of his father, but he is too indecisive, too self-doubting, to carry this out until he has no choice. His failings cause his downfall, and he exhibits some of the most basic human reactions and emotions.

In his mature, adult mind, he knows that he must avenge his father, but there lives an innocent child in his conscience who does not want to commit murder; and Hamlet perceives this as cowardice. It seems as though Hamlet is struggling with what he knows he must do, and actually doing it. While instead of pursuing his father’s revenge, he lets his emotions dictate his actions (in this case, his lack of action). So, in self-justification, he tucks away his apprehension and decides to seek proof of Claudius’s murder of Hamlet’s father. Furthermore, Hamlet is beginning to question his identity as a “pigeon-livered coward.” What is more noteworthy, however, is that both soliloquies exhibit Hamlet to be an immature boy, as he speaks on impulses of emotion, rather than logic itself.

(2.2.587-590), Hamlet idolizes the Player's ability to powerfully capture the raw emotion of Hecuba's grief with a simple performance. Through this comparison, he reveals the lack of passion he has for committing the murderous act itself despite his disgust and rage for Claudius. Hamlet, as a result, criticizes himself for not being as active as the Player: "Yet I, / A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak / Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause, / And can say nothing—no, not for a king" (2.2.593-596). The juxtaposition of his poetic capabilities and harsh comments demonstrate his passion for articulating his thoughts in a creative yet logical manner. In wanting to be the son who succeeds in achieving justice for his late father, however, Hamlet's passion for expression does not correspond with his desire to do so because unlike poetry, he knows he will not get the same satisfaction from committing a vengeful act.

Hamlet’s main deficiencies are exemplified through his extreme desire for revenge, inability to act, and radical intelligence. Hamlet, having nothing to lose, decides to make avenging his main priority without caring what his flaws are or what effect they might have on him. Hamlet’s downfall arises as he decides to conspire on his own in order to kill Claudius: “My thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth” (4.4.68). Hamlet admits his own extremism and misjudgment, which proves his own incapability of being rational while interacting with his uncle. Moreover, he also condemns his own inability of taking action as he constantly fails to take neither moral nor immoral actions.

What has brought Hamlet to this harsh reality of his reluctance and weakness is the circumstances that he has been faced with; seeing an army proceed to wage war in what he perceives as a march towards an unknown future and for a frivolous cause. Hence with the army’s tenacity in comparison

The desire to seek revenge, to be deemed a hero, is a desire so strong that it can sometimes be translated into a burden. In the book Hamlet, Hamlet, himself felt as if he was cursed from the day he was born with the heavy baggage of seeking revenge against Claudius. However, despite Hamlet’s commitment to setting things right, He fails at containing his thoughts and becomes a slave of his own emotions, destroying relationships and friendships built, eventually leading to his own descent into madness. To build upon this, Hamlet was always a very hot-headed character and seemed to let his emotions get in the way of rational thinking.

At the beginning of the play, Hamlet’s indecision causes his troubles, not revenge. He is more inclined to speak about doing something than actually do it, and from the beginning shows hesitation towards the concept of revenge. At first, he is thrown into a frenzy by his conversation with the ghost. However, the audience sees that two months later, he is yet to make any progress towards killing Claudius. Instead, he is bouncing back between mania and depression, frustrated with himself that he cannot take any action, but more preoccupied with his anger at his mother and his friends. He scolds himself for being “unpregnant” of his cause, but also declares that an actor would “drown the stage with tears” if put in his position (II, ii). He believes he needs to kill his uncle but is also unwilling to take action, preferring to speak about his thoughts on Gertrude and Claudius’ incestuous relationship. Also contributing to Hamlet’s indecision is the contrast between his image of what an avenger should look like and his own self-image. He pictures “rugged Pyrrhus,” with “sable arms” and who is “roasted in wrath and fire,” when he thinks of an avenger. This godlike figure is in contrast with his self-image; in his first soliloquy, he says Claudius is “no more like my father than I to Hercules” (I, ii). To himself, Hamlet is as far away from heroic or godlike

Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, begins with the mysterious death of King Hamlet in Denmark; as a result, his son, Prince Hamlet, is overwhelmed with grief and undergoes an existential crisis when his mother, Gertrude, quickly moves on from mourning. To make matters worse, King Hamlet’s brother, Claudius, hastily takes over the kingdom by marrying her. The purpose of Hamlet’s first soliloquy is to introduce his troubled thoughts, which significantly contrast his subdued tone during forced conversations with Claudius and Gertrude. Hamlet astutely expresses his tremendous sorrow by attributing his feelings of helplessness to Claudius’ abrupt assumption of power. After dwelling through his pain, he rationalizes that his tormented mental state is

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the titular character uses the three parts of personality, displacement, and avoidance, to show how he desperately struggles to hold off his inner demons long enough to deal Claudius the justice that the young man feels that killer deserves. Within every person, there is always a constant battle between doing what is right, and doing what is desired. Throughout Hamlet, we see this constant struggle within the main characters as the separate parts of his personality war over whether or not he should make a decisive move to avenge his father’s murder.

As a matter of fact, many tend to lose their individuality when sorrow grasps their life due to certain circumstances. With Hamlet’s fueled grief inside of him, even his closest friend, Horatio couldn’t help his misery as Hamlet questioned, “Horatio, or do I forget myself?” (Ham. I. II. 162). After the death of his father, Hamlet lost his identity and such questions prove his insanity, but also his weakened identity. Finally, after finding out his father’s murderer was none other than Claudius, he struggled to succeed in his task of taking revenge. At last, when he did get the golden opportunity he proclaimed “My thoughts be bloody, or of no worth!” (Ham. IV. IV. 64). Hamlet’s struggle to kill Claudius was visible throughout the play, but the

Throughout Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Hamlet allows his conscience to interfere with his pursuit of revenge for his father, creating an unrealistic reaction to the situation he faces. Though Hamlet seeks revenge on King Claudius, he realizes that he procrastinates his revenge with bizarre tasks, for he is a “dull muddy-mettled rascal, peak/ Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause/ And can say nothin; no not for a king”(2.2.493-495). Hamlet continuously proves to be dramatic as he creates schemes that delay the process of his revenge against King Claudius; moreover, his state of mind challenges the the task he desires to accomplish, for his “conscience does make cowards of us all/ And thus is the native hue of resolution/ Is sicklied