In Act 3 scene 1 of Hamlet we are faced with the soliloquy that contains one of the most famous lines from English literature: “To be, or not to be – that is the question” (III.i.57). This passage tends to show a large amount of evidence of the theme “Action vs. Contemplation”. Through poetic devices, tone, and sensory imagery we are able to analyze the theme and Hamlets tragic flaw: indecisiveness/inability to act.
Poetic devices are a great way to get a point across efficiently. Within Hamlets soliloquy we see many instances of these poetic devices that work towards the theme of “Action vs. Contemplation”. Hamlet uses personification within the lines: “And thus the native hue resolution / Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,” (III.i.85-86). This quote shows that he is far too caught up in his thoughts to focus on working on the action. Hamlet says that resolution has become sick and clouded. We see how he is still very cloudy minded and is still having difficulty making decisions. In this soliloquy we also see Hamlets hesitation. He continuously says, “To die, to sleep,” (III.i.61), and it seems to be him delaying the inevitable by his uncertainty yet again. Using repetition he seems to just be wasting time to have longer to be able to make a decision. He cannot decide between death and just running away from his problems. Finally we see some hyperbole and metaphor within the lines 58-60; “Tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, / or to take arms against a sea of troubles,” (III.i). Contemplation is very prominent in this passage due to him debating whether or not he would like to deal with what life has to offer or go against it and fight. This shows his tragic flaw of his indecisiveness and shows off the theme quite nicely. He is comparing the slings and arrows of outrageous future to the suffering that future can bring. It is unpredictable and there is no way of knowing what will happen and what heartache a person will be put through in their lives. Hamlet has no idea what the future contains for him and the suffering of his father’s death getting to him. He then uses a hyperbole by calling it a sea of troubles. The hyperbole demonstrates how he is
In this play “Hamlet” written by William Shakespeare, there are many soliloquies that are said by Hamlet to depict various meanings of his thoughts, feelings, and actions that are inside of him. More specifically the soliloquy in Act 3, Scene 1, in lines 57-91 starts off with the famous saying known as “To be, or not to be”. Throughout this soliloquy, Hamlet is asking himself the question of whether it is better to live or not to live. In life, we are faced with many situations where we feel the need to give up our life and not face the problems. Only by facing all the troubles, will a person become stronger and more courageous to handle anything in life. By believing in one’s self, can man have the courage to follow what they think is right. Killing yourself or giving up is never a solution in life. This soliloquy reveals Hamlet’s fearful personality by showing that his decision-making process is slow and that he fears risks or uncertainty. These character traits are depicted thoroughly by Hamlet throughout the play.
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is laden with tragedy from the start, and this adversity is reflected in the title character. Being informed of his father’s murder and the appalling circumstances surrounding the crime, Hamlet is given the emotionally taxing task of avenging his death. It is clear that having to complete this grim undertaking takes its toll on Hamlet emotionally. Beginning as a seemingly contemplative and sensitive character, we observe Hamlet grow increasingly depressed and deranged as the play wears on. Hamlet is so determined to make his father proud that he allows the job on hand to completely consume him. We realize that Hamlet has a tendency to mull and ponder excessively, which causes the notorious delays of action
Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy is conceivably the most prominent soliloquy in the archive of the theatre. Even now, more than 400 years after it was originally written there is still an air of familiarity that reaches others even if they do not know the play itself in detail. In act 3, scene 1, Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” Soliloquy is critical in developing the plot because this is when Hamlet discusses his most suicidal thoughts.
I Hamlet's second soliloquy, we face a determined Hamlet who is craving revenge for his father. “Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat/ In this distracted globe. Remember thee!” Hamlet feels sorry for his father who was unable to repent of his sins and is therefore condemned to a time in purgatory. He promises his father that in spite of his mental state (he is distracted, confused and shocked) he will avenge his death. He holds him in the highest regards because he sees his father as a role model. “Yea, from the table of my memory/ I’ll wipe away all trivial fond records,”. He’ll erase all prior Knowledge and experience and leave only his father’s “commandment”. He will engrave it in the front of his mind to show his
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.
One major theme within the play is the pervasiveness of death; death is everywhere within hamlet’s life and is a driving factor of the plot. This theme can be found in many parts of the play; for example, in Act 5 scene 2 of the play hamlet sends two players to their death in England (Shakespeare 1181). This shows how death is a mundane occurrence in hamlets time, this is shown in how hamlet shows almost no remorse for his actions and the subject is quickly overlooked. Within the soliloquy “To be, or not to be” hamlet comments on this theme and shows the audience his own ideas on the subject. One of his ideas is stated as “to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep (Shakespeare 1127).” In this line hamlet relates death to a peaceful sleep; by connecting the two terms hamlet conveys a certain familiarity in death as in sleep. Maybe in reducing death to nothing more than a sleep, hamlet is stating that dying is as simple
In the play Hamlet there are many themes that were brought to our attention; Madness, Revenge, Mortality, Religion, Incest, Family, and Death. In this essay we will be discussing two of these themes that we found intriguing, the two themes are Death, and Revenge.
Hamlet is dissatisfied with his inability to kill Claudius, thus allowing him time to rewrite his wrongs. Unable to muster up the courage to carry out his envisions of murdering Claudius, Hamlet calls himself “a dull and muddy-mettled rascal” (2.2.526) that is “unpregnant of [his] cause”. (2.2.527) In both the soliloquies Hamlet stands around dreaming of completing the act, but pushes aside his outraged feelings toward Claudius. Hamlet is mad at himself as he pretends he is unaware of the treason. The soliloquy “what is a man” starts out with “how all occasions do inform against me, and spur my dull revenge!” (4.4.31-32) By “spur my dull revenge” Hamlet is stalling and much like a dull revenge a dull knife would do little to help achieve a stout revenge. This soliloquy also ties in with the
Next, in one of the most famous soliloquies in the English language, Hamlet again contemplates the subject of suicide, but he does not do so on impulses of emotion. Instead, his contemplation is based on reason. “To be or not to be, that is the question: whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer outrageous fortune…or end them. To die, to sleep- no more- and by a sleep to say we end the heartache…’Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished. For who would bear the whips and scorns of time…who would fardels bear, to grunt and sweat under a weary life, but that the dread of something after death, the undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler
In this paper I will be analyzing and discussing how these four soliloquies reflect changes in Hamlet’s mental state; his
When analyzing Shakespeare's Hamlet through the deconstructionist lens various elements of the play come into sharper focus. Hamlet's beliefs about himself and his crisis over indecision are expounded upon by the binary oppositions created in his soliloquies.
“To be or not to be— that is the question.” An exceptionally recognized phrase amid many centuries, cultures, places, and people. This short excerpt derives from the Shakespearean play, Hamlet: The Tragedy of the Prince of Denmark. Originally, this passage was displayed in one of the soliloquies of the play. Defined as “an act of speaking one's thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play”, a soliloquy is crucial to furthering the plot and connecting the audience with the speaker. William Shakespeare reveals the true desires and intentions of Hamlet, the main character of Hamlet: The Tragedy of the Prince of Denmark, within the protagonist’s soliloquies. Even Hamlet, one of the most complex characters in literary history, can be simplified through the use of a soliloquy.
It is this mourning that becomes the foundation of conflicts to come. After an encounter with his father’s ghost, Hamlet learns of his uncle’s treachery and is at first filled with rage, “Haste me to know’t, that I with wings as swift, as meditation or the thoughts of love, may sweep to my revenge.” (Hamlet aside, Act I, Scene V, p.1651), but it is Hamlet’s struggle with himself that leads to not act upon his words as fast as he had clamed to.
Coming immediately after the meeting with the Ghost of Hamlet’s father, Shakespeare uses his second soliloquy to present Hamlet’s initial responses to his new role of revenger. Shakespeare is not hesitant in foreboding the religious and metaphysical implications of this role, something widely explored in Elizabethan revenge tragedy, doing so in the first lines as Hamlet makes an invocation to ‘all you host of heaven’ and ‘earth’. Hamlet is shown to impulsively rationalize the ethical issues behind his task as he views it as a divine ordinance of justice, his fatalistic view reiterated at the end of scene 5 with the rhyming couplet ‘O cursed spite,/That ever I was born to set it right’. These ideas are
Hamlet, the main character of William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, is one of the most complex characters ever created. His intricacy can be seen in the amount of soliloquies he speaks throughout the play. Each one of Hamlet’s soliloquies reveals his innermost thoughts and gives the reader or audience insight as to what he is feeling at that time. Hamlet’s quartet of soliloquies illustrates how Hamlet is initially indecisive, but eventually makes a decision to take revenge against his uncle.