Shakespeare's Most Famous Soliloquy With A Mark Of Their Own Artistry

One of the most common fears is that of death. This fear does not often stem from the process itself, but rather the question of what occurs after. Do we begin living another life? Will that life be better or worse than the one we previously led? These questions are filled with uncertainty, and the impossibility of answering them produces distress. In Hamlet, Hamlet struggles with the challenge of answering such questions himself when he laments, “To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there’s the rub / For in that sleep of death what dreams may come / When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, / Must give us pause. There’s the respect / That makes calamity of so long life” (3.1.66-70). Within Shakespeare’s tragedy, the text signifies the fear of the unknown by exploring Hamlet’s uneasy contemplation of life after death.

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 is first wondering how an actor, who has no true emotional connection to the play was performing can seem

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a work of immense depth in character development, most notably the personal, moral and psychological battles

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince Hamlet serves as one of the most multi-faceted characters in the entire play with critics often deeming his personality “paradoxical”. Ultimately, Hamlet provides the audience with the epitomy of internal contrast and instability by rapidly transitioning through periods of caution and rash action, introversion and extroversion and calculation and spontaneity.

Now that the pressure has been lifted, Hamlet has the opportunity to ponder death, something that has demanded his attention since his father's demise. In the famous soliloquy Hamlet attempts to discard the appearance of death to dissect the survival instinct of human beings. Why, when death appears to be the desired escape from "a sea of troubles," do human beings refuse to succumb? (III.1 ln 59) Hamlet quickly grasps the inherent fear of the unknown present in the human psyche. This display of insightquickly disappears once Hamlet again faces emotional pressure. He somewhat maintains his ability to separate reality and appearance, but his intense passions stunt his efforts to remain on a direct course to his goals.

Through the exploration of this theme, the play was able to achieve a greater theatrical intensity and abruptness in regards to human life and communicate Hamlet’s view on the subject. From the very beginning “death makes itself known as an unwelcomed guest that never cares to leave” (“Hamlet Theme of Death”). Throughout the story, Hamlet and other characters continue to contemplate on the subject, concluding that death is inevitable, and yet it is not until the very end that he comes to accept the “brevity and [the] futility of the human condition” (Jamieson). Upon this realization Hamlet states, “If it be now, ’tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all,” thus conveying that he shall no longer try to avoid death, but rather succumb to his destiny, even if it brings a permanent end to his existence; whatever may come he will be prepared to face it (5.2.234-236).

Shakespeare successfully evoked the emotions of the audience by rendering Hamlet's feelings in the form of a soliloquy. In doing so, the audience felt they had a deeper relationship with the character, as soliloquies are meant to bring out the character's innermost thoughts and reflections of an incident. "How all occasions do inform against me, And spur my dull revenge! What is a man If his chief good and market of his time Be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more.."

The use of soliloquy illustrates to the readers the emotions and feelings of Benedick which reveals the playful deception that occurred as Benedick started to believe what they were making up. The use of dramatic irony in this scene also revealed the self deception that occurred as the audience were able to conclude that the conversation was made up but Benedick had no idea. Overall the use of imagery, dramatic irony and soliloquy revealed the act of playful

This passage is famous not only as a pivotal moment demonstrating Hamlet’s building existential crisis, but as well as one of the most famous passages in all of English literature. It involves Hamlet questioning his mortality and seriously contemplating life and death on a just scale, whether ending his life would be to his benefit, and whether it would be a ‘noble’ choice. He eventually comes to the conclusion that the only reason those that are not in an easy position in life, do not commit suicide, is the fear of the unknown that comes after death. He reasons that death is like eternal sleep, and with it may come dreams, of which one cannot be certain This internal conflict is vital to the play because it reveals the relentlessly logical

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

Hamlet is strongly held by archetypes that can be revealed throughout the play. Death, itself, is a very strong archetype in the story exploring the social beliefs in that era; superstitions and societies loyalty to religion. Throughout the play, Hamlet experiences his main trifles over the concept of death. Reviewing the murder of his father and the task given to him to kill his uncle, Hamlet becomes fascinated with the idea of existence and afterlife.As a whole, Hamlet is primarily concerned with exploring the individual's relationship with death in which our fear of death comes from the notion that there must be something else, eliminating the fact that we can't ever know for sure if there is. This idea is explored in Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” soliloquy, which questions the righteousness of life over death in moral terms. When Hamlet utters the pained question, “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” (Act 3, Scene 1 59-61) there is little doubt that he is thinking of death. Although he attempts to pose such a question in a rational and logical way, he is still left without an answer of whether the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” can be eliminated since life after death seems so uncertain. All of this mirrors aspects of human nature as man has always questioned the meaning of life and the events that occur after. Theoretically, one will never understand the full nature of our

Soliloquies play a vital role in William Shakespeare’s works. One of the most important examples of soliloquy use by a character was provided by Iago throughout the play, Othello. A soliloquy is side speech given by a character that is directed to the audience; it most often used to reveal emotions or thoughts of a character in a play. Iago’s use of soliloquies are very unique and stand out from any other character. They constantly change the audience's opinion of him. Each of Iago’s eleven soliloquies reveals his true evil or gains him pity from the audience. This trend makes Iago’s character unpredictable and hard to analyze.

William Shakespeare uses the literary technique of the soliloquy to allow the audience to see deeper into his characters’ thoughts in his play, Hamlet. This technique helps to reveal Hamlet’s true character, expressing emotions that the audience cannot see through his interactions with other characters. Through Hamlet’s soliloquies, one may notice that his reluctance to take actions that involve death can be attributed to his fear of the unknown and his uncertainty in regards to afterlife.

Edmund is revealed to be evil, illegitimate, and deceitful, but he also creates ominous, victorious, and dramatic moods. Moreover, the use of soliloquies advances the plot as it creates conflict, provides background details, and fuels prior conflict between other protagonists. These monologues provide a route to the personal thoughts of the antagonist, which permits the audience to learn greater details about the ongoing altercations. In conclusion, it is evident that Edmund’s soliloquies are vital to the overall development of the Shakespearian Classic King