Hamlet's First Soliloquy

This paper will discuss how Hamlet performs the other characters within the play. This discussion will focus mainly on Act 3 scene 1 due to how vastly different Hamlet's "to be, or not to be" soliloquy is from his other soliloquies both in form and content. Hamlet has also hinted at his manipulative disposition throughout the play, which will also be addressed with reference to 3.1. This paper will address Hamlet's ability to perform other characters, before moving on to discuss Hamlet's intentions in 3.1 with an evaluation of his character and a close reading of his soliloquy. This discussion suggests an alternative perspective through which to read and analyze not only 3.1 but the rest of the play as well.
To begin with, performing in this …show more content…
Ophelia's presence might have been the first clue to Hamlet that all is not as it seems. We can assume that he sees Ophelia on stage since entire ploy hinged on Hamlet running into Ophelia. Therefore, when Polonius directs her to stand at exactly that spot it is safe to assume she is not so hidden that Hamlet can come and go without at all interacting with her. Expanding from that, I believe it is also safe to assume that Ophelia is immediately within view upon first entering the room, lest Hamlet walk inside, declare it empty, and go search for her elsewhere. Therefore, there is no reason for Hamlet to assume he is alone after entering the room and presumably seeing Ophelia. Moving on, Hamlet knows that Ophelia is, as Videbaek eloquently put it, "her father's creature" (9). Her loyalty lies with her father, therefore anything Hamlet says or does to her can be trusted to reach Polonius, and likely also Claudius. We know Hamlet is aware of this chain reaction because he attempts to play it to his advantage in 2.1. In almost attacking Ophelia, Hamlet attempts to send the message of his madness to Polonius and consequently Claudius. Ophelia does report to her father that Hamlet had burst into her closet looking "[a]s if he had been loosed out of hell" (2.1.83), and Polonius assumes Hamlet was "mad for [her] love" (2.1.84). Though Polonius reports to Claudius as intended, Hamlet's deceit falls short because Claudius …show more content…
Hamlet omits "any reference to his personal situation" (Hirsh, 35), and the result is a speech that is so unrelated to the specifics of Hamlet's life that it could have been placed anywhere throughout the plot. The choice to set it during an eavesdropping episode should indicate something of Shakespeare's intentions (Hirsh, 36). Further, Hamlet denies the existence of the ghost. In saying that death is "the undiscovered country from whose bourn / No traveler returns" (3.1.78-79) Hamlet is not only denying his own experiences but invalidating his very motivation for vengeance. Unless he had a sudden, off-stage change of heart, there should be no reason for this denial, unless he was trying to abate the suspicions of the king. Lastly, the speech itself "has barbs imbedded in it, directed at every possible hidden audience member" (Videbaek, 13). There's "[t]h'opressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely" (71) alluding to Claudius, "[t]he pangs of despised love" (72) which could be addressed to either Ophelia or Gertrude, and there's "the law's delay" (72) to serve as a warning to both Claudius and Gertrude that there will be consequences for their immoral actions despite the delay. In conclusion, Hamlet performs his soliloquy to convey to his unintended audience that he is mad with an "incapacitating generic melancholy" (Hirsh, 46) and is incapable of taking action against the king. In misleading them all into believing him truly