Hamlet Third Soliloquy Analysis

Shakespeare’s Hamlet, an age-old tale of revenge, most prominently contains the theme of delay and ambivalence. In Hamlet, the main and titular character Hamlet, enacts a ploy of revenge against his step-father Claudius, who killed his father, and married his mother, but Hamlet only does so after almost five months of waiting. Hamlet faces many moments of ambivalent filled moments of hesitation throughout the play. Shakespeare deliberately inserts this delay by through his soliloquies, which lengthens the plot as well as develops Hamlet and the themes. Besides Hamlet however, the theme of delay is also developed through the character of Polonius. Shakespeare, through the careful use of the language in various scenes, accomplishes in developing …show more content…
However by fourth and most famous soliloquy, which takes place almost right after his last soliloquy, Hamlet quickly reverts to his old self again, who is too caught up in ambivalence to be able to act. As Jess Domanico notes in Sincerity in Soliloquy: The Unraveling of Hamlet’s Murderous Identity however, Hamlet is beginning to doubt the Ghost, and this may attribute to why he continues to do nothing. In this soliloquy, Shakespeare uses the literary technique of antitheses to develop ambivalence. His great “To be or not to be” speech displays the theme of ambivalence and delay quite greatly. This is because it shows how Hamlet is having mixed feelings on whether it is better to live unhappily, or to not live at all, which stems from his early doubt about his ability to complete his father’s revenge. This ambivalence is also causing him to delay in acting. Hamlet states this when he decides, “conscience does make cowards of us all” after struggling with the ambivalence of deciding to act (Shakespeare 3.1.84). Shakespeare also delays the length of the soliloquy by having Hamlet add extra clauses to his sentences, which in turn adds to ambivalence of Hamlet. Shakespeare intertwines the two themes of ambivalence and delay in this soliloquy and accomplishes this by the utilization of antitheses and lengthy …show more content…
However, the way the theme of delaying is used with Polonius differs from the way it is used with Hamlet. From his introduction in Act 1, Scene 3, Polonius impedes actions of other characters. He bogs Laertes down with well-intentioned pieces of advice, quite ironically after Laertes says, “I stay too long”, and causes Laertes to be even later to his ship (Shakespeare 1.3.52). In the next act, which is the next time he is seen, Polonius also drags out his instructions to Reynaldo, adding unnecessary advice, even to the point where he forgets what he was even saying, “ ‘a does- what was I about to say?” (Shakespeare 2.1.52). His long-windedness and his tendency to speak on tangents lengthens his encounter with Reynaldo a far greater deal than it needed to have been. Shakespeare intentionally adds delay in these scenes by having Polonius be excessively repetitive and detailed. This serves for comedic effect. This delaying occurs again in the next scene when Polonius defers his important news to the King and Queen until after the Ambassadors’ news, even though he interrupted the Ambassadors to tell them. He then, in grandiloquent language, proceeds to stall for another sixty lines. This is deliberately done and commented on by Shakespeare, who says through Gertrude, “More matter, with less art” (Shakespeare 2.2.96). Shakespeare uses word play and repetition whenever Polonius