Hamlet Soliloquies In Hamlet Analysis

Improved Essays
William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, is a tragedy focusing on the character Hamlet, who is summoned to attend the wedding of his uncle to his mother and forced to avenge his father’s murder by killing King Claudius, his uncle. This task weighs heavily on his mental state and leads to further conflict. As with most tragedies, death is inevitable, and in this scenario, quite common. Death comes to all, from the sweet and misfortunate Ophelia to the sinister King Claudius. Hamlet is not immune from death either as he is sadly killed by Laertes who also seeks revenge after the death of his late father, Polonius. Much of the plot’s focal point is on the Hamlet’s state of mind and how it deteriorates as the play progresses. While it is not quite …show more content…
His lack of action proves hazardous to his own well being as well as others since several characters die because he failed to rid himself of his task sooner. This resentment that soon harbors Hamlet’s soul is directed towards his uncle, his mother, and most importantly, himself. In his most passionate soliloquies, Hamlet seems to be deeply disturbed as he sees the only thing lacking in his ability to kill the King is a worthy man able to handle the pressure associated with avenging his father’s honor; Self-deprecation and conflicting ideas are results of his compiled frustrations with the world and those are a part of his life. Shakespeare uses the themes of disorder, revenge, and motifs of decay and nature in Hamlet’s four soliloquies to help convey that Hamlet is not insane, but his conflicted nature and suffering are huge factors of his …show more content…
In a vacant area during the wedding, Hamlet is seen discreetly vociferating about the marriage between Gertrude and Claudius. The message of this soliloquy is quite evident as he is wishing upon himself that “this too sullied flesh would melt” since he has been

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Hamlet doubts Gertrude’s sincerity because she should have “mourn’d longer” (1.2.151). And although Gertrude cried “like Niobe,” her actions revealed that she was not full of grief (1.2.149). With Hamlet’s repetition of the word “month,” he states the view that Gertrude’s love was all an act because who loves someone but moves on in so little time. Unable to cope with what his mother and uncle did, Hamlet resulted in disillusionment. The incestuous marriage led to the resignation of Hamlet because no matter what he can say or do, he knew that there was nothing to be done.…

    • 1220 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Theme Of Revenge In Hamlet

    • 1187 Words
    • 5 Pages

    “No place indeed should murder sanctuarize; / Revenge should have no bounds” (IV.vii.140-141). Here, King Claudius justifies the act of revenge while he is ironically oblivious to Hamlet’s plans of vengeance. In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, the theme of revenge closely surrounds each character, whether the character is one to deliver it or feel the consequences of it. In this particular story, the characters directly involved in vengeance reside in close father-son relationships and therefore seek to exact revenge on their fathers’ offenders. Fortinbras’s direct actions are mainly unseen until the final scene but end in a sorrowful acceptance of great fortune.…

    • 1187 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    So far as readers we know by this time alot has happen to Hamlet, his father died. And his uncle took over as king and he married the Queen. A ghost of the dead king has told Hamlet that Cladius, Hamlet's uncle killed his father, and he is having relationship problems with his girlfriend, Ophelia. In his first soliloquey we know that he does not like the marriage between his uncle and mother, he is still grieving over the death of his father and we also get this feeling that Hamlet does not like his unlce, Cladius. In his second soliloquey we get this understanding about why he is acting crazy,and his feeling toward's his current s ituation.…

    • 408 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hamlet and His Humanism What is humanism? Humanism is an ideology which originated from Renaissance cultural movement that against feudalism and church. It advocates all human-oriented, against the authority of God; it emphasizes the maintenance of human dignity, promote tolerance and against violence. Shakespeare is the most outstanding representatives of humanism.…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The soliloquy of act 2 scene 2 is focused on inner struggles with revenge. Earlier in this scene, Hamlet asks the actors to recite the story of Priam. While viewing this play hamlet realized the flaw in all that he has been doing, or hasn’t been doing, to act revenge on Claudius. Claudius killed Hamlet's father and stole the crown and hamlet is the only one who knows so he hatches a plan. He has made a few attempts of Claudius' life but failed.…

    • 1100 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Mourning the loss of a loved one is a process that varies from each person, but usually follows a framework of five stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. When an individual discovers someone dear to him has died, he will naturally begin to grieve. One 's emotional fortitude is challenged to cope with the loss, and if he fails, then he will find himself on the brink of insanity. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet’s resilience is tested through a series events. The death of Hamlet’s father, the encounter with his father’s ghost, and the rushed marriage between his mother, Gertrude and his uncle, Claudius, are all incidents that lead Hamlet on the verge of insanity.…

    • 940 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Claudius and Gertrude spend much of their time in Act I Scene 2 reprimanding Hamlet for his melancholy attitude and morning attire. King Claudius and Queen Gertrude are celebrating their wedding; however, Gertrude understands that her son, Prince Hamlet is offended by her seeming betrayal to the memory of her dead husband, the late King Hamlet. 2. Look at Hamlet’s first soliloquy Act I Scene 2 Ln.…

    • 1128 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Additionally, Hamlet was called to be his father's heir to throne, not Claudius. Hamlet quickly turns insane and begins wishing for his own death, putting an act on everyone, as he "pretends" to act mad, and seeing the ghost of his father, while letting it dictate his life decisions. Through the dying of King Hamlet and throning of Claudius, Hamlet begins to turn insane, as he turns against the majority of his civilization, in order to seek revenge for himself and his family name. One example of Hamlet turning insane is when he thinks over and talks about wanting to die. Once Hamlet's father dies and his mother remarries his uncle, Claudius, Hamlet is living through a world of depression.…

    • 1075 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Act 1, Scene 2 presents the first soliloquy of Hamlet, revealing Hamlet’s inner thoughts to the audience and creating a dejected and bitter tone to reinforce Hamlet’s proclamation of his grief. Shakespeare’s specific diction, punctuation marks and mythological allusions provide a striking contrast to the controlled and artificial dialogue that he previously used with Claudius. Hamlet reveals his profound melancholy in his outpour of anger as he floods his speech with harsh and depressing diction such as “thaw” and the idea that his “flesh would melt.” These words clearly show his desire to melt out of despondency and escape reality as the thought of suicide first begins to contaminate his mind. Existence is a burden, as Shakespeare emphasizes…

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Sarcastic Hamlet Goes Insane The story of Hamlet is full of drama and tragedy with which prince Hamlet struggles to navigate. Hamlet’s life suddenly takes a turn for the worst following the tragic and mysterious death of his father, King Hamlet. While Hamlet is still mourning over his father's death, his mother marries his uncle, who has taken the thrown. Because of this, Hamlet becomes furious with his mother and her decision to marry his uncle Claudius.…

    • 961 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hamlet: A State of Mind Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is one of the most profoundly developed characters ever created in a fictional masterpiece. William Shakespeare, an English, sixteenth-century actor and playwright, captures audiences with his detailed attention to human feelings. These sentiments dramatically affect the heroes of his literary works. Even in modern times, one can relate on a personal level to each one of his characters in his dark comedy, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.…

    • 1058 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hamlet is initially a logically sound individual who does not want to perpetrate acts of evil. However, the thoughts that come to his mind after interacting with “the ghost” go on to show the influence that people close to us can have on our thoughts and actions. The personality of the protagonist and all the diverse factors that come into play to further his indecisiveness only increase Hamlet’s state of melancholy. It is imperative to note that Hamlet remains passive and hesitant to commit suicide as well as to kill Claudius during prayer, until the ghost of his father influences…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    When Hamlet drops his guard and voices the thoughts that have been plaguing him and keeping him from taking any sort of action towards the goal he promised he would achieve, it brings the audience back to seeing him in a sympathetic light. While it is not necessary to have a sympathetic protagonist to tell a good story, as the anti-hero trope is quite popular, it is beneficial and it seems Shakespeare takes continuous steps back in this directions when his protagonists stray from the audience’s favor. The broad philosophical approach of this passage is still celebrated today because as in Elizabethan times, many of us are still confronted with “the pangs of despised love”, “th’ oppressor’s wrong”, and “the law’s delay”, even if we have never experienced the situation of our uncle murdering our father then promptly marrying our mother, and our father’s ghost coming back to tell us to get revenge. Every reader can identify with at least one of the reasons Hamlet gives for why people choose to “bear the whips and scorns of…

    • 427 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    For any son, the death of one’s father will definitely have a huge impact on their life however it appears that for Hamlet rather than simple grief or remorse, Hamlet instead turns to madness. Hamlet’s psychological development can be analyzed during his soliloquy of Act 2, Scene ii where he decides to plot against Claudius to revenge his father as well as Act 3 Scene IV. After King Hamlet’s death and putting Hamlet in a situation of where he must pretend to be insane, Hamlet’s true sanity can be questioned through his decision making and through the analysis of his pleasure seeking id, his realistic ego, and his over-thinking superego from a psychoanalytical reading of the text. By taking a look through the psychoanalytical lens, it is apparent through Hamlet’s long soliloquy that the death of his father is very much taking a toll on his mind. Upon analyzing the mental state of the struggling prince, one can…

    • 1200 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    “Hamlet:” Revenge The play, Hamlet by Shakespeare, is a tale of revenge. The notion of revenge is presented when the story begins. The ghost of Hamlet’s father appears at the stroke of midnight to Hamlet and tells him of how he was murdered by his Uncle Claudius (who is the current ruler). Hamlet is reluctant to believe this information, but cannot bring himself to deny that it is true.…

    • 1514 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays