Critical Analysis Of Hamlet's First Soliloquy

Hamlet has just fought with Gertrude and Claudius, and has decided to stay home, as opposed to going to college. Claudius told Hamlet he was not allowed to go, and Hamlet decided to stay for his mother. The, “O, that this too too solid flesh would melt…” soliloquy reveals the first thoughts of death that Hamlet has within the play. Not much has happened, but the King and Queen are married, and the ghost has been seen. As the first soliloquy, this is the first insight into Hamlet’s state of mind that the audience has.
Hamlet has two moods within this soliloquy; depressed and enraged. He begins speaking about his wish to disappear, “O, that this too too solid flesh would melt / Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!” (I.ii.131-132) He then wishes to die, “ Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d / His canon ’gainst self slaughter! O God! O
After he expresses this he begins to fill with rage as he speaks on his mother and Cladius’ marriage. “But two months dead: nay, not so much, not two: / So excellent a king: that was, to this, Hyperion to a satyr;” (I.ii.130-142) Here, Hamlet begins to compare the great God that was his father, to the half man, half goat that is his uncle. Hamlet is filled with rage that his mother could possibly pick such a foul beast over his father. Hamlet exclaims, “Frailty, thy name is woman!” (I.ii.148) In this quote Hamlet not only curses his mother, but all women. This soliloquy introduces the feelings of hatred towards women that Hamlet expresses throughout the entire play.
Not only does Shakespeare utilize allusions to Greek mythology in the play, but there is also a great deal of personification. As Hamlet transitions from