Hamlet Essay Significance of Soliloquies
Savanna-Jae Busia
Mrs. Krynski
ENG4U
12 November 2012
Hamlet: The Dramatic Significance of Each Soliloquy
Shakespearean Tragedy defines a soliloquy as a speech made by a character when he is alone on stage. In Shakespearean dramas, a soliloquy is actually a poem with lyrics in which are highly emotional or philosophic in content and poetic expression. A soliloquy may serve several purposes, such as revealing the mood or character of the speaker, revealing his opinion on specific topics and issues, creating suspense, revealing motives, and advancing the plot. Hamlet, a tragedy written by William Shakespeare is the story about Prince Hamlet whose father, the late King of Denmark, is murdered by his brother, Hamlet’s uncle. The play revolves around Hamlet’s anger and his choices about how to avenge his father’s death. Throughout the play, Hamlet goes through seven soliloquies, all in which serve more than one dramatic significance. In each poetic speech, Hamlet reveals his character, creates an atmosphere, and advances the plot of the tragedy. Initially, each soliloquy spoken by Hamlet communicates the personality that he holds. His characteristics are explored though the personal attacks geared towards himself for not acting on his morals, and the constant need that he has to confirm that his actions are correct. In Hamlet’s first soliloquy, he explains why it is that he is so upset about everything that has happened thus far. Originally, Hamlet refers to the world as being useless and meaningless to him, comparing it to a business that is showing no progression, “How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable/ Seem to me all the uses of this world!” (I.ii.133-134) Within this same soliloquy, Hamlet also expresses his feelings towards his mother’s speedy marriage to his uncle, the current King of Denmark. “O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason/ Would have mourn’d longer-married with my uncle,/ My father’s brother – but no more like my father/ Than I to
Mrs. Krynski
ENG4U
12 November 2012
Hamlet: The Dramatic Significance of Each Soliloquy
Shakespearean Tragedy defines a soliloquy as a speech made by a character when he is alone on stage. In Shakespearean dramas, a soliloquy is actually a poem with lyrics in which are highly emotional or philosophic in content and poetic expression. A soliloquy may serve several purposes, such as revealing the mood or character of the speaker, revealing his opinion on specific topics and issues, creating suspense, revealing motives, and advancing the plot. Hamlet, a tragedy written by William Shakespeare is the story about Prince Hamlet whose father, the late King of Denmark, is murdered by his brother, Hamlet’s uncle. The play revolves around Hamlet’s anger and his choices about how to avenge his father’s death. Throughout the play, Hamlet goes through seven soliloquies, all in which serve more than one dramatic significance. In each poetic speech, Hamlet reveals his character, creates an atmosphere, and advances the plot of the tragedy. Initially, each soliloquy spoken by Hamlet communicates the personality that he holds. His characteristics are explored though the personal attacks geared towards himself for not acting on his morals, and the constant need that he has to confirm that his actions are correct. In Hamlet’s first soliloquy, he explains why it is that he is so upset about everything that has happened thus far. Originally, Hamlet refers to the world as being useless and meaningless to him, comparing it to a business that is showing no progression, “How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable/ Seem to me all the uses of this world!” (I.ii.133-134) Within this same soliloquy, Hamlet also expresses his feelings towards his mother’s speedy marriage to his uncle, the current King of Denmark. “O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason/ Would have mourn’d longer-married with my uncle,/ My father’s brother – but no more like my father/ Than I to
Cited: Shakespeare, William, and Roma Gill. Hamlet. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1992. Print.