Summary Of Hamlet's Soliloquy
This soliloquy, expressed by Hamlet, reveals his anger towards the new king, Claudius, after the ghost of his father explains to Hamlet of the cause of his death. Hamlet is completely overwhelmed by hate for his uncle Claudius due to his traitorous actions towards his father and he vows to fulfill his ghost father’s wishes to avenge his death against Claudius. Hamlet also expresses huge anger towards his mother, because she remarried the brother of her own husband in very little time. “O all you host of heaven! O earth! What else? And shall I couple hell?” Immediately, Hamlet instinctively looks upon heaven or hell to help him understand the revelations of the ghost, calling upon his "sinews" or muscles/strength to guide him through
the understanding of this terrible news. “Remember thee? Yea, from the table of my memory I'll wipe away all trivial fond records… And thy commandment all alone shall live Within the book and volume of my brain, Unmix'd with baser matter.” Hamlet then acknowledges that past memories will no longer concern him, especially the "trivial" thoughts of the past and his "youth," which was full of nonsense and immature matters. Therefore, the ghost’s wishes will be the only thought which shall fuel his actions, because everything else is now "baser matter" or inconsequential. “Yes, by heaven! O most pernicious woman! villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!” Although the Ghost of his father emphasized that his mother had nothing to do with the murder of her husband, Hamlet sees his mother as pernicious or evil. “Now to my word: It is ‘Adieu, adieu! Remember me.’ I have sworn't.” Lastly in his soliloquy, Hamlet pledges to remember the ghost's revelation and to bring forth vengeance towards King Claudius. In this soliloquy, the depiction of appearance vs. reality reappears, a "smiling villain" is an example of this theme. The difference between “seems” and "is" becomes important in Hamlet. Every character has the tendency to understand how other characters think and act, in contrast to what those characters are pretending to think. The characters in this playwright inspect each other by leaning towards deception of their own, such as spying and plotting. Hamlet adopts a desperate tone in order to emphasize the severity of his condition of the loss of his father and the sense of betrayal from his mother. To add to the atmosphere, Hamlet makes an appeal to natural imagery. Hamlet makes many references to nature in his soliloquy, where devastated and emotionally alone, he asks the earth for answers: “O all you host of heaven! O earth! What else?” Hamlet also incorporates figurative language when he responded, “Yea, from the table of my memory…” because memory is not a tale. Lastly, he asks, “And shall I couple hell? Oh, fie! Hold, hold, my heart…” is an exaggeration to establish his desperate tone and build the atmosphere. Because of the revelation from the ghost to Hamlet, he now has more reason to be angry and disgusted by the events at Elsinore: his father's “mysterious death” and his mother's quick marriage to his uncle. The ghost's revelation is certainly escalating the emotional situation by directing Hamlet’s anger towards his uncle. Now Hamlet claims that everything that he will do will be in reason to avenging his father's murder, by acting “mad”. We assume that this "antic disposition" is all an act, since Hamlet reveals this to Horatio. Hence every encounter Hamlet has in this playwright is sparked by the ghost's revelation to Hamlet of how Claudius became King.
the understanding of this terrible news. “Remember thee? Yea, from the table of my memory I'll wipe away all trivial fond records… And thy commandment all alone shall live Within the book and volume of my brain, Unmix'd with baser matter.” Hamlet then acknowledges that past memories will no longer concern him, especially the "trivial" thoughts of the past and his "youth," which was full of nonsense and immature matters. Therefore, the ghost’s wishes will be the only thought which shall fuel his actions, because everything else is now "baser matter" or inconsequential. “Yes, by heaven! O most pernicious woman! villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!” Although the Ghost of his father emphasized that his mother had nothing to do with the murder of her husband, Hamlet sees his mother as pernicious or evil. “Now to my word: It is ‘Adieu, adieu! Remember me.’ I have sworn't.” Lastly in his soliloquy, Hamlet pledges to remember the ghost's revelation and to bring forth vengeance towards King Claudius. In this soliloquy, the depiction of appearance vs. reality reappears, a "smiling villain" is an example of this theme. The difference between “seems” and "is" becomes important in Hamlet. Every character has the tendency to understand how other characters think and act, in contrast to what those characters are pretending to think. The characters in this playwright inspect each other by leaning towards deception of their own, such as spying and plotting. Hamlet adopts a desperate tone in order to emphasize the severity of his condition of the loss of his father and the sense of betrayal from his mother. To add to the atmosphere, Hamlet makes an appeal to natural imagery. Hamlet makes many references to nature in his soliloquy, where devastated and emotionally alone, he asks the earth for answers: “O all you host of heaven! O earth! What else?” Hamlet also incorporates figurative language when he responded, “Yea, from the table of my memory…” because memory is not a tale. Lastly, he asks, “And shall I couple hell? Oh, fie! Hold, hold, my heart…” is an exaggeration to establish his desperate tone and build the atmosphere. Because of the revelation from the ghost to Hamlet, he now has more reason to be angry and disgusted by the events at Elsinore: his father's “mysterious death” and his mother's quick marriage to his uncle. The ghost's revelation is certainly escalating the emotional situation by directing Hamlet’s anger towards his uncle. Now Hamlet claims that everything that he will do will be in reason to avenging his father's murder, by acting “mad”. We assume that this "antic disposition" is all an act, since Hamlet reveals this to Horatio. Hence every encounter Hamlet has in this playwright is sparked by the ghost's revelation to Hamlet of how Claudius became King.