Preview

Hamlet Soliloquy Analysis Essay Example

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
969 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Hamlet Soliloquy Analysis Essay Example
5/9/09
An Analysis Of Hamlet's Soliloquy At The End Of Act 2

The young prince of Denmark, Hamlet has recently lost his father. Right after this depressing event, his uncle, Claudius, takes over the entire property of his past away father: his crown and his wife (Gertrude) who is Hamlet's mother. This chain of heartbreaking misfortunes leaves deep wounds on the soul of young Hamlet and his soliloquies, allowing the audience to enter his agitated mind, revealing these spiritual scars. This soliloquy is the closing part of the second act and points out the inner feelings of the prince Hamlet being affected by the tremendous acting of the player which was full of meaning to him. This soliloquy can be divided into two parts: the first part deals with Hamlet being amazed by the passion of the player toward Hecuba "The queen of Troy", imagining how he would behave if he were in his situation. The second part of soliloquy deals with Hamlet's self censure and his anger headed for his uncle. The tone of this soliloquy is of self criticism and can be sensed from the very first line where Hamlet expresses himself as "rouge" and "peasant salve". Through using different techniques, Shakespeare seeks to maintain this tone from first to last of this soliloquy: One of the tools he uses to achieve this goal is by the means of exclamations made by Hamlet. For instance some of these exclamations are: "all for nothing! For Hecuba!", "O, vengeance!" and "What an ass I am!" The further skill Shakespeare utilizes in order to accomplish this tone of rebuke is by the means of the rhetorical questions that Hamlet asks himself. Such as: "What's Hecuba to him or, he to Hecuba?", "What would he do, had he the motive and the cue of passion that I have?" and the series of questions he asks himself in the third paragraph.
The last literary device used by Shakespeare to preserve this tone of self-criticisms is through using proper

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    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…

    • 635 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet’s second soliloquy of the play is very interesting because it is full of a raging spirit and the object of Hamlet’s ire is himself. Hamlet’s speech is fueled by his own rage of thinking on the ghost of his father and its missive. It (the speech) is also furthered by his impression of the player who just recently before gave his impassioned speech. Hamlet is livid with himself and it truly shows in his second soliloquy.…

    • 734 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, is that a tragedy played about complicated protagonist; hamlet who is involved in the misfortune death of his father. Hamlet throughout the play pretends to be insane; hence, Hamlet acted to achieve his ambition of killing his father's assassin. Moreover, Hamlet shows his desires and feelings towards the unjustified death of his father and unfaithfulness of his mother by marrying her late husband’s brother. Therefore, Hamlet’s soliloquy, “now I am alone. O, what a rogue and peasant slave am,” portrayed him as a coward because he feels he has done nothing to take revenge on his uncle. Throughout the play, hamlet’s persona, broke down into an emotional roller coaster while he equivocates on avenge…

    • 244 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet said “O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I! Is it not monstrous that this player here, But in a fiction, in a dream of passion, Could force his soul so to his own conceit That from her working all his visage wann'd,Tears in his eyes, distraction in's aspect, A broken voice, and his whole function suiting With forms to his conceit? And all for nothing! For Hecuba! What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, That he should weep for her? What would he do, Had he the motive and the cue for passion that I have? (II.II.58)”.Hamlet is revealed as overly analytical and indecisive through his attempts to avenge his father’s death. Throughout the play, Hamlet is overwhelmed by his feeling of revenge but hesitates in the murder of Claudius due to his fear of making the wrong decision. Hamlet is held back by his excessive consideration of religious morals and beliefs and his fear of completing his knowledge with action. Hamlet’s thoughts and actions are windows into this mindset. He also pretends to be something he is…

    • 256 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Shakespeare Major Paper

    • 2842 Words
    • 8 Pages

    In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet himself is a difficult character to figure out. With his elegant intensity and reckless but cautious attitude, he is able to keep his readers entertained as the play progresses. Through his irrational decisions, emotional madness and admirable qualities, Hamlet becomes a character with whom readers will continuously empathize. Our first impression of Hamlet sets the tone for the entire play. We are brought to one of the beginning scenes where Hamlet is…

    • 2842 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet Soliloquy Analysis

    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Shakespeare employs violent, corporal imageries such as “Who… breaks my pate… plucks off my beard, and… tweaks me by the nose?” (II, ii, 568-570) to disclose the mental status of Hamlet. These imageries commonly imply pain, suggesting the excruciating internal struggle of Hamlet as he endures character dynamics. The diction also plays a crucial role in determining the tone. Hamlet finishes loathing himself by “Bloody, bawdy villain!/ Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain!” (II, ii, 577-578). The alliteration of the explosive consonance “b”, the internal rhyme of the syllables “less” and “rous”, and the repetition of the word “villain” all amplify strong disgust. Shakespeare utilizes forcefully negative diction to illuminate the struggles of…

    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shakespeare’s employment of dramatic struggle and disillusionment through his character Hamlet, contributes to the continued engagement of modern audiences. The employment of the soliloquy demonstrates Shakespeare’s approach to the dramatic treatment of these emotions. The soliloquy brings a compensating intimacy, and becomes the means by which Shakespeare brings the audience not only to a knowledge of secret thoughts of characters, but into the closest emotional touch with them too. Through this, the audiences therefore gain a closer relationship with Hamlet, and are absorbed by him because they are able to resonate with his circumstances, as he is faced with enduring truths of the human condition. Through these, the struggle and disillusionment of life, the world, women and himself are identified.…

    • 905 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this play, Hamlet is faced with extremely hard situations to cope with. The play basically opens with him losing his father and his uncle marrying his mom. For a young boy to have to cope with this turn of events shows a great deal in its self. After Hamlet speaks with the ghost of his father, he is faced with the request of his father to avenge his death. After all that he is faced with Hamlet has to juggle the fact that his uncle murdered his father and his mother married him shortly there-after and his friends not being able to know about the real way his father died can take an extreme toll on his sanity. After all this being said and took in consideration, Hamlet makes a mistake and kills Polonius thinking he was Claudius. At the duel between Hamlet and Laertes Hamlet says something that shows the meaning of a hero, “Hamlet agrees to fight, saying that “all’s ill here about my heart,” but that one must be ready for death, since it will come no matter what one does.” This quote shows that no matter what happens in the proceeding moments Hamlet is doing something that his heart desires, and something he feels right. It doesn’t always have to be the right thing being done, but something makes you a hero to yourself. Hamlet also displays traits showing the thought of a hero; when before the duel…

    • 1130 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    ‘Hamlet’ the character, as well as, the play has, very often and rightly, been referred to as a ‘riddle’ by learned critics, and there have always been attempts to solve this riddle. But to endeavor to reach any answer, whether that answer is satisfactory or not is another issue, to the riddle of Hamlet’s character without probing into his soliloquies is a hard pill to swallow. These soliloquies give us an insight into the intentions, thoughts and feelings of Hamlet at different stages of the play, and these are very crucial to the development of his character. His seventh soliloquy is no exception.…

    • 767 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The primary function of the first soliloquy is to reveal to the audience Hamlet's profound melancholia and the reasons for his despair. Hamlet explains, with an outpouring of disgust, anger, sorrow, and grief that everything in his world is either futile or contemptible.…

    • 529 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the play, Hamlet expresses his internalised battle between his mission to avenge his father’s death and his morality through his long soliloquies. For example, in Act 3, Scene 3, Hamlet has a golden opportunity to kill Claudius in his bedchambers but decides against it when he discovers Claudius is praying. He avers that to kill Claudius then, when he is confessing his sins, would be to send him to heaven. He exclaims that ‘this is hire and salary, not revenge’, saying that the action of killing Claudius mid-prayer would warrant a reward instead of being an act of revenge. These conflicting feelings within Hamlet cause him to be indecisive with his actions. As England was in the midst of transitioning from barbaric medieval times to the more refined Renaissance period during the time of Hamlet, Shakespeare uses Hamlet’s confliction to highlight his progressive thinking in comparison to Claudius’ uncouth ways and to signal to his audiences the dawn of a new…

    • 943 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Mind and Hamlet

    • 1116 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Hamlet 's soliloquy at the end of Act 2 is a conveyance of the emotional journey of Hamlet and its exploration of the theme of revenge provides extensive evidence possibilities of constant reinterpretation as it demonstrates a character to understand and relate to. The soliloquy provides a chance for change in the audience 's perception of Hamlet, and allows for a more intensive insight into Hamlet 's persona. The characterisation of Hamlet suggests he is self-deprecating and insecure, evident in the statement “oh, what a rogue slave am I!”, and in this the audience relates to Hamlet in his inability to decide how to fulfil his immense responsibility. The idea of Renaissance Humanism is evident in Hamlet 's conclusion to “catch the conscience of the king” through the production of a play that is emulative of his father 's murder in order to see Claudius ' guilty reaction. This notion is supported by Salter, 1988, who declares Hamlet is of a philosophical nature that is aware of the…

    • 1116 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is apparent from the start of the play, that Hamlet’s character is weak and indecisive. His character tends to be alone, bitter and untrusting of others. He is especially bitter and hateful of his mother, who had immediately married his uncle following his…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ah Fie's Flaws In Hamlet

    • 788 Words
    • 4 Pages

    William Shakespeare’s Hamlet portrays the prince as an undeniably complex character. It is evident from the beginning of the story that he is in the midst of crisis and is struggling with both the death of his beloved father as well as his mother’s hasty marriage to his uncle. Throughout the play the prince increasingly goes mad as his world is turned upside down. Hamlet’s obsession with existential questions and passionate nature combine to create a flawed and problematic prince whose downfall is inevitable.…

    • 788 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hamlet’s thoughts are witnessed through his soliloquies. Hamlet says, “What’s Hecuba to him or he to Hecuba, That he should weep for her? What would he do Had he the motive and the cue for passion That I have? He would drown the stage with tears, And cleave the general ear with horrid speech, Make mad the guilty, and appal the free, Confound the ignorant, and amaze indeed The very faculties of eyes and ears” (Hamlet 2.2.…

    • 970 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays