hamlet first soliloquy essay

A Summary and Analysis of Hamlet’s ‘O that this too too solid flesh would melt’ soliloquy

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Hamlet’s first soliloquy in Shakespeare’s play, the speech beginning ‘O, that this too too solid flesh would melt’ (in some editions, ‘O, that this too too sullied flesh would melt’ while, in some others, ‘O, that this too too sallied flesh would melt’) is one of the most famous speeches in the play, and as with all of Hamlet’s soliloquies, the language requires some unpacking.

The ‘O, that this too too solid flesh would melt’ soliloquy can be found in Act I Scene 2 of Hamlet . (We’ve summarised Hamlet here and offer an analysis of the play’s themes in a separate post.)

‘O, that this too too solid/sullied/sallied flesh would melt’: even the first line of this Shakespeare soliloquy presents a number of interpretive problems. The First Quarto (or ‘Bad Quarto’) printing of Hamlet in 1603 had ‘sallied’, which means ‘attacked’, ‘assailed’, or ‘beguiled’.

However, given that this was a ‘bad’ printing of the play (elsewhere in that version, the celebrated ‘To be or not to be’ soliloquy opens instead ‘To be or not to be, I there’s the point’), many editors choose to ‘correct’ the word ‘sallied’ to ‘sullied’, meaning contaminated. Meanwhile, the printing of Hamlet in the First Folio of 1623 has ‘solid’.

There’s a case for all three words in the context: Hamlet may well feel his very being is under attack, given his father’s recent death and his mother’s swift remarriage to Claudius.

Similarly, Hamlet is obsessed with things being diseased or rotten, so ‘sullied’ as ‘contaminated’ would also chime. But given the context, probably the most mainstream interpretation is that ‘solid’ is the right word here, since Hamlet goes on to talk about his very flesh ‘resolving’ (i.e. dissolving from a solid state ‘into a dew’).

In any case, and whichever reading we choose to adopt, the meaning is the same: Hamlet wishes that his own body would just melt away. If only it could just dissolve into a dew, and he could cease to exist, he could leave all the problems of living behind!

Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d His canon ’gainst self-slaughter!

Since his body is unlikely just to turn itself into a dew, the next option would be to end his own life through suicide, but Hamlet cannot do this because God (‘the Everlasting’) has forbidden suicide (‘canon’ here refers to divine law).

O God! God! How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, Seem to me all the uses of this world! Fie on’t! ah fie! ’tis an unweeded garden, That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature Possess it merely.

In lines that have become famous, Hamlet expresses despair about the world more widely, beyond himself. Everything seems washed-out and colourless, and ultimately nothing comes of anything anyone does. The whole world is like a garden full of weeds – disgusting and corrupt weeds which have taken over the whole garden.

That it should come to this! But two months dead: nay, not so much, not two: So excellent a king; that was, to this, Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother That he might not beteem the winds of heaven Visit her face too roughly.

Now, Hamlet focuses in on his own personal situation, and we get an insight into what has prompted this outpouring of despair and frustration with life.

His father has only been dead two months – indeed, not even a full two months yet. He was an excellent king, and to compare him with the new king, Hamlet’s uncle Claudius, is like comparing the god Hyperion (the Greek god of the sun from classical mythology) to a satyr, a mythical beast that was depicted by the Romans as goat-like (associating Claudius with base lust).

Indeed, Hamlet’s father was so loving to Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, that he would not permit (‘beteem’) the wind to blow too harshly on her face. (This weather imagery chimes with Hamlet’s idea of his dead father as a sun god.)

Heaven and earth! Must I remember? why, she would hang on him, As if increase of appetite had grown By what it fed on: and yet, within a month – Let me not think on’t – Frailty, thy name is woman! –

Hamlet expresses his anger towards his mother, who hangs off Claudius as if her desire for him had only increased by being satisfied (by Hamlet’s father). It’s as if Gertrude was loved so well by Old Hamlet that, rather than sit around mourning his death, she needs to get her ‘fix’ from somewhere.

Hamlet blames his mother’s hasty remarriage on her ‘frailty’ as a member of womankind: women are the very embodiment of ‘frailty’, i.e. a lack of constancy in love. Or, to return to the ‘flesh’ image with which Hamlet began this soliloquy, women are too weak when it comes to matters of the flesh, and give in too easily.

A little month, or ere those shoes were old With which she follow’d my poor father’s body, Like Niobe, all tears: – why she, even she – 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 Hercules:

Before Gertrude’s shoes which she wore to Old Hamlet’s funeral were old, she married Hamlet’s uncle, who is about as much like Hamlet’s father as Hamlet is to the musclebound hero of classical legend, Hercules.

Gertrude wept as she walked behind the body of Old Hamlet at his funeral, crying tears just as Niobe, another Greek mythological figure, did when her children were slain; but even ‘beast’ lacking in reason would have mourned for a dead husband longer than Gertrude did.

In the closing lines of the soliloquy, Hamlet refers to the ‘incestuous sheets’ of the bed that Gertrude shares with Claudius. Such an understanding of ‘incest’ – marrying someone who was not a blood-relative but a relative by law – would have doubtless been familiar to many of the original playgoers in Shakespeare’s Elizabethan audience: the Queen’s own father, King Henry VIII, had justified his divorce from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, on Biblical grounds that it was a forbidden act to marry one’s brother’s widow.

‘O, that this too too solid flesh would melt’ concludes with Hamlet having to endure his breaking heart in silence, for at this point in the play, Hamlet’s friend Horatio arrives with news of the sightings of the Ghost on the battlements, and Hamlet is about to learn that there is even more reason to hate Claudius.

About Hamlet

Hamlet is often characterised as ‘a man who cannot make up his mind’. Indeed, the publicity for Laurence Olivier’s celebrated 1948 film of Hamlet made much of this description of Hamlet’s character. The words that tend to come up when people try to analyse the character or personality of Hamlet are indecisive, delaying, and uncertain, with ‘inaction’ being the key defining feature of what Hamlet actually does during the play.

Certainly, the poet and critic Samuel Taylor Coleridge thought Hamlet’s main fault was his indecision: he detected ‘an almost enormous intellectual activity and a proportionate aversion to real action consequent upon it’ – i.e., Hamlet is better at thinking about doing things than actually doing them.

And yet we might argue that Hamlet doesn’t exactly delay, or at least, he does not delay because he is indecisive, but for sound, practical reasons. Hamlet cannot be sure that the Ghost really is the spirit of his dead father, and not some fiend that’s been sent to cause mischief and goad him to murder. So he needs to find out whether Claudius really is guilty of murdering Hamlet Senior, and thus whether the Ghost can be trusted.

Discover more from Interesting Literature

Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.

Type your email…

3 thoughts on “A Summary and Analysis of Hamlet’s ‘O that this too too solid flesh would melt’ soliloquy”

Interesting commentary. I wonder which word Shakespeare intended: sallied, sullied, or solid? I suppose we’ll never know. Solid does fit the rest of the meaning of the sentence, but that doesn’t mean it’s right. I think you may have misread the bit about Gertrude hanging on “him”; I’ve always read this as referring entirely to Old Hamlet. That Gertrude clung to her husband as if the more she got, the more she wanted. Hamlet is baffled by her sudden change to his uncle after she seemed so enamored of his father. Also, Hamlet is not talking of Niobe when he refers to a beast wanting reason… it’s a separate statement. His speech here is so distraught that he’s talking about several things at once. He’s done with Niobe at the semi-colon (“like Niobe, all tears;”) and the she he is ranting about his mother who seemed as sad as Niobe has married his uncle, only he breaks up his sentence to say that even a dumb animal (which humans are wont to think have no emotions at all) would mourn longer over a dead loved one than his mother has mourned for his father.

I read it as solid – I wish a few stone of my solid flesh would melt!!

I agree with many of your interpretative points. Hamlet, not used to having to face monumental decisions, would no doubt prefer to melt away than face the turmoil facing him. One point though, is from research findings, it’s thought the “fat” line was in reference to the actual actor (Burbage?) who was overweight—sort of a flippant remark of the Bard to one of his troupe members.

Quotes & Plays

Hamlet’s first soliloquy analysis: o that this too, too solid flesh would melt.

Shakespeare in his play hamlet used seven soliloquies. Act 1, Scene 2 marks Hamlet’s first soliloquy. But before we dive into analyzing Hamlet’s first Soliloquy, let us first understand the meaning and purpose of using Soliloquies in drama.

What is Soliloquy

Soliloquy is a literary device used by dramatists to convey the secret thoughts or intentions of the character. The character reveals himself to the audience and his monologue is meant to be heard only by the audience and not by any character in the play.

Soliloquy as a literary device is very effective because it let’s audience predict the actions of the character, understand his positive or negative emotions, plans, etc.

Hamlet’s First Soliloquy Text

“The First Folio,” 1623.

Hamlet’s First Soliloquy Analysis

In Hamlet’s first soliloquy, he reveals the grief that has been tormenting his mind. He wishes to die, but unable to do so as it is sin to commit suicide. He feels disillusioned with the world. He compares his life with a garden that has been left wild.

How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world! Line – 133

Hamlet then starts talking about his father who died less than two months ago. He compares his father with Hyperion (A God of Wisdom) and his uncle with Satyr (half-human, half-animal monster). He also revealed how much his father used to love his mother.

Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother, That he might not beteem the winds of heaven Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth!

Hamlet is unable to tolerate the fact that his mother remarried just after few days of the death of his father. He is losing faith in women. He compares his mother with Niobe and claimed that even a beast would have mourn for someone loved longer than his mother.

Like Niobe, all tears; — why she, even she, — O God! a beast that wants discourse of reason, Would have mourn’d longer,

Hamlet is also disgusted with the fact that his mother married his own brother-in-law and got in bed with him before her tears for King Hamlet dried. But hamlet decided not to protest openly.

married with mine uncle, My father’s brother; but no more like my father

The first soliloquy in hamlet gives us an insight into Hamlet’s state of mind. He feels hopeless both by the death of his father and the remarriage of his mother. We also get to know, that he holds his father in high esteem. His reference to Hyperion, Niobe, and Hercules shows him to be well-versed in classical literature. His anger toward his mother and uncle is evident in the soliloquy. As an audience, we start to sympathize with hamlet and become curious about his next action.

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Hamlet — Analysis of Hamlet’s First Soliloquy in the Play

Analysis of Hamlet's First Soliloquy in The Play

Categories: Hamlet

About this sample

Words: 1427 |

Published: Jun 29, 2018

Words: 1427 | Pages: 3 | 8 min read

An in-depth analysis of hamlet's first soliloquy, hamlet's references to greek mythology, works cited:.

Fraser, A. (2001). Marie Antoinette: The Journey. Doubleday.
Hardman, J. (2016). The Life of Louis XVI. Yale University Press.
Lever, E. (2006). Marie Antoinette: The Last Queen of France. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Nagel, S. (2008). Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman. Harper Perennial.
Roberts, J. B. (2015). The French Revolution. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Scott, P. M. (2008). Marie Antoinette: The Crucial Years. University of California Press.
Weber, C. (2013). Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution. Henry Holt and Co.
Yalom, M. (2008). Blood Sisters: The French Revolution in Women's Memory. Basic Books.
Zweig, S. (2002). Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman. Pushkin Press.
Zweig, S. (2017). The Struggle with the Daemon: Hölderlin, Kleist, Nietzsche. Pushkin Press.

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Verified writer

Expert in: Literature

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

4 pages / 1814 words

6 pages / 2725 words

2 pages / 758 words

4 pages / 1712 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Analysis of Hamlet's First Soliloquy in The Play Essay

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet has long been revered as a masterpiece of literature. It has stood the test of time and is still being studied and performed today. One of the most notable features of this play is the use of [...]

William Shakespeare's Hamlet is one of the most celebrated plays in literature, known for its complex characters, themes, and language. Written in the early 17th century, Hamlet has endured the test of time and continues to be [...]

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is widely regarded as one of the most significant plays in the history of literature, and its protagonist's behavior is deserving of thorough analysis. Throughout the play, Hamlet's state of mind undergoes [...]

In William Shakespeare's renowned play, Hamlet, the protagonist's character development and actions drive the narrative, captivating audiences for centuries. Through a deep analysis of Hamlet's character, one can uncover the [...]

Hamlet and Macbeth are two of William Shakespeare's most famous plays. Each share not only fame, however, but format: Both feature main characters with tragic flaws that become their demise. In the cases of Hamlet and Macbeth, [...]

"Understanding kills action." With these three simple words, Nietzsche explains the idea behind Shakespeare's development of the acting of thought as inaction, and also the reason that Hamlet hesitates for over 3000 lines of [...]

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

Instructions Followed To The Letter
Deadlines Met At Every Stage
Unique And Plagiarism Free

Hamlet: ‘To Be Or Not To Be, That Is The Question’

‘ To be or not to be , that is the question’ is the most famous soliloquy in the works of Shakespeare – quite possibly the most famous soliloquy in literature. Read Hamlet’s famous soliloquy below with a modern translation and full explanation of the meaning of ‘To be or not to be’. We’ve also pulled together a bunch of commonly asked questions about Hamlet’s famous soliloquy, and have a couple of top performances of the soliloquy to watch.

Jump to section: Full soliloquy | Analysis | Performances | FAQs | Final read

Let’s start with a read-through of Shakespeare’s original lines:

Hamlet’s ‘To Be Or Not To Be’ Speech, Act 3 Scene 1

To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune , Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, ’tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream : ay, there’s the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause: there’s the respect That makes calamity of so long life; For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely, The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay, The insolence of office and the spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes, When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, The undiscover’d country from whose bourn No traveller returns, puzzles the will And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought, And enterprises of great pith and moment With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action.–Soft you now! The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons Be all my sins remember’d.

Hamlet ‘To Be Or Not To Be’ Analysis

Hamlet is thinking about life and death. It is the great question that Hamlet is asking about human existence in general and his own existence in particular – a reflection on whether it’s better to be alive or to be dead.

The in-depth version

The first six words of the soliloquy establish a balance. There is a direct opposition – to be, or not to be. Hamlet is thinking about life and death and pondering a state of being versus a state of not being – being alive and being dead.

The balance continues with a consideration of the way one deals with life and death. Life is a lack of power: the living are at the mercy of the blows of outrageous fortune. The only action one can take against the things he lists among those blows is to end one’s life. That’s the only way of opposing them. The ‘sleep of death’ is therefore empowering: killing oneself is a way of taking action, taking up arms, opposing and defeating the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Living is a passive state; dying is an active state. But in order to reach the condition of death one has to take action in life – charge fully armed against Fortune – so the whole proposition is circular and hopeless because one does not really have the power of action in life.

Death is something desirable – devoutly to be wished, a consummation – a perfect closure. It’s nothing more than a sleep. But there’s a catch, which Hamlet calls a rub. A ‘rub’ is a bowls term meaning an obstacle on the bowls lawn that diverts the bowl, so the fear of the life hereafter is the obstacle that makes us pause and perhaps change the direction of our thinking. We don’t control our dreams so what dreams may come in that sleep in which we have shuffled off all the fuss and bother of life? He uses the term ‘ mortal coil ,’ which is an Elizabethan word for a big fuss, such as there may be in the preparations for a party or a wedding – a lot of things going on and a lot of rushing about. With that thought, Hamlet stops to reconsider. What will happen when we have discarded all the hustle and bustle of life? The problem with the proposition is that the sleep of death is unknown and could be worse than life.

And now Hamlet reflects on a final end. A ‘quietus’ is a legal word meaning a final definitive end to an argument. He opposes this Latin word against the Celtic ‘sweating’ and ‘grunting’ of a living person as an Arab beneath an overwhelmingly heavy load – a fardel, the load carried by a camel. Who would bear that when he could just draw a line under life with something as simple as a knitting needle – a bodkin? It’s quite a big thought and it’s fascinating that this enormous act – drawing a line under life – can be done with something as simple as a knitting needle. And how easy that seems.

Hamlet now lets his imagination wander on the subject of the voyages of discovery and the exploratory expeditions. Dying is like crossing the border between known and unknown geography. One is likely to be lost in that unmapped place, from which one would never return. The implication is that there may be unimagined horrors in that land.

Hamlet now seems to make a decision. He makes the profound judgment that ‘conscience does make cowards of us all,’ This sentence is probably the most important one in the soliloquy. There is a religious dimension to it as it is a sin to take one’s life. So with that added dimension, the fear of the unknown after death is intensified.

But there is more to it than that. It is not just about killing himself but also about the mission he is on – to avenge his father’s death by killing his father’s murderer. Throughout the action of the play, he makes excuses for not killing him and turns away when he has the chance. ‘Conscience does make cowards of us all.’ Convention demands that he kill Claudius but murder is a sin and that conflict is the core of the play.

At the end of the soliloquy, he pulls himself out of this reflective mode by deciding that too much thinking about it is the thing that will prevent the action he has to rise to.

This is not entirely a moment of possible suicide. It’s not that he’s contemplating suicide as much as reflecting on life, and we find that theme all through the text. In this soliloquy, life is burdensome and devoid of power. In another, it’s ‘weary, stale, flat and unprofitable,’ like a garden overrun with weeds. In this soliloquy, Hamlet gives a list of all the things that annoy him about life: the whips and scorns of time, the oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely, the pangs of despised love, the law’s delay, t he insolence of office and the spurns t hat patient merit of the unworthy takes. But there’s a sense of agonized frustration in this soliloquy that however bad life is we’re prevented from doing anything about it by fear of the unknown.

Watch Two Theatre Greats Recite Hamlet’s Soliloquy

David Tenant as Hamlet in the RSC’s 2009 Hamlet production:

We couldn’t resist but share Patrick Stewart’s comedy take on the soliloquy for Sesame Street!

Commonly Asked Questions About ‘To Be Or Not To Be’

Why is hamlet’s ‘to be or not to be’ speech so famous.

This is partly because the opening words are so interesting, memorable and intriguing, but also because Shakespeare ranges around several cultures and practices to borrow the language for his images. Just look at how many now-famous phrases are used in the speech – ‘take arms’, ‘what dreams may come’, ‘sea of troubles’, ‘to sleep perchance to dream’. ‘sleep of death’, ‘whether tis nobler’, ‘flesh is heir’, ‘must give us pause’, ‘mortal coil’, ‘suffer the slings and arrows’, outrageous fortune’, ‘the insolence of office’… the list goes on and on.

Add to this the fact that Shakespeare is dealing with profound concepts, putting complex philosophical ideas into the mouth of a character on a stage, and communicating with an audience with a wide range of educational levels, and you have a selection of reasons as to why this soliloquy is as famous as it is. Just look at how many now phrases

How long is ‘To be or not to be’?

The ‘To be or not to be’ soliloquy is 33 lines long, and consists of 262 words. Hamlet, the play in which ‘to be or not to be’ occurs is Shakespeare’s longest play with 4,042 lines. It takes four hours to perform Hamlet on the stage, with the ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy taking anywhere from two to four minutes.

Why is ‘To be or not to be’ so important?

‘To be or not to be’ is not important in itself but it has gained tremendous significance in that it is perhaps the most famous phrase in all the words of the playwright considered to be the greatest writer in the English language. It is also significant in the play, Hamlet , itself in that it goes directly to the heart of the play’s meaning.

Why does Hamlet say ‘To be or not to be’?

To be or not to be’ is a soliloquy of Hamlet’s – meaning that although he is speaking aloud to the audience none of the other characters can hear him. Soliloquies were a convention of Elizabethan plays where characters spoke their thoughts to the audience. Hamlet says ‘To be or not to be’ because he is questioning the value of life and asking himself whether it’s worthwhile hanging in there. He is extremely depressed at this point and fed up with everything in the world around him, and he is contemplating putting an end to himself.

Is ‘To be or not to be’ a metaphor?

The line ‘To be or not to be’ is very straightforward and direct, and has no metaphorical aspect at all. It’s a simple statement made up of five two-letter words and one of three – it’s so simple that a child in the early stages of learning to read can read it. Together with the sentence that follows it – ‘that is the question – it is a simple question about human existence. The rest of the soliloquy goes on to use a number of metaphors.

What is Shakespeare saying in ‘To be or not to be’?

In the ‘To be or not be to’ soliloquy Shakespeare has his Hamlet character speak theses famous lines. Hamlet is wondering whether he should continue to be, meaning to exist or remain alive, or to not exist – in other words, commit suicide. His thoughts about that develop in the rest of the soliloquy.

Why is ‘To be or not to be’ so memorable?

Ask people to quote a line of Shakespeare and more often than not it’s ‘To be or not to be’ that’s mentioned. So just what is it that makes this line of Shakespeare’s so memorable?

The line is what is known as a chiasmus because of its balance and structure, and that’s what makes it memorable. Look at this chiasmus from John F Kennedy: ‘Do not ask what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.’ Far more complex than Shakespeare’s line but even so, having heard it one could never forget it. The first and second halves mirror each other, the second being an inversion of the first. Winston Churchill’s speeches are full of chiasma. Even when he is joking they flow: ‘All babies look like me, but then I look like all babies.’

Chiasma are always short and snappy and say a lot in their repetition of words and their balance. And so it is with Hamlet’s speech that starts ‘to be or not to be’, arguably Shakespeare’s most memorable line – in the collective conscience centuries after the words were written and performed.

Look at the balance of the line. It has only four words: ‘to,’ ‘be,’ ‘or’ and ‘not.’ The fact is that the language is as simple as language can get but the ideas are extremely profound. ‘To take arms against a sea of troubles,’ for example, and ‘To die, to sleep, no more, but in that sleep of death what dreams may come,’ every word but one monosyllabic, go right to the heart of human existence and the deepest dilemmas of life.

Let’s try reading it again…

If you’re still with us, you should now have a pretty good understanding of the true meaning behind the words of Hamlet’s ‘To be or not to be’ speech. You may have also watched two fantastic actors speak the immortal words, so should have a much clearer understanding of what messages the soliloquy is trying to convey.

With all of this in mind, why not try reading the words aloud to yourself one more time:

David Tennant speaks Hamlet’s ‘To be or not to be’ soliloquy

And that’s all for this take on Hamlet’s immortal lines. Did this page help you? Any information we’re missing that would be useful? Please do let us know in the comments section below!

Total 1,064
Twitter 289
WhatsApp 55
Pinterest 0

I apologise for the small gripe, but since when did ‘sweating’ and ‘grunting’ become ‘Celtic’ words?

Both words are of Proto-Germanic origin, and Proto-Celt along with Proto-Germanic are considered to be of Indo-European in origin. Which is different than being Latin in origin. I would assume that perhaps they made an error in mentioning they were Celtic in origin instead of Germanic.

I’ve seen a theatrical “King Lear “ recently, and noticed with surprise that there is a soliloquy of “ to be or not to be “ from Hamlet. Is it a free interpretation of the director or is it a real citation from Hamlet? Thank you very much

I appreciate the clear explanation with background you give! Great job!

Thank You. These words remind me that all lives are lived with burdens perceived that don’t always become our realities.At the same time they are encouraging as we move out of shadows into light.

This is where Albert Camus gets the opening lines of “The Myth of Sisyphus.” He writes, The whole question of philosophy is the question of suicide.

Or, as the ancient Greeks had it; ‘ the greatest gift the gods have given to man is that he may end his life when he will’. But I prefer ‘ eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die’; 91 soon so each day is a bonus. Wouldn’t be dead for quids !

Thank you, it was as much as I wanted and not more than I needed.

I gotta memorize this for AP English and man I HATE IT!!! Hamlet needs to stop being a little crybaby and just DO IT already!!!!!

Not a bad summary but some mistakes. 1) The first line is not a chiasmus: in a chiasmus, as you correctly illustrate, each part has two elements and they swap places. 2) Hamlet is not debating whether HE should continue to be as the speech is completely impersonal. 3) The idea that he is depressed, and indeed that the speech is a soliloquy, are guesses supported only by post-Renaissance sentimental theatrical tradition, which has sentimentalised the character. Neither you nor anyone else has found a clear meaning in the speech, and since we don’t know what he’s saying we don’t know why he says it. Moreover, the utter impersonality and detachment of the speech suggest rather that it is NOT a soliloquy.

I agree with these comments. I am not satisfied with either the analysis of the writer nor with the later comment that Hamlet is a weak ‘cry baby’ It is a reflective speech not one seeking a decision. He is not choosing, he is considering the inherent options, and we can generally agree with them, although in these more secular days it is the obliteration of life and subsequent oblivion that stays our hand at self-slaughter rather than some post mortem reality. An although it is legitimate to infuse a Christian flavour to Shakespeare’s use of the word ‘conscience’, I dont choose to see the use of that word as implying ‘sin’, more an attempt to avoid making an ill informed and incorrect decision, which in fact is the inherent problem Hamlet faces throughout the play. Is his uncle really guilty, is the spirit of his father benign or demonic, and all the other questions he is constantly asking. From the writer’s point of view, these questions are the tactics he chooses to use to delay the outcome. Hamlet after all is a revenge tragedy, and must needs therefore delay the resolution of the problem posed by his father’s death. Those, like one of the above commentators, who see the whole play as a series of vacillations, are also people I am sure who have never had to kill a member of their own family to avenge the murder of another.

With respect, Shakespeare, while complex, is not inscrutable. The idea that nobody knows what this means, and we can’t know what this means – is perhaps not the best way to read Shakespeare, or anything else for that matter. Shakespeare wrote plays that were meant to be seen, experienced, understood and thought deeply about. That every generation since has done this, is why he is loved, and is why he is believed to be the best to ever put pen to paper.

It seems to me that the original author might benefit from another possibility. Namely, that the question for Hamlet is not just contemplating his own life, but whether or not to directly avenge the murder of his father. To be, or not to be, is, “to avenge” or “not to avenge” which Hamlet (perhaps mistakenly) conflates with his life and existence.

If that holds, he feels that if he does not act, then his life and existence are meaningless. Everything, for Hamlet, has reduced to this moment and this singular choice.

In this mindset, the choice becomes framed as a choice to live or not live, because that is how deeply he feels compelled to act. You could argue that he is rationalizing revenge to be an act that his very life and meaningful existence depend on. When put that way, it’s not a choice at all. He must be. He must act.

The problem is, that this isn’t true. He isn’t faced with a real binary choice in this way. He has options. Hamlet could forgive. He could walk away and forge another life in exile. He could build evidence and try to make a case for private, or even public support against the king. He could raise an army and stage a coup. He could live quietly and wait out the king’s eventual mortality. There are lots of other possibilities that could be framed.

Now, those may seem like feckless choices in the face of great injustice. But imagine what would happen to society if everyone made Hamlet’s choice in every situation. If we, took the direct handling of revenge, even arguably just revenge, into our own hands – it is Hatfield and McCoys forever, with blood in our homes and in our streets. It never stops. I would argue that history clearly teaches us that revenge almost always spills outside or our control and ends up hurting people that weren’t initially involved. Hamlet made the wrong choice and it destroyed him, his family and a lot of innocent people.

Shakespeare is brilliant and complex, and my goodness can he write the most trivial detail in the most beautiful and compelling way. But on another level, he is super simple in terms of bigger picture understanding. The question to help us understand Shakespeare (especially in the tragedies) is this: read the basic events like a child would; namely what is the result of the choices made?

Macbeth – a lot of death and chaos. Is that good or bad? Bad. It may be that Shakespeare’s larger message is that MacBeth and Lady MacBeth made wrong choices in handling ambition. Romeo and Juliet – double suicide by teen / pre-teen couple over a misunderstanding. Wrong choices in handling personal romance. Hamlet – literally everyone but a single survivor dies. Wrong choices in handling revenge and societal injustice.

The “to be or not to be” monologue is showing us how Hamlet goads his own thinking into unalterable action and shows us the setting of his will onto a path that will be incredibly destructive.

Our author here, would set this up as a choice to commit suicide (not to be), or not, and the right answer would necessarily be to live (to be). The problem is, this doesn’t fit with the play, or the outcome of the play. Hamlet is not choosing to refuse suicide in a narrative vacuum. Hamlet choosing to live, also results in the death of a lot of other people. In the narrative, his choosing to live is tightly tied to the execution of his revenge. And he dies anyway.

I suppose you could make the argument that Hamlet was justified in his decision for revenge, but it went badly, because life is messy. I would argue that while life is messy, Shakespeare is not, and his clarity of vision and expression are fraught with intentionality.

And that his insight, when apprehended, leads us to see the ripple of truth and the wisdom of his subject in the real world as well, in ways which are useful and virtuous when rightly understood.

My read would be that the right answer, according to Shakespeare, is to “not be”, leaving direct vengeance to God while pursuing justice as best we can through other means.

With respect I think you have said literally nothing in all that. Get specific. If you think 2B is a soliloquy, what does he say that so desperately needs a special channel of communication to the audience and requires us to imagine the Ophelia can’t hear him despite being literally in his way and the spies can’t hear him despite having located themselves precisely in order to do so? Do you not think it’s possible that our failure to pin down what he says is related to our assumption that it’s a soliloquy?

See All Hamlet Resources

Looking to pay someone who can help with your paper on any Hamlet topic?

AffordablePapers will write your essay for you, cheap with fast delivery.

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, to be or not to be: analyzing hamlet's soliloquy.

General Education

"To be, or not to be, that is the question."

It’s a line we’ve all heard at some point (and very likely quoted as a joke), but do you know where it comes from and the meaning behind the words? "To be or not to be" is actually the first line of a famous soliloquy from William Shakespeare’s play Hamle t .

In this comprehensive guide, we give you the full text of the Hamlet "To be or not to be" soliloquy and discuss everything there is to know about it, from what kinds of themes and literary devices it has to its cultural impact on society today.

Full Text: "To Be, or Not to Be, That Is the Question"

The famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy comes from William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet (written around 1601) and is spoken by the titular Prince Hamlet in Act 3, Scene 1. It is 35 lines long.

Here is the full text:

To be, or not to be, that is the question, Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause: there's the respect That makes calamity of so long life; For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, The pangs of despised love, the law's delay, The insolence of office and the spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes, When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, The undiscover'd country from whose bourn No traveller returns, puzzles the will And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought, And enterprises of great pith and moment With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action.—Soft you now! The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons Be all my sins remember'd.

You can also view a contemporary English translation of the speech here .

"To Be or Not to Be": Meaning and Analysis

The "To be or not to be" soliloquy appears in Act 3, Scene 1 of Shakespeare’s Hamlet . In this scene, often called the "nunnery scene," Prince Hamlet thinks about life, death, and suicide. Specifically, he wonders whether it might be preferable to commit suicide to end one's suffering and to leave behind the pain and agony associated with living.

Though he believes he is alone when he speaks, King Claudius (his uncle) and Polonius (the king’s councilor) are both in hiding, eavesdropping.

The first line and the most famous of the soliloquy raises the overarching question of the speech: "To be, or not to be," that is, "To live, or to die."

Interestingly, Hamlet poses this as a question for all of humanity rather than for only himself. He begins by asking whether it is better to passively put up with life’s pains ("the slings and arrows") or actively end it via suicide ("take arms against a sea of troubles, / And by opposing end them?").

Hamlet initially argues that death would indeed be preferable : he compares the act of dying to a peaceful sleep: "And by a sleep to say we end / The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks / That flesh is heir to."

However, he quickly changes his tune when he considers that nobody knows for sure what happens after death , namely whether there is an afterlife and whether this afterlife might be even worse than life. This realization is what ultimately gives Hamlet (and others, he reasons) "pause" when it comes to taking action (i.e., committing suicide).

In this sense, humans are so fearful of what comes after death and the possibility that it might be more miserable than life that they (including Hamlet) are rendered immobile.

Inspiration Behind Hamlet and "To Be or Not to Be"

Shakespeare wrote more than three dozen plays in his lifetime, including what is perhaps his most iconic, Hamlet . But where did the inspiration for this tragic, vengeful, melancholy play come from? Although nothing has been verified, rumors abound.

Some claim that the character of Hamlet was named after Shakespeare’s only son Hamnet , who died at age 11 only five years prior to his writing of Hamlet in 1601. If that's the case, the "To be or not to be" soliloquy, which explores themes of death and the afterlife, seems highly relevant to what was more than likely Shakespeare’s own mournful frame of mind at the time.

Others believe Shakespeare was inspired to explore graver, darker themes in his works due to the passing of his own father in 1601 , the same year he wrote Hamlet . This theory seems possible, considering that many of the plays Shakespeare wrote after Hamlet , such as Macbeth and Othello , adopted similarly dark themes.

Finally, some have suggested that Shakespeare was inspired to write Hamlet by the tensions that cropped up during the English Reformation , which raised questions as to whether the Catholics or Protestants held more "legitimate" beliefs (interestingly, Shakespeare intertwines both religions in the play).

These are the three central theories surrounding Shakespeare’s creation of Hamlet . While we can’t know for sure which, if any, are correct, evidently there are many possibilities — and just as likely many inspirations that led to his writing this remarkable play.

3 Critical Themes in "To Be or Not to Be"

Doubt and uncertainty
Life and death

Theme 1: Doubt and Uncertainty

Doubt and uncertainty play a huge role in Hamlet’s "To be or not to be" soliloquy. By this point in the play, we know that Hamlet has struggled to decide whether he should kill Claudius and avenge his father’s death .

Questions Hamlet asks both before and during this soliloquy are as follows:

Was it really the ghost of his father he heard and saw?
Was his father actually poisoned by Claudius?
Should he kill Claudius?
Should he kill himself?
What are the consequences of killing Claudius? Of not killing him?

There are no clear answers to any of these questions, and he knows this. Hamlet is struck by indecisiveness, leading him to straddle the line between action and inaction.

It is this general feeling of doubt that also plagues his fears of the afterlife, which Hamlet speaks on at length in his "To be or not to be" soliloquy. The uncertainty of what comes after death is, to him, the main reason most people do not commit suicide; it’s also the reason Hamlet himself hesitates to kill himself and is inexplicably frozen in place .

Theme 2: Life and Death

As the opening line tells us, "To be or not to be" revolves around complex notions of life and death (and the afterlife).

Up until this point in the play, Hamlet has continued to debate with himself whether he should kill Claudius to avenge his father. He also wonders whether it might be preferable to kill himself — this would allow him to escape his own "sea of troubles" and the "slings and arrows" of life.

But like so many others, Hamlet fears the uncertainty dying brings and is tormented by the possibility of ending up in Hell —a place even more miserable than life. He is heavily plagued by this realization that the only way to find out if death is better than life is to go ahead and end it, a permanent decision one cannot take back.

Despite Hamlet's attempts to logically understand the world and death, there are some things he will simply never know until he himself dies, further fueling his ambivalence.

Theme 3: Madness

The entirety of Hamlet can be said to revolve around the theme of madness and whether Hamlet has been feigning madness or has truly gone mad (or both). Though the idea of madness doesn’t necessarily come to the forefront of "To be or not to be," it still plays a crucial role in how Hamlet behaves in this scene.

Before Hamlet begins his soliloquy, Claudius and Polonius are revealed to be hiding in an attempt to eavesdrop on Hamlet (and later Ophelia when she enters the scene). Now, what the audience doesn’t know is whether Hamlet knows he is being listened to .

If he is unaware, as most might assume he is, then we could view his "To be or not to be" soliloquy as the simple musings of a highly stressed-out, possibly "mad" man, who has no idea what to think anymore when it comes to life, death, and religion as a whole.

However, if we believe that Hamlet is aware he's being spied on, the soliloquy takes on an entirely new meaning: Hamlet could actually be feigning madness as he bemoans the burdens of life in an effort to perplex Claudius and Polonius and/or make them believe he is overwhelmed with grief for his recently deceased father.

Whatever the case, it’s clear that Hamlet is an intelligent man who is attempting to grapple with a difficult decision. Whether or not he is truly "mad" here or later in the play is up to you to decide!

4 Key Literary Devices in "To Be or Not to Be"

In the "To be or not to be" soliloquy, Shakespeare has Hamlet use a wide array of literary devices to bring more power, imagination, and emotion to the speech. Here, we look at some of the key devices used , how they’re being used, and what kinds of effects they have on the text.

#1: Metaphor

Shakespeare uses several metaphors in "To be or not to be," making it by far the most prominent literary device in the soliloquy. A metaphor is when a thing, person, place, or idea is compared to something else in non-literal terms, usually to create a poetic or rhetorical effect.

One of the first metaphors is in the line "to take arms against a sea of troubles," wherein this "sea of troubles" represents the agony of life, specifically Hamlet’s own struggles with life and death and his ambivalence toward seeking revenge. Hamlet’s "troubles" are so numerous and seemingly unending that they remind him of a vast body of water.

Another metaphor that comes later on in the soliloquy is this one: "The undiscover'd country from whose bourn / No traveller returns." Here, Hamlet is comparing the afterlife, or what happens after death, to an "undiscovered country" from which nobody comes back (meaning you can’t be resurrected once you’ve died).

This metaphor brings clarity to the fact that death truly is permanent and that nobody knows what, if anything, comes after life.

#2: Metonymy

A metonym is when an idea or thing is substituted with a related idea or thing (i.e., something that closely resembles the original idea). In "To be or not to be," Shakespeare uses the notion of sleep as a substitute for death when Hamlet says, "To die, to sleep."

Why isn’t this line just a regular metaphor? Because the act of sleeping looks very much like death. Think about it: we often describe death as an "eternal sleep" or "eternal slumber," right? Since the two concepts are closely related, this line is a metonym instead of a plain metaphor.

#3: Repetition

The phrase "to die, to sleep" is an example of repetition, as it appears once in line 5 and once in line 9 . Hearing this phrase twice emphasizes that Hamlet is really (albeit futilely) attempting to logically define death by comparing it to what we all superficially know it to be: a never-ending sleep.

This literary device also paves the way for Hamlet’s turn in his soliloquy, when he realizes that it’s actually better to compare death to dreaming because we don’t know what kind of afterlife (if any) there is.

#4: Anadiplosis

A far less common literary device, anadiplosis is when a word or phrase that comes at the end of a clause is repeated at the very beginning of the next clause.

In "To be or not to be," Hamlet uses this device when he proclaims, "To die, to sleep; / To sleep: perchance to dream." Here, the phrase "to sleep" comes at the end of one clause and at the start of the next clause.

The anadiplosis gives us a clear sense of connection between these two sentences . We know exactly what’s on Hamlet’s mind and how important this idea of "sleep" as "death" is in his speech and in his own analysis of what dying entails.

The Cultural Impact of "To Be or Not to Be"

The "To be or not to be" soliloquy in Shakespeare’s Hamlet is one of the most famous passages in English literature, and its opening line, "To be, or not to be, that is the question," is one of the most quoted lines in modern English .

Many who’ve never even read Hamlet (even though it’s said to be one of the greatest Shakespeare plays ) know about "To be or not to be." This is mainly due to the fact that the iconic line is so often quoted in other works of art and literature ⁠— even pop culture .

And it’s not just quoted, either; some people use it ironically or sarcastically .

For example, this Calvin and Hobbes comic from 1994 depicts a humorous use of the "To be or not to be" soliloquy by poking fun at its dreary, melodramatic nature.

Many movies and TV shows have references to "To be or not to be," too. In an episode of Sesame Street , famed British actor Patrick Stewart does a parodic version of the soliloquy ("B, or not a B") to teach kids the letter "B":

There’s also the 1942 movie (and its 1983 remake) To Be or Not to Be , a war comedy that makes several allusions to Shakespeare’s Hamlet . Here’s the trailer for the 1983 version:

Finally, here’s one AP English student’s original song version of "To be or not to be":

As you can see, over the more than four centuries since Hamlet first premiered, the "To be or not to be" soliloquy has truly made a name for itself and continues to play a big role in society.

Conclusion: The Legacy of Hamlet ’s "To Be or Not to Be"

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is one of the most popular, well-known plays in the world. Its iconic "To be or not to be" soliloquy, spoken by the titular Hamlet in Scene 3, Act 1, has been analyzed for centuries and continues to intrigue scholars, students, and general readers alike.

The soliloquy is essentially all about life and death : "To be or not to be" means "To live or not to live" (or "To live or to die") . Hamlet discusses how painful and miserable human life is, and how death (specifically suicide) would be preferable, would it not be for the fearful uncertainty of what comes after death.

The soliloquy contains three main themes :

It also uses four unique literary devices :

Anadiplosis

Even today, we can see evidence of the cultural impact of "To be or not to be," with its numerous references in movies, TV shows, music, books, and art. It truly has a life of its own!

What’s Next?

In order to analyze other texts or even other parts of Hamlet effectively, you'll need to be familiar with common poetic devices , literary devices , and literary elements .

What is iambic pentameter? Shakespeare often used it in his plays —including Hamlet . Learn all about this type of poetic rhythm here .

Need help understanding other famous works of literature? Then check out our expert guides to F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby , Arthur Miller's The Crucible , and quotations in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird .

Hannah received her MA in Japanese Studies from the University of Michigan and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California. From 2013 to 2015, she taught English in Japan via the JET Program. She is passionate about education, writing, and travel.

Ask a Question Below

Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!

Improve With Our Famous Guides

For All Students

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points

How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 800 on Each SAT Section:

Score 800 on SAT Math

Score 800 on SAT Reading

Score 800 on SAT Writing

Series: How to Get to 600 on Each SAT Section:

Score 600 on SAT Math

Score 600 on SAT Reading

Score 600 on SAT Writing

Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests

What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For?

15 Strategies to Improve Your SAT Essay

The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points

How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer

Series: How to Get 36 on Each ACT Section:

36 on ACT English

36 on ACT Math

36 on ACT Reading

36 on ACT Science

Series: How to Get to 24 on Each ACT Section:

24 on ACT English

24 on ACT Math

24 on ACT Reading

24 on ACT Science

What ACT target score should you be aiming for?

ACT Vocabulary You Must Know

ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score

How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League

How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA

How to Write an Amazing College Essay

What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For?

Is the ACT easier than the SAT? A Comprehensive Guide

Should you retake your SAT or ACT?

When should you take the SAT or ACT?

Stay Informed

Get the latest articles and test prep tips!

Looking for Graduate School Test Prep?

Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here:

GRE Online Prep Blog

GMAT Online Prep Blog

TOEFL Online Prep Blog

Holly R. "I am absolutely overjoyed and cannot thank you enough for helping me!”

Join Now to View Premium Content

GradeSaver provides access to 2360 study guide PDFs and quizzes, 11007 literature essays, 2767 sample college application essays, 926 lesson plans, and ad-free surfing in this premium content, “Members Only” section of the site! Membership includes a 10% discount on all editing orders.

Hamlet’s First Soliloquy Nathaniel Clark

Hamlet’s soliloquy in Act 1 Scene II is his first of the play and, as a consequence, allows the audience to see his inner thoughts for the first time. The subjects of this soliloquy are numerous: his father’s death, his mother’s response to this death, his mother’s remarriage to his uncle and Hamlet’s own sense of anger at how his life worsened in a short space of time. Shakespeare uses rich imagery to portray Hamlet’s sense of inner turmoil.

Shakespeare begins Hamlet’s soliloquy with immediate ambiguity. The word ‘sullied’, meaning dirtied or spoilt, is used to describe Hamlet’s flesh. This word may be used because the incestuous relationship between his mother and uncle has corrupted his family name and the purity of his blood. However, there are two other, equally pertinent, interpretations of the word Shakespeare meant to use: firstly, ‘sallied’, meaning ‘attacked’ or ‘assailed’ relates to the context because Hamlet may feel he is the victim in these set of circumstances. This would be consistent with Hamlet’s morose state of mind in the soliloquy and his self-piteous nature. Secondly, the word may have been ‘solid’. This is consistent with the changing of states in the next two lines (‘thaw’, ‘resolve’ and ‘dew’). It is...

GradeSaver provides access to 2313 study guide PDFs and quizzes, 10989 literature essays, 2751 sample college application essays, 911 lesson plans, and ad-free surfing in this premium content, “Members Only” section of the site! Membership includes a 10% discount on all editing orders.

Already a member? Log in

Analysis of Hamlet’s First Soliloquy

Hamlet’s first soliloquy in Act 1, Scene 2, lines 133-164 is a passionate and startling passage that strongly contrasts to the artificial dialogue and actions that he portrays to his uncle Claudius throughout the remainder of the play. This soliloquy serves to reveal Hamlet’s melancholia and the reasons for his despair in an outpouring of anger, disgust, sorrow, and grief through which he explains how everything in his life seems futile and miserable.

He mourns the death of his father, is sickened by his mother’s marriage to his uncle, and also feels extremely miserable about the entire situation with regards to the value of his own life. Hamlet is so grieved by his father’s death that he too wishes to die. He feels as if he is a defiled person stating that

Unlock with Patreon!

Get access to this and all exclusive member-only essays with Patreon membership. If you've already joined, please log in here

Hamlet Act-I, Scene-II Study Guide

This scene opens in the court of King Claudius. The king is engaged in preaching ethics to his family members and courtiers regarding balancing life between sorrows and everyday preoccupations. He vows to combine and sustain the grief he feels for his brother’s death, and joy for his marriage. However, despite his efforts, all the impression of merriment seems superficial.

This is largely because Claudius’ idea that all will follow his example proves hollow, as it is not possible to maintain a balance between the death of his brother and his joy of getting married to his deceased brother’s wife. Also, his own logic defies his morality when he says, “Therefore, our sometimes sister, now our queen,” which points to an irreligious element in the play (8). That is the very reason that this seems deceptive to others, specifically to Hamlet .

Furthermore, the scene also portrays a dreadful situation in his country, just as it happened in the first scene. It is, in Claudius’ words, a “warlike state,” where preparations are underway (9). This scene also points towards the weakness and corruption of King Claudius, as is pointed out in his own moral treatise in which he is engaged, giving to others.

This scene also presents Polonius and his son Laertes, who is foil to Hamlet throughout the play. Laertes comes to the king to demand his permission to leave for France. The king asks him to seek permission from his father, but Laertes informs the king that he has already sought permission from him. The king also sends his emissaries to the old Norway, to stop his nephew’s preparations for war.

Prince Hamlet, on the other hand, who is overwhelmed with his father’s death, and his mother’s betrayal by marrying his uncle, is introduced as a character that is not willing to play along with the king’s gaudy attempt to follow commands of the happy royal court. Queen Gertrude also joins him, but Hamlet starts playing upon words with both of them. This flabbergasts both the king and the queen. Although King Claudius praises his mourning, at heart he is feeling discomfort. On the other hand, Hamlet is comparing the king to his father, King Hamlet, and generalizing his mother’s marriage with “ Frailty, thy name is woman !” (146).

When all go out of the court, Hamlet is left alone . In his loneliness, he delivers his first soliloquy . His soliloquy opens up the central idea of the play, that the world is a painful place to live in – where even suicide is not possible. It is because within the religious framework, if a person commits suicide, he will be eternally damned. Hamlet says,

“Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d His canon ’gainst self-slaughter! O God, God, How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world!” (Lines, 131-134)

Meanwhile, Horatio enters along with his colleagues Bernardo and Marcellus. Horatio is a very close friend of Hamlet at University in Wittenberg, so Hamlet is glad to see him in the court. Horatio tells him that he has come to attend his father’s funeral in Denmark, but Hamlet sarcastically replies that he has arrived to attend his mother’s wedding instead, which he admits. Then Horatio tells him that Bernardo and Marcellus have seen his father’s Ghost. Hearing that, Hamlet is stunned saying, “My father’s spirit—in arms! All is not well” (254). This is the place where Hamlet becomes certain that there is something wrong. He agrees to stand watch with them at night , hoping that he might be able to talk to his father’s Ghost.

Detailed Analysis

The central figure of the play, Hamlet is introduced as a downcast person, busy in mourning the death of his father, and fond of talking to his friend, Horatio. However, his conversation with King Claudius and Queen Gertrude demonstrates that he has a good command over himself, as well as his use of words.

Hamlet plays upon words when talking to the king, as well as the queen. He speaks his first famous soliloquy in this scene in which he spouts the now-famous generalization about women, “Frailty, thy name is woman!” (146). Hamlet then reprimands his mother in his imagination, and compares King Claudius with his murdered father.

In the meanwhile, his friend Horatio appears with his guard colleagues. They inform Hamlet that they have seen the Ghost of King Hamlet, which astounded him. He questions them about the appearance, and Horatio convinces him that it is the Ghost of King Hamlet. He then senses immediately that “All is not well” (255).

King Claudius

King Claudius is the villain of the play. This scene opens up with his long dialogue , in which he expounds upon the sorrow over the death of King Hamlet, his brother, the morality of balancing the sorrow and everyday life, and his own marriage. He further discusses the situation in which he has married, the preparations of war, and his strategy to deal with it by bribing the old Norway, Fortinbras’ uncle.

King Claudius seems to be showering his favors on others. He is also shown speaking with Hamlet, advising him to abandon his mourning and take part in real life. The conversation shows that King Claudius is a very shrewd person, and an astute politician. When Hamlet uses bitter words, he does not show that he has felt its bitterness. Rather, he commends him and advises him, “We pray you thrown to earth / This unprevailing woe” (106-107). Then he leaves it to the queen to pacify him.

Queen Gertrude

In this scene, Queen Gertrude is shown as a simple and innocent woman. She tries to pacify Hamlet, but Hamlet confounds her by playing upon words. Therefore, the king leaves them after giving permission to Laertes to leave for France.

Polonius is King Claudius’ trusted aide. He talks too much in a circumlocutory way. In this scene, he is shown with his son Laertes, who is departing for France. When the king asks him about permission, he says that his son has also obtained it from him.

Laertes is the son of Polonius, and a foil to Prince Hamlet. In this scene, he is departing to France, and come to the king to seek permission to leave.

Horatio, a philosopher and friend of Hamlet, has arrived in the court to meet Prince Hamlet. He is with his colleagues, Bernardo and Marcellus. They have come to inform Hamlet about the appearance of the Ghost.

Marcellus and Barnardo

Marcellus is a guard who appears in this scene to make Hamlet believe that indeed they have seen the Ghost of King Hamlet. Barnardo is his colleague. They are both witnesses to the Ghost. Therefore, Horatio has brought them to make Hamlet believe their story .

Voltemand and Cornelius

Both of these characters appear only in this scene for a very short time. They are being sent to Norway for some official duty that they agree to perform.

Literary Devices

Allusion means comparing something to something else that has a significance in history. For example,

“Let me not think on’t—Frailty, thy name is woman!” …she follow’d my poor father’s body Like Niobe, all tears.” (Lines, 140-152)

In the first line, Hamlet has used allusion by making comparison between his father and uncle. Here, he refers to the Greek mythical figure, Hyperion, who is a Titan god of light, while Satyrs are used as half beast / half men, normally depicted as men above the waist, and a goat or horse below the waist. Here it implies that Claudius is below the waist, meaning that he is a beast — a comment on the lecherous nature of the king.

In the second and third lines, Hamlet again uses allusion by comparing the mourning of his mother to Niobe. This refers to Ovid’s Metamorphoses and the story of Anfione and Niobe, who ruled Thebes. In fact, Niobe angered the gods, and lost her fourteen children. She kept on crying until she was transformed to a stone. Similarly, in this scene Hamlet feels disgusted with his mother’s grief, which he believes is false, and that her tears are just a show. Simply, he no more trusts his mother.

Alliteration

Alliteration refers to the same initial sounds in a sentence such as:

“ Th ough yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death Th at we with wisest sorrow think on him.” (Lines, 1-6)

For creating musical effect and enhance reading pleasure, Shakespeare has used alliteration in these lines. The repetition of the “d” sound in first line, and the “w” sound in the second line, create pleasing effects.

Apostrophe means a call to a dead or an alive person, or an abstract idea, for example:

“Frailty, thy name is woman!—” (Lines, 146)

Hamlet also calls “frailty” saying “Fraily, they name is woman.”

The atmosphere outside the King’s court is murky and dark, with an impression of anxiety and dreadfulness prevalent everywhere. The rooms inside his castle, however, are full of energy in an attempt to remove that mournful aura. The atmosphere of conversation and discussion is full of mystery and suspense . Specifically, the dialogues spoken by Hamlet are full of meaning, while he also plays upon words, or in other words uses puns. This further adds to the mystery, while suspense is intensified with the mention of the Ghost at the end.

An Aside is a literary devoice in which a character speaks something when others are not listening, or he moves a bit away from them, or they go out. Shakespeare uses aside for Hamlet when all go out at the end of this scene.

“My father’s spirit—in arms! All is not well, I doubt some foul play. Would the night were come!” (Lines, 255-256)

This aside serves to inform the audience that Hamlet has sensed that there is something wrong; otherwise, he does not know anything about the murder of his father, but he doubts his mother for marrying hastily.

The repeated sounds of vowels in conjunction with consonant sounds is used for musical effect, in which Shakespeare is a master. He has used assonances and consonances both sparingly in this scene. Here are some of examples of assonance .

T o be contracted in one br ow of w oe (4)
That we w i th w i sest sorrow th i nl on h i m (6)
W i th m i rth i n funeral and d i rge i n marriage (12)
th a t th i s t oo t oo sullied flesh would melt (128)
My father’s sp i r i t — i n arms! All is not well (255)

All the vowel sounds in these lines have been highlighted. These vowel sounds have occurred in repetition, creating a musical quality to the lines. These assonances have also stressed upon the specific issues presented by the characters – the reason that their significance has increased in the scene. The sounds of “o” in the first line, “i” in the second and third lines, and then again “o” in the fourth line have been highlighted.

Consonance is another literary device used recurrently in this scene. In this device, consonant sounds are used in a quick succession to create musical quality. Here are few examples from this scene.

Therefore our sometimes sister , now our queen (8)
In equal scale weighing delight and dole (14)
Giving to you no further personal power (36)
We’ll teach you to drink deep ere you depart . (175)
But even then the morning cock crew loud (218)

In these selected lines, the sounds of “s”, “d”, “p”, “d,” and then “c” have been highlighted. These are all consonances, and along with the use of assonance, Shakespeare has heightened the musical quality of the dialogue.

Contradiction

Shakespeare has used all forms of contradictions. Here is the example of simple contradiction:

“Though yet of Hamlet our late brother’s death The memory be green” (Lines, 1-2)

Claudius uses contradictory ideas, phrases, and words in his speech. Starting with the following lines, he has combined the idea of death and decay with an idea of growth, renewal, and greenery.

As has been the fashion, the diction of this scene is also full of archaic words. This is the specific Elizabethan type of flowery language in which the use of literary and rhetorical devices is abundant. However, still this language is every effective and full me meaning. Specifically, the dialogues used by Hamlet are predictive in nature. In short, this diction suits the Elizabethan audience.

Deus Ex Machina

As the name suggests, it is some supernatural or unexpected power that saves, or intends to save, the situation or the hero . In this scene, although the Ghost does not appear formally, its mention at several places makes it an important character of the play. Hamlet himself states:

“My father’s spirit—in arms! All is not well, I doubt some foul play.” (Lines, 255-256)

In these lines, after discussion with Marcellus and Horatio, Hamlet thinks that if it is, indeed, the ghost of his father, there must be some foul play. The ghost appears to inform Hamlet about something that he does not know. Therefore, this ghost is deus ex machina in Hamlet.

Dramatic Irony

Dramatic Irony means what the character says come to haunt him later. For example, the king says to Hamlet:

“Fie, ’tis a fault to heaven, A fault against the dead , a fault to nature, To reason most absurd, whose common theme Is death of fathers, and who still hath cried.” (Lines, 101-105)

This is dramatic irony , because the king knows that he has committed a murder, which is a fault if compared to what he states about the mourning of Hamlet, which is not. Therefore, this haunts him throughout the play.

Pun means a play upon words. Hamlet is a master in playing with words throughout the play. For example, when King Claudius asks him:

“How is it that the clouds still hang on you?” he says, “ I am too much in the sun.” (Lines, 64-66).

He, in fact, refers to the sun as well as his being “son” of the king that he dislikes.

Foreshadow is a literary device that shows a warning or sign of something sinister to come. The appearance of the Ghost, and its news and the behavior of Hamlet, are both foreshadowing in this scene. For example, Hamlet says:

“My father’s spirit—in arms! All is not well” (Lines, 254)

This line clearly shows that something is going to happen shortly. Secondly, his way of responding to the king and the queen also shows that there is something going to happen that may not be good.

Foil is a character who acts to support the main character. For example, Horatio is always with Hamlet, when Hamlet is in an intellectual difficulty. Even Hamlet selects Horatio to make his case just before the eyes of the people at the end of the play. Secondly, Laertes is introduced here as the son of Polonius, but he is actually a foil to Hamlet, who makes Hamlet prominent as he kills him for revenge, while Hamlet asks Horatio to present justification of his actions. Therefore, he is a foil to Hamlet, as Horatio is also a foil to intellectual Hamlet.

This scene also shows the best use of metaphors . For example:

“Tis an unweeded garden That grows to seed. Things rank and gross in nature… that was to this Hyperion to a satyr. So loving to my mother …” (Lines, 136-141)

By comparing his father’s kingdom to an “undweeded garden,” that no one now is taking care of, and by calling Claudius and his team nasty weeds that are growing in this kingdom, Hamlet has used an apt metaphor .

Personification

Personification means to use something, or to give life to something, as if it is alive. Hamlet has used “Frailty” as a personification in this scene. For example:

“Frailty, thy name is woman!” (Line, 148)

In fact, frailty is a quality, not a woman. However, it has been given the quality that it seems like a woman alive and kicking. Therefore, it is a personification.

Oxymoron juxtaposes contradictory elements in a single phrase or sentence. For example, Hamlet speaks an oxymoron when he says,

“with mirth in funeral, and with dirge in marriage” (Line, 12)

In this line, two contradictory ideas have been juxtaposed together.

Plot of the Scene

In this second scene, the plot of the play moves forward toward confrontation of the villain, King Claudius, and hero, Hamlet. However, whereas the villain is aware of the fangs of the hero, the hero is in a confusion to pinpoint Claudius’ villainy. He still has doubts about the murderer of his father. However, when the news of the appearance of the Ghost arrives at the end, the dialogues become short and crisp. This shows that the plot is taking its pace and entering into the third scene, after introducing two major, and some minor, characters.

Repetition is another literary device that is used for the purpose of reminding the audience of certain events or things, and stressing them.

But you must know your father lost a father, That father lost, lost his – And now, Laertes, What is the new with you? You told us of some suit: what’s it, Laertes? What wouldst though beg, Laertes? What wouldst thou have, Laertes?

In both of these extracts, two words – “father” and “Laertes” – have been repeated. This is for effect. In the first, the stress is upon father, while in the second case, the stress is on the importance of the person, who is Laertes.

Similes are used to compare and contrast two characters or things, to make one significant or prominent. For example,

“My father’s brother – but no more like my father than I to Hercules.” (Lines, 153-154)

Hamlet compares his father and uncle, as both are different. However, this also reveals that he has little respect for his uncle.

Soliloquy is a literary device that refers to dialogue spoken by a character when he is alone. Shakespeare has written several famous soliloquies in Hamlet. The example of a soliloquy in this scene is:

“O that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew! Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d” (Lines, 130-133)

Hamlet has thought upon the matter of life and death, the role of religion in such metaphysical issues, and the hasty marriage of his mother.

Synecdoche means to use small parts to represent the whole, or use the whole to represent few parts. For example:

“Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew” (Lines, 129-130)

In Hamlet’s soliloquy, here flesh stands for physical life. The flesh of Hamlet is melting and thawing, and “resolving it into dew” is an example of metaphor for dying, which is apt to be called synecdoche .

The tone of this scene is tense and strained. However, it shifts from very pleasant and cordial to tense and strained slowly. When King Claudius and Queen Gertrude speak with Hamlet, it seems that all is well, with nothing to worry about. However, when it comes to Hamlet, it seems that everything has lost its worth. For example, while delivering his soliloquy, Hamlet takes us into morality, futility of life, disloyalty, betrayal, and a deceptive view of this world. This means that the tone has changed. We notice a gradual crumbling of beliefs on which the worldview of Hamlet is based.

Having established the ghostly and dark atmosphere in its first scene, Shakespeare takes the audience in the second scene in ostensibly a jovial court of the new King Claudius. However, his court, in fact, presents unnatural and superficial joy. This is to show that though King Claudius has taken control of everything, as he is ordering his courtiers about different tasks, yet he is not feeling well. There is something to worry about that is not clear in the setting .

Hamlet Act-I, Scene-I Study Guide
Hamlet Act-I, Scene-III Study Guide
Hamlet Quotes
Hamlet Symbolism
Hamlet Characters
Hamlet Themes
Brevity is the Soul of Wit
To Thine Own Self Be True
Frailty, Thy Name is Woman
Alas, Poor Yorick!
Neither a Borrower Nor a Lender Be
Lady Doth Protest too Much
To Sleep, Perchance to Dream
Something is Rotten in the State of Denmark
10 Examples of Irony in Shakespeare
Act I Scene 5 from Romeo and Juliet
10 Memorable Uses of Apostrophe by Shakespeare
Et Tu, Brute?
The Fault, Dear Brutus
Wherefore Art Thou Romeo
Fair is Foul, Foul is Fair
A Pound of Flesh
A Rose by any Other Name
All the World’s a Stage
My Kingdom for a Horse
Once More unto the Breach
Heavy is The Head That Wears The Crown
Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow
Star-crossed Lovers
The Quality of Mercy is Not Strain’d
There is a Tide in the Affairs of Men
That Way Madness Lies
The Winter of Our Discontent
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
Romeo and Juliet Allusion
Romeo and Juliet Aside
Romeo and Juliet Characters
Romeo and Juliet Dramatic Irony
Romeo and Juliet Quotes
Romeo and Juliet Foreshadowing
Romeo and Juliet Oxymoron
Romeo and Juliet Metaphor
Romeo and Juliet Personification
Romeo and Juliet Similes
Romeo and Juliet Soliloquy
Romeo and Juliet Themes
Macbeth Quotes
Macbeth Themes
Macbeth Characters
Macbeth Motifs
Othello Quotes
Twelfth Night Quotes
Twelfth Night Characters
Twelfth Night Themes
10 Irony Examples in Shakespeare

Hamlet First Soliloquy Essay

Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is a play that focuses on Hamlet’s own character development. Through his soliloquies the audience learns a lot about how he truly feels. This evidence leads to the essence of Hamlet’s lunacy. The function of these soliloquies is to track his maddening behavior as it evolves. Hamlet’s first major soliloquy occurs in Act I of the play. He contemplates killing himself as well as how he truly feels about his mother and father. About his mother he says, “frailty, thy name is woman” (I:ii:150). He insults his mother, but calls his father proactive, gentle, and an excellent king.

Pearce and Duffy write, “In the first soliloquy, Hamlet’s thinking tends towards an emotional rather than a rational extreme. . . At this point in the play, he is not able to think logically about his predicament and his conclusion is that he needs to remain silent” (“Hamlet:”). Hamlet does not want to speak out about how he really feels about the marriage between Gertrude and Claudius. Here, Hamlet acts as an intelligent man, he chooses not to speak publically about these feelings or else it would be treason. In Act II, Hamlet makes several illusions.

He also shares that he believes that only he has a real reason to be crying, instead of the actors. This motivates him to create a plan to avenge his father’s murder. Hamlet says, “The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King” (II:ii:633-634). During this soliloquy, Hamlet now acts very driven to fulfill his destiny. Pearce and Duffy write, “his outbursts become even more violent, yet one is also aware of a critical mind at work – posing questions about himself in relation to his predicament, as he compares himself to the Player” (“Hamlet:”).

During this scene Hamlet calls himself a coward, and a villain. He exclaims, “O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I” (II:ii:576). His outburst is now more extreme and since he has a plan to catch Claudius, his madness develops further. In Hamlet’s third soliloquy he contemplates suicide again. He says, “to die, to sleep – no more – and by a sleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to” (III:i:68-71). He comes to this conclusion because he no longer wants to suffer, but the idea of suicide is very irrational.

Hirsh writes, “Hamlet’s omission of any reference to his personal situation is coupled with another kind of omission that makes the speech a tour de force of impersonality. In the entire thirty-four lines of the speech until he overtly addresses Ophelia, Hamlet never once uses a first-person-singular pronoun” (“The ‘‘To be, or not to be’’ Speech:”). During this speech Hamlet refers to himself in third person. For example, he says, “That patient merit of th’ unworthy takes, when he himself might his quietus make with a bare bodkin? ” (III:i:82-84).

One can assume that talking about yourself in the third person shows that you are truly turning mad. Hamlet contemplates about his own death as though he is not talking about himself. During Hamlet’s final soliloquy in Act IV, his attitude changes once again. He decides that all he cares about is killing Claudius, he does not care about the evidence. He explains, “How all occasions do inform against me and spur my dull revenge. . . I do not know why yet I live to say ‘This thing’s to do,’ sith I have cause, and will, and strength, and means to do’t” (IV:iv:34-35, 46-49).

Pearce and Duffy write, “his thought has become more linear and is less inclined to revolve on itself” (“Hamlet:”). Hamlet is now driven especially, to kill Claudius. After many sad attempts, he knows he must do this now or never. He also compares himself to a coward and a beast. He realizes he does not want to be a coward because he wants to live up to his expectation his father gave him. Hamlet finishes with, “O, from this time forth my thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth! ” (IV:iv:68-69).

Hamlet’s four soliloquies tract his developing madness. In the first speech he has reason for the what he says about his mother’s affair and his father’s death. He is upset about his parents and wants a way out, but know not to speak openly about his feelings or else it would be treason. In his second soliloquy he believes he finally has a plan to see if Claudius is truly guilty. He does not want to kill the wrong guy, a smart choice, but during this speech Hamlet also acts as though he is the only one aloud to cry.

He insults the players for their lack of real emotion because Hamlet believes only he can feel pain. His third soliloquy begins with him questioning if he should even be alive. He looks at suicide as a way to escape from all of his problems and the way out of killing Claudius. At this point, Hamlet’s madness is surrounding him, his only way out of his self-hate is Ophelia. In his last soliloquy Hamlet wants his plan for revenge to just be done with.

He wants to kill Claudius just so he can stop stressing out about avenging his father’s death. Hamlet is now truly crazy because he looks at killing another man as a survival tool. He believes he should be, “exposing what is mortal and unsure to all that fortune, death, and danger dare, even for an eggshell” (IV:iv-54-56). Hirsh also writes, “Hamlet expressed disgust with life and a longing for death . . . In his disgust and longing for death were provoked by an intensely personal grievance—his mother’s marriage to his hated uncle.

By omitting all references to his personal grievances when in the presence of agents of his enemy, Hamlet tries to convey the impression that his disgust with life is merely the result of a generic melancholy temperament, an antic/antique disposition, not any personal grievance” (“The ‘‘To be, or not to be’’ Speech:”). Hamlet’s speeches show that he is truly mad because he loses his moral reasoning. Instead, he acts in the spur of the moment and does not think about his decisions. This later leads to his death because he becomes so head-strong and does not listen to others trying to protect him.

More Essays

Hamlet’s Third Soliloquy Analysis Essay
Revenge vs Justice Hamlet
The play Hamlet
Hamlet Revenge Essay
Theme Of Death In Hamlet Research Paper
Hamlet Summary Essay
Essay on The Role Of Fathers In Hamlet By William Shakespeare
Hamlet Procrastinates The Murder Analysis Essay
What Is Hamlet’s Tragic Flaw?
Hamlet Madness Essay

IMAGES

Hamlet's Soliloquy
Hamlet soliloquy Act 1 Scene 2 The play opens with the two guards
First Soliloquy of Hamlet Essay Example
Free Essay On Hamlet's First Soliloquy
😎 Critical analysis of hamlet soliloquies. Hamlet Soliloquy Analysis
Analysis of Hamlet’s First Soliloquy

VIDEO

Hamlet’s soliloquy
Hamlet Soliloquy (In Hindi)
hamlet soliloquy
Hamlet Short Essay Prompt #3
ENGL 3135 Intro to Shakespeare Lecture 10 Hamlet 1
Soliloquy

COMMENTS

Hamlet's First Soliloquy, Act 1, Scene 2: Text, Summary, Analysis
Summary of Hamlet's First Soliloquy. Hamlet refers to the world as an 'unweeded garden,' in which rank and gross things grow in abundance. He bemoans the fact that he cannot commit suicide and explains in lines 335-336 that "self-slaughter" is not an option because it is forbidden by God. In the first two lines of the soliloquy, he wishes ...
A Summary and Analysis of Hamlet's 'O that this too too solid flesh
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) Hamlet's first soliloquy in Shakespeare's play, the speech beginning 'O, that this too too solid flesh would melt' (in some editions, 'O, that this too too sullied flesh would melt' while, in some others, 'O, that this too too sallied flesh would melt') is one of the most famous speeches in the play, and as with all of Hamlet's ...
Hamlet First Soliloquy: O that this too too solid flesh would melt
Hamlet's First Soliloquy Analysis: O that this too, too solid flesh would melt. Shakespeare in his play hamlet used seven soliloquies. Act 1, Scene 2 marks Hamlet's first soliloquy. But before we dive into analyzing Hamlet's first Soliloquy, let us first understand the meaning and purpose of using Soliloquies in drama.
Theme Of Hamlets First Soliloquy: [Essay Example], 771 words
Get original essay. Hamlet's first soliloquy not only showcases his deep emotional turmoil but also highlights the theme of mortality and the inevitability of death. As Hamlet contemplates suicide and questions the purpose of life, he grapples with the idea of mortality and the unknown realm of death. This existential crisis is evident in lines ...
Analysis of Hamlet's First Soliloquy in The Play
An In-Depth Analysis of Hamlet's First Soliloquy. Shakespeare begins Hamlet's soliloquy with immediate ambiguity. The word 'sullied', meaning dirtied or spoilt, is used to describe Hamlet's flesh. This word may be used because the incestuous relationship between his mother and uncle has corrupted his family name and the purity of his blood.
'To Be Or Not To Be': Hamlet's Soliloquy With Analysis ️
The in-depth version. The first six words of the soliloquy establish a balance. There is a direct opposition - to be, or not to be. Hamlet is thinking about life and death and pondering a state of being versus a state of not being - being alive and being dead. The balance continues with a consideration of the way one deals with life and death.
To Be or Not to Be: Analyzing Hamlet's Soliloquy
As you can see, over the more than four centuries since Hamlet first premiered, the "To be or not to be" soliloquy has truly made a name for itself and continues to play a big role in society.. Conclusion: The Legacy of Hamlet's "To Be or Not to Be". William Shakespeare's Hamlet is one of the most popular, well-known plays in the world. Its iconic "To be or not to be" soliloquy, spoken by ...
Analysis of Hamlet's Soliloquies in Acts I, II, and III
This is most apparent when Hamlet describes the world as 'rank', 'gross', and 'unweeded'. Hamlet's growing sense of melancholy and disgust is a result of two horrific events. First, his father, the king, died less than two months prior to Hamlet's soliloquy. Hamlet is grieving for his father, whom he honoured and loved, comparing him to 'Hyperion'.
Hamlet Essay
Hamlet's First Soliloquy. Hamlet's soliloquy in Act 1 Scene II is his first of the play and, as a consequence, allows the audience to see his inner thoughts for the first time. The subjects of this soliloquy are numerous: his father's death, his mother's response to this death, his mother's remarriage to his uncle and Hamlet's own ...
Act I Scene 2 Hamlet's first soliloquy Hamlet: AS & A2
Act I Scene 2 Analysis Hamlet's first soliloquy Zack C/Shutterstock.com. The major artistic advance Shakespeare made in Hamlet was in developing the audience's understanding of the central protagonist's inner life. Whereas Brutus in Julius Caesar has about fifty lines of soliloquy, Hamlet has approximately two hundred.Throughout the play, Hamlet's soliloquies will dramatise the idea of a man ...
Analysis of Hamlet's First Soliloquy
Hamlet's first soliloquy in Act 1, Scene 2, lines 133-164 is a passionate and startling passage that strongly contrasts to the artificial dialogue and actions that he portrays to his uncle Claudius throughout the remainder of the play. This soliloquy serves to reveal Hamlet's melancholia and the reasons for his despair in an outpouring of anger, disgust, sorrow, and grief through which he ...
Hamlet Soliloquy To be or not to be with Commentary
Hamlet's Soliloquy: To be, or not to be: that is the question (3.1) Unlike Hamlet's first two major soliloquies, his third and most famous speech seems to be governed by reason and not frenzied emotion. Unable to do little but wait for completion of his plan to "catch the conscience of the king", Hamlet sparks an internal philosophical debate ...
Hamlet Act-I, Scene-II Study Guide
He speaks his first famous soliloquy in this scene in which he spouts the now-famous generalization about women, "Frailty, thy name is woman!" (146). Hamlet then reprimands his mother in his imagination, and compares King Claudius with his murdered father. In the meanwhile, his friend Horatio appears with his guard colleagues.
Synopsis and Analysis of All 7 Soliloquies in "Hamlet"
3. Hamlet's Third Soliloquy. Ay, so, God b' wi' ye! Now I am alone. O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!... (Act 2, Scene 2) 4. Hamlet's Fourth Soliloquy (to be or not to be) To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
What does Hamlet's first soliloquy in Act 1, Scene 2 reveal about his
Get an answer for 'What does Hamlet's first soliloquy in Act 1, Scene 2 reveal about his character in social context?' and find homework help for other Hamlet questions at eNotes
Speech: "To be, or not to be, that is the…
To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer. The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles. And by opposing end them. To die—to sleep, No more; and by a sleep to say we end. The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks. That flesh is heir to: 'tis a consummation.
The Meaning of Hamlet's Soliloquy
XXXVIII. THE MEANING OF HAMLET'S SOLILOQUY. II. MANY scholars have found in Hamlet's soliloquy beginning "To be, or not to be" the crux of the drama. Those who, like the Romantic critics, have interpreted the play as a struggle between Hamlet's de-. termination to avenge his father and his inhibiting propensity to over-.
Hamlet First Soliloquy Essay
During the first soliloquy Hamlet is just a sadness running in circles with no direction or purpose, King Hamlet's revelation does two things to Hamlet. First, it gives him a purpose and an outlet for is anger. Second, it gives him a reason for Gertrude marrying Claudius, expect that he thinks Gertrude was part of the plot to murder his father.
Hamlet'S First Soliloquy Analysis And Summary Essay
Hamlet's soliloquy in Act I Scene 2 is the first time that the reader fully understands Hamlet's character, his inner thoughts and opinions. The general tone of this soliloquy is very personal and emotional revealing Hamlet's despair over the current situation and his depressing state of mind. It sets the stage for the rest of the story ...
Hamlet's Evolution Through Soliloquies
The first part of this soliloquy includes the most famous lines of the play Hamlet, "To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" (3.1.56-58). In this section, Hamlet is playing with the idea of suicide again because he does not want to continue the ...
Hamlet First Soliloquy Essay Essay
Hamlet's first major soliloquy occurs in Act I of the play. He contemplates killing himself as well as how he truly feels about his mother and father. About his mother he says, "frailty, thy name is woman" (I:ii:150). He insults his mother, but calls his father proactive, gentle, and an excellent king. Pearce and Duffy write, "In the ...