Rhetorical Analysis Of Hamlet's First Soliloquy

Hamlet is dissatisfied with his inability to kill Claudius, thus allowing him time to rewrite his wrongs. Unable to muster up the courage to carry out his envisions of murdering Claudius, Hamlet calls himself “a dull and muddy-mettled rascal” (2.2.526) that is “unpregnant of [his] cause”. (2.2.527) In both the soliloquies Hamlet stands around dreaming of completing the act, but pushes aside his outraged feelings toward Claudius. Hamlet is mad at himself as he pretends he is unaware of the treason. The soliloquy “what is a man” starts out with “how all occasions do inform against me, and spur my dull revenge!” (4.4.31-32) By “spur my dull revenge” Hamlet is stalling and much like a dull revenge a dull knife would do little to help achieve a stout revenge. This soliloquy also ties in with the

The soliloquy spoken by Hamlet in Act IV, scene IV illustrates a remarkable shift in Hamlet's personality. Up until this point, Hamlet has been an extremely indecisive and submissive character. In Act II, Hamlet decides that "the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king". However, at the play’s conclusion and Claudius' admission of guilt, Hamlet is still uncertain and cannot decide what action to take against his uncle. When Hamlet comes across Claudius while he is praying, Hamlet lets him live because he rethinks his plot for revenge and decides that it is best to postpone it until a more propitious time presents itself. Hamlet continues to demonstrate submissiveness and inaction when he obeys his father’s murderer’s instructions to go to England in Act IV. After Hamlet has embarked on his journey, away from Denmark, he finds Fortinbras leading a large army to acquire a small piece of land. His soldiers do not care for or fight for wealth, but to bring honor to their respective countries. Hamlet has an epiphany. He realizes that he has been extraordinarily passive and hesitant due to his excessive analysis of revenge and lays out a plan of action. He resolves that his behavior thus far has only led to cowardice.

Revenge and action vs. inaction continue to build on each other as Hamlet’s character develops. Hamlet refrains from killing Claudius once again because he thinks that Claudius is praying and if Claudius were to be killed, he will go “to heaven” (3.3, 79). Finally, Hamlet decides to act after seeing Fortinbras, who, unlike Hamlet, acts by leading an “army of such mass and charge” (4.4, 50) and faces “fortune, death, and danger” (4.4, 55). Hamlet finally decides to act upon his need for vengeance when he

Soliloquies are used by writers because they offer the reader or audience the opportunity to know more about the character, his true self and inner thoughts, as well as pieces of information that cannot be revealed through a normal conversation between characters. Shakespeare uses this method with his characters very often to provide a deeper understanding of his characters, and Hamlet speak seven of this, being each one necessary and important for the plot development. Each of this soliloquies gives a deeper understanding of Hamlet’s ideas and feelings, as well as the changes he goes throughout the play.

In Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, Shakespeare portraits the transition from a young mindset to a more mature one in Hamlets "My thoughts be bloody" soliloquy. (iv.iv 34-69) Shakespeare uses Hamlet to show us the role maturity plays in the human decision making process. The soliloquy can be seen as a call to action, Hamlet shifts from inaction to action and stops making excuses. He was always intelligent but didn’t have the ability to make decisions in proper time. He over thought and frustrated himself with things he had the ability to change. Hamlet also couldn’t accept that he was the biggest barrier in his revenge for his father’s death. In this soliloquy, Hamlet started seeing things from different perspectives, it helped him grow

Throughout the play, Hamlet spends more time complaining and plotting revenge on King Claudius than actually doing anything about it. When the ghost of his father appears to him and explains the truth behind his untimely death, Hamlet vows that “Haste me to know 't, that I, with wings as swift/ As meditation or the thoughts of love, / May sweep to my revenge” but doesn’t do anything until his life is at risk (1.5.35-37). When Hamlet shows hesitation about listening to the ghost of his father, he is subconsciously unable to fulfill his promise when he says “The spirit that I have seen/May be the devil: and…hath power/To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps,/Out of my weakness and my melancholy,/As he is very potent with such spirits,/Abuses me to damn me”, showing his distrust of his own surroundings (2.2.627-632). On his way to England, Hamlet encounters the army of Fortinbras, the prince of Norway, who is on their way to invade Poland. As he looks upon the large army marching and regards that “How stand I, then, / That have a father killed, a mother stained, / Excitements of my reason and my blood,” while witnessing “The imminent death of twenty thousand men…My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!” (4.4.59-61,69). In this moment, Hamlet realizes that if Fortinbras can lead an immense army

In the revenge tragedy, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, William Shakespeare used the literary device of soliloquy as a way for the audience to gain insight into the personal thoughts and feelings of the protagonist, Prince Hamlet. Through the use of soliloquys, readers can see the troubled inner beliefs of Hamlet as he comes to terms with his mother’s remarriage, as well as the revelation of his father’s murder. Before Hamlet is even approached by his father’s ghost, he has a difficult time accepting the fact that his mother married his father’s brother, especially so soon following his death. As he learns of his father’s murder after speaking to his ghost, Hamlet’s inner troubles become magnified, which is translated within his soliloquys. In the act II, scene II soliloquy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, William Shakespeare continues to develop the theme of action vs. inaction through Hamlet’s primary dilemma of avenging his father’s murder.

Most notably, Hamlet admires Fortinbras ability to invade another country for “Two thousand souls and twenty thousand ducats”(4.4, 24). This contrasts heavily with Hamlet’s own inability to avenge something as important as his father’s murder, which he feels makes him seem cowardly. Hamlet understands that “Rightly to be great Is… to find quarrel in a straw when honor’s at the stake.”(4.4, 53-56) Although Hamlet has been influenced by another’s actions here, he is deciding that he wants to protect his honor and stand up for something in which he believes. This reveals why Hamlet decides to take such harsh actions of revenge, since he is trying to prove to himself that he is capable of murder in the first place. Hamlet’s admiration for Fortinbras’s abilities demonstrates his respect for the other prince and helps to illustrate the notion that Hamlet may want to be similar to Fortinbras (and eventually gain his own independent stature). Additionally, Hamlet realizes that man’s “capability and godlike reason”(4.4, 38) is a sacred gift which he feels cannot be wasted. For this reason, Hamlet is able to convince himself that he must act on his wishes to murder Claudius, and demonstrates his individual desire to act in a way that demonstrates his own abilities. This leads him to continue his pursuit of murder. Hamlet finally

In his first soliloquy, Hamlet bemoans the fact that he cannot commit suicide. He wishes that his physical self might just cease to exist, "melt, / Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew." He complains that his religion prohibits suicide and claims that he would sooner die than continue watching his mother engage in her vile incest. These thoughts torment him, but he knows that he can't speak them aloud to anyone. Hamlet's passionate first soliloquy provides a striking contrast to the controlled and artificial dialogue that he must exchange with Claudius and his court.

After discovering the truth behind his father’s death, that “the serpent that did sting [my] father’s life now wears his crown”, Hamlet began what would soon be the extravagant plot of his revenge against King Claudius (Act 1 Scene V). Although Hamlet had several instances where he could have avenged his father, his habit of overanalyzing every situation caused him to

In Hamlet’s first soliloquy, Hamlet expresses the depths of his melancholy and his disgust at his mother’s marriage with Claudius after the death of his father. As a result, Hamlet condemns the marriage between his mother and uncle. He says Claudius is far inferior to his father and in anguish describes his mother, Queen Gertrude, as a lustful beast. The fact that his mother’s marriage to Claudius was so fast and to his father’s brother infuriates Hamlet. Moreover, Hamlet is already grieving over the fact that his father recently died, so the stress about his mother is enough to make him contemplate suicide.

However, Hamlet is lead to the realization that he is unable to show this much emotion about the death of his own father. Despite this realization, his lack of passion remains, as he is unable to kill Claudius after getting clear evidence that he was guilty during the play. It was not enough motivation to get him to kill Claudius, but it made Hamlet realize how impassionate he was towards the situation. Later, before Hamlet is about to be sent to England, Hamlet crosses paths with the army of Fortenbras. He is impressed with how brave and ambitious Fortenbras is. He is even more impressed with the soldiers, who he states will “go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot – Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause” (4.4.65-66). He contrasts the mindset of the soldiers with his own life. “How stand I, then, - That have a father killed, a mother stained, - Excitements of my reason and my blood, - And let all sleep” (4.4.59-61). These soldiers are able to how so much determination and are willing to fight for a worthless plot of land, yet Hamlet is unable to complete something much more important. Hamlet is so hesitant to kill Claudius, yet these men are risking their lives for something or little to no value. This realization provides the motivation Hamlet needs to realize that he must carry out what the ghost told him to do. “My thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth!” (4.4.69). Hamlet knows that he must kill Claudius, and with the motivation form what he saw, he does that shortly after returning to

Hamlet’s first soliloquy establishes his character as dramatic and slightly obsessive. From the beginning of the scene, he is ill-tempered with his uncle, Claudius, and mother, Gertrude, and when everyone has left the stage but for himself, we find out his reasons. In this passage, Hamlet conveys his disgust with the marriage between his mother and his uncle. The imagery, allusions to Greek Mythology, and the style of the verse all lend themselves, with varying degrees of subtlety, to a more rich and complete depiction of Hamlet’s emotions.

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, as Hamlet questions whether to take the initiative and act, or take a more passive approach, in regards to the situation of his father’s murder, his uncle’s reign over Denmark, and his mother’s remarriage, his thought process changes as he seeks moral truth and nobility. After the ghost of his father has revealed to Hamlet that it was his uncle Claudius who murdered him and commands Hamlet to avenge his death by killing Claudius, Hamlet is left with an internal struggle as he considers both his morality and his duty as the rightful heir to the throne to not only honor is father by avenging his death, but also his duty to the people of Denmark. Hamlet, therefore, whose “noble mind” desires to do right, faces the dilemma of achieving retributive justice without sacrificing the morality of his soul. As his thought processes develops throughout the course of the play, Hamlet’s contemplative and reflective nature is revealed by his tendency to evade action by concerning himself with factual, spiritual, and moral knowledge. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet’s first soliloquy, fourth soliloquy, and speech with Horatio offer insight into his logical thought process as he debates his current circumstances and contemplates what course of action would not only solve his problem concerning Claudius, but would also be the most noble and moral.

In Act III, Scene I of Hamlet, the titular character begins his soliloquy with the line “To be, or not to be, that is the question” (III.i.63). Here, he clearly states the dilemma that he will debate for the remainder of the passage: Is it better for Hamlet to continue living, or should he commit suicide to end his suffering? Hamlet continues his indecision between his two choices through the inclusion of metaphor, through which he describes the act of living as suffering “The slings of arrows of outrageous fortune” (III.i.65) and the act of committing suicide as “to take arms against a sea of troubles” (III.i.66). These metaphors are extremely significant, as they establish both the use of poetic language and the tone for the remainder of the passage. Shakespeare’s uses metaphor here to compare Hamlet’s indecision to a battle, with imagery used of weapons and fighting. This is done in order to reflect the battle that Hamlet is experiencing internally; the use of metaphor in this instance shows the reader how Hamlet is feeling about his indecision.