Hamlet Soliloquy Act 3 Scene 1

Hamlet Soliloquy Analysis - Scene 3 Act 1

Chao Xie A soliloquy is a time when the actor has the opportunity to address the audience truthfully and tell them what they think. This allows a glimpse into a character’s true intent and how they view the world. In Hamlet there are seven soliloquies including one of the most famous one which is "To be or not to be", will be chosen for analysis. This soliloquy is an internal debate that Hamlet delivers to the audience where he questions the advantages and disadvantages of suicide.

"To be or not to be" starts this soliloquy with a question that Hamlet is trying to answer. He is trying to decide if he should live on and suffer in life or commit suicide to potentially end all his troubles. Hamlet talks about suicide as a way to end This also shows how

This fear causes him to second guess his resolve to kill himself knowing that death may not bring him the peaceful dreams he is hoping for.

This internal debate also relates to his decision of proceeding with his revenge plot, as this soliloquy plays a pivotal role in the rest of the play. Hamlet is not only deciding if he should end everything through suicide, but also if he should continue on his path of revenge.

Knowing that his uncle is wrongfully living life as King is the cause of the biggest issues in Hamlet’s life, it becomes a factor that contributes to the decision making process of To be or not to be. Hamlet feels that the crimes committed against his family by his uncle will never allow him to rest peacefully unless they are avenged, and that killing himself will not solve any of those problems, but only be in favour of Claudius. The fear of not knowing if death would release him from this trouble seems to give him more resolve to follow through with the revenge that was requested by the ghost instead of releasing himself from the