During the first act of William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet, Shakespeare uses metaphors, imagery, and allusion in Hamlet’s first soliloquy to express his internal thoughts on the corruption of the state and family. Hamlet’s internal ideas are significant to the tragedy as they are the driving and opposing forces for his avenging duties; in this case providing a driving cause for revenge, but also a second-thought due to moral issues.
Hamlet’s obsession with corruption is revealed, describing “an unweeded garden/ That grows to seed. Things rank and gross in nature/ Possess it merely” (1.2. 139-141). The unweeded garden is a metaphor for a state overtaken by pollution, to the point where the original flowers and plants in the garden no longer exist, only weeds. This includes dominant imagery, visualizing the growing decay of a state once it is not taken care of. This reveals Hamlet’s desire to cleanse the illness of the state, which can go awry however as murder only begets murder. Although Hamlet has strong opinions and a motive against a corrupted state, he still hesitates in
…show more content…
153-156). Hamlet makes an allusion to a character from Greek mythology, Niobe, who cried many tears, which turned out only to be crocodile tears. In comparing a mourning Gertrude to Niobe, Hamlet wonders what his mother’s real intentions are, if her sorrow was truthful or not. The theme of appearance versus reality plays in here as well, since Gertrude had appeared to love King Hamlet while he was alive, but her marriage to Claudius sends a different message to Hamlet. Hamlet’s distrust for those he was once close to begins, since the events following his father’s death have opened his eyes. This drives Hamlet’s motivation to cleanse the corruption that surrounds him, now that it has affected not only Denmark but his
Early on in Hamlet, a guard slightly mentions that there is “something rotten in the state of Denmark” (Shakespeare, I.iv.90). The tranquility of Denmark is suddenly shattered by Claudius’s marriage to Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, only a short time following the death of King Hamlet. To Hamlet was revealed the murder of his father and becomes determined to avenge his father’s death no matter the cost. This sets off a trail of pretending, backstabbing, plotting, luring, and deadly accidents that ultimately lead to a clash of hatred between the characters and the doom of Denmark. Shakespeare animates the characters with these sinful deeds and vengeance to illustrate that these corruptions strips the innocence and sanity in human kind. Had Hamlet not gone on a tangent and lost his mind about the murder of his father, there might not have been a domino effect of madness knocking down everyone else in this royal chain. Hamlet pretends to have app...
In this paper I will be analyzing and discussing how these four soliloquies reflect changes in Hamlet’s mental state; his
Hamlet Soliloquy Act 1, Scene 2. The play opens with the two guards witnessing the ghost of the late king one night on the castle wall in Elsinore. The king at present is the brother of the late king, we find out that king Claudius has married his brother’s wife and thus is having an incestuous relationship with her, and her love. We also learn that Claudius has plans to stop.
greatly pained at the loss of his father. It is also clear that he is
This soliloquy by Hamlet is where he first devises the plan of the “Mouse Trap” (Act III, scene 2). It begins with Hamlet describing how he has heard that people can be overcome with guilt and remorse of their “malefactions” that they openly proclaim them, when viewing a scene of a play similar to that of their crime. As a result of this Hamlet resolves to set a trap for Claudius, in which he will watch a play that has a scene closely resembling the murder of Old King Hamlet. Hamlet reasons that upon viewing this scene, if Claudius is indeed guilty of Old King Hamlets murder, he will surely show some visible sign. And so Hamlet will “observe his looks … tent him to the quick”. The meaning of these two lines is that Hamlet will watch his uncle closely, and probe his conscious to see if he flinches. By gauging Claudius’ reaction, Hamlet will be able to determine whether or not he is guilty, if this is the case Hamlet states “I know my course.” Hamlet will avenge the murder of his father by killing Claudius. Hamlet then proceeds to describe how the spirit he has seen may be the devil trying to trick him into doing its work. Hamlet concludes that he will “have grounds more relative than this [the spirit]” and that “The play’s the thing” that he will use to “catch the conscience of the king.”
The interpretation of Hamlet’s, To Be or Not to Be soliloquy, from the Shakespearean classic of the same name, is an important part of the way that the audience understands an interpretation of the play. Although the words are the same, the scene is presented by the actors who portray Hamlet can vary between versions of the play. These differences no matter how seemingly miniscule affect the way in which someone watching the play connects with the title character.
Smith, Rebecca. “Gertrude: Scheming Adulteress or Loving Mother?” Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. from “Hamlet”: A User’s Guide. New York: Limelight Editions, 1996.
More tragic play The tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark is the most popular works of William Shakespeare. Probably the popularity of this play lies in the use of character of Hamlet in exemplifying the human mind through its complex workings. Hamlet’s internal dilemma of making the decision whether he should revenge the death of his father or not was a crucial turn in his life as the state of mind was the main reason which effected the decision power one makes in his life. His uncle Claudius was the one who murdered his father and the moment when the ghost of Hamlet’s father appears and asks Hamlet as to when the revenge of his foul and most unnatural murder is to take place. From this point onward Hamlet is under a constant dilemma. He does not find himself ready to take the revenge. If Hamlet had killed Claudius at the first opportunity than the revenge would have been taken but his internal dilemma would have never been solved. This play became very popular and the reason for the popularity was Shakespeare’s use of the character Hamlet and through this character he has tried to exemplify the complex workings of human’s mind. Shakespeare used emotion, reason and attitude of Hamlet to allow the readers to form an opinion or make a judgment about the basic aspects of the life of human beings. The reason the prince could not take the revenge of his father’s death was that he was a man of great moral integrity and to take revenge was an act which was against his deepest principals. Some of the other behaviors of the prince was that after the death of his father Hamlet became so disenchanted with his life that he lost all his desire and will to take any kind of revenge. Due to the delay in revenge Shakespeare was able to develop th...
'Tis an unweeded garden / That grows to seed. Things rank and gross in nature”(1.2.135-137). This metaphor used by Hamlet has a few interpretations that can relate to either Gertrude or the entire state of Denmark. “Tis an unweeded garden,”(1.2.135) relates to how the State of Denmark is like the Garden of Eden before it was corrupted. Once a state of purity, Denmark grew into a defiled corrupt nation through the death of King Hamlet and the incestrous marriage of Gertrude. Or on the other hand, Hamlet is speaking about his mother. That once she was like the Virgin Mary, sexually untouched and pure alike the Garden before it was breached. This portrayal shows how atrociously Hamlet views King Claudius. By saying that Gertrude was like the Virgin Mary and The Garden of Eden he insists that King Claudius is Satan or Satanic. This metaphor portrays King Claudius as a Satanic figure that breaches the Garden or his mother and corrupts her with his bed “stewed in
Claudius' soliloquy about his remorse over his murder of Hamlet's father is important to the play because it's the one place where we learn how Claudius feels about what he has done. The rest of the play is all about how Hamlet feels about what Claudius has done, and I think it rounds out the play to get it from a different perspective.
Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is a complex and ambiguous public exploration of key human experiences surrounding the aspects of revenge, betrayal and corruption. The Elizabethan play is focused centrally on the ghost’s reoccurring appearance as a symbol of death and disruption to the chain of being in the state of Denmark. The imagery of death and uncertainty has a direct impact on Hamlet’s state of mind as he struggles to search for the truth on his quest for revenge as he switches between his two incompatible values of his Christian codes of honour and humanist beliefs which come into direct conflict. The deterioration of the diseased state is aligned with his detached relationship with all women as a result of Gertrude’s betrayal to King Hamlet which makes Hamlet question his very existence and the need to restore the natural order of kings. Hamlet has endured the test of time as it still identifies with a modern audience through the dramatized issues concerning every human’s critical self and is a representation of their own experience of the bewildering human condition, as Hamlet struggles to pursuit justice as a result of an unwise desire for revenge.
Hamlet’s sanity began to deteriorate when learned that his father’s death was not an accident, but rather a foul deed committed by the newly crowned King of Denmark. “If thou didst ever thy dear father love – Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” [Act I, v l .23-25]. As a mysterious ghost appeared in the terrace, Hamlet learned of a murderer that would prove his fealty towards his father. As he contemplated the appalling news recently brought to his attention, the control Hamlet had over his actions was questioned. “O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain! My tables meet it is I set it down, That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain. At least I am sure it may be so in Denmark,” [Act I, v l. 106-109]. Hamlet’s hatred toward his father’s killer caused him to relate the tribulations between murder and the aspects of Denmark as a country together. As with most of the conflicts Hamlet faced, his lack of ability to avenge his father’s death, furthered the deterioration of his life and surroundings.
Claudius is seen in Hamlets eyes as a horrible person because he convicted murder and incest. Claudius had killed the king of Denmark, Old Hamlet, to obtain the position of the throne. He had been jealous of Old Hamlet’s wife Gertrude and wanted to marry her for her power. Although, such an act would be called incest and considered unnatural he did not care, all he had cared about was the power that he would be stealing from Hamlet and Old Hamlet, Gertrude’s son and husband (R). When Hamlet had talked to his f...
Old Hamlet is killed by his brother Claudius. Only two months after her husband’s death a vulnerable Gertrude marries her husband’s brother Claudius. Gertrude’s weakness opens the door for Claudius to take the throne as the king of Denmark. Hamlet is outraged by this, he loses respect for his mother as he feels that she has rejected him and has taken no time to mourn her own husband’s death. One night old Hamlets ghost appears to prince Hamlet and tells him how he was poisoned by his own brother. Up until this point the kingdom of Denmark believed that old Hamlet had died of natural causes. As it was custom, prince Hamlet sought to avenge his father’s death. This leads Hamlet, the main character into a state of internal conflict as he agonises over what action and when to take it as to avenge his father’s death. Shakespeare’s play presents the reader with various forms of conflict which plague his characters. He explores these conflicts through the use of soliloquies, recurring motifs, structure and mirror plotting.
Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most well-known tragedies. At first glance, it holds all of the common occurrences in a revenge tragedy which include plotting, ghosts, and madness, but its complexity as a story far transcends its functionality as a revenge tragedy. Revenge tragedies are often closely tied to the real or feigned madness in the play. Hamlet is such a complex revenge tragedy because there truly is a question about the sanity of the main character Prince Hamlet. Interestingly enough, this deepens the psychology of his character and affects the way that the revenge tragedy takes place. An evaluation of Hamlet’s actions and words over the course of the play can be determined to see that his ‘outsider’ outlook on society, coupled with his innate tendency to over-think his actions, leads to an unfocused mission of vengeance that brings about not only his own death, but also the unnecessary deaths of nearly all of the other main characters in the revenge tragedy.