Hamlet Soliloquy Analysis

1451 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Character of hamlet by william shakespeare

Hamlet, the main character of William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is one of the most entertaining characters ever created. He delivers different soliloquies, but the fourth one is the most famous soliloquy from Hamlet. This soliloquy is the most famous soliloquy. Even today people are familiar with the phrase “To be or not to be, that is the question”. These opening words are so interesting and intriguing, but very few people have any idea of its true meaning, and that is why the meaning gets misinterpreted.

The soliloquy serves to effectively illustrate the inner nature of Hamlet’s character and develop the theme of revenge. Should he get revenge or commit suicide? Hamlet thinks of life and death, unsure of what death may bring. He is not
Hamlet delivers this soliloquy, he is a complex young guy, with a brilliant mind. Hamlet is a very

unique and complicated person. In this soliloquy, Hamlet faced multiple internal and external battles. Hamlet reveals his true thoughts and emotions. Hamlet centers the soliloquy around his decision on how to seek revenge for his father 's death and how to deal with life and death.

The play also shows how Hamlet thinks over things too much. He rationalizes his life and all its events and accepts nothing without careful analysis. Hamlet can think all he wants, but nothing will ever get done, unless he does something about it. Hamlet has a dilemma of should he live or should he just die. “ Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of trouble”. (58-60) He is unhappy with his life and unsure of what death may bring. He describes life as “sea of troubles”. This shows that Hamlet knows that living is a struggle. He wonders if it is easier to accept things as how they are and suffer in silence. This is why Hamlet begins to consider suicide as an escape of what he is going
Hamlet chose fate by revenging his father’s dead even if it meant dying. It is human nature to feel unsure, confused and cowardly, like Hamlet, when you are unable to make a decision. This is why people can pause their lives and think all they want, but they have to act to accomplish what they want. Hamlet is a tragic story. Hamlet was a man looking for revenge on the wrongs done to the people he loved. He was emotionally shaken and consumed by his plan, being under a lot of pressure. He was not crazy, he was not a coward, he was just a man that loved his family and wanted justice for them. I feel that we can relate to this soliloquy, because it is not only about ourselves’ lives , but also about the people’s lives we love and that surrounds us. We need to find and define ourselves. We need to know the importance of existence, and how we can make an impact, even though soon or later we will be forgotten. And even today Shakespeare’s play Hamlet and his famous phrase “ to be or not to be” can relate to us in different

Show More
Related

  • Literary Devices Identified In Hamlet's Soliloquy

    513 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the soliloquy, Shakespeare accentuates the shared characteristics between Hamlet and a submissive servant. Hamlet submits to his cowardice and falls victim to his tendency to reflect on his profound thoughts instead of acting upon them. Additionally, he accuses himself as a troublesome scoundrel. He views himself as a criminal although he had not done anything indictable yet. This metaphor introduces Hamlet’s perception in his current emotional state to the audience.

    Read More

  • How Does Hamlet No Value

    1166 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the most famous Shakespearean lines-"To be or not to be, that is the question” is found in Hamlet, spoken by the title character himself. While this is the most obvious reference that Hamlet makes to this own philosophy, Hamlet makes frequent proclamations about his stifled life throughout the play. Hamlet views his life in a negative manner, to the point where he finds himself contemplating whether or not to end his own life. Hamlet does not value his life, which causes him to become flustered with himself and his lack of action. Therefore, demonstrating that Hamlet does not value his life as one should.

    Read More

  • Suicidal Irony In Hamlet

    654 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hamlet is self centered and irrational throughout most of the play. He goes through various stages of suicidal thoughts that all revolve around a multitude of selfish reasons because he can not deal with his problems. His outbursts, mood swings, and constantly changing character have led to a multitude of reasons for his decisions to not kill himself. Think of this, it is much easier to die for a cause than to live for a cause, and yet all Hamlet wants to do is take the easy way out. There are three major soliloquies that Hamlet has that prove as major turning points of his emotions. Hamlet’s suicidal thoughts ring loud and clear for most of the play, however they do change constantly and play key pieces that provide well written and thought provoking soliques.

    Read More

  • Analysis of the Tone of the To Be or Not to Be Soliloquy in Hamlet

    644 Words  | 2 Pages

    This famous soliloquy offers a dark and deep contemplation of the nature of life and death. Hamlet’s contemplative, philosophical, and angry tones demonstrate the emotions all people feel throughout their lifetimes.

    Read More

  • The Concept of Staying True in Hamlet by William Shakespeare

    977 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a terrific model of what takes place when people prefer to fulfill others requests and plans for their spirits. The major players in Hamlet choose to follow what others request of them, and this leads to their detriment. Since they do not stay true to themselves, they are responsible for their own brutal deaths. From Ophelia to Hamlet, every character became a slave to someone else’s desires and wishes. This ensures they lose all control over their future and places them on the direct path to self-destruction.

    Read More

  • Analyzing Hamlet's Worth

    1023 Words  | 3 Pages

    Conflicting thoughts are often profound in Hamlet, like how he is faced with a choice of now or never but always has approached them carefully. One was when Hamlet speaks while walking into an empty room and begins to question why we do what we do. ``To be or not to be-that is the question `` 127, a famous quote from Hamlet. Provoking the thought of reason in his actions. To act now or later would be his though...

    Read More

  • "To Be or not To Be:" Hamlet and His Suicidal Tendencies

    1106 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hamlet although he believes that suffering must be endured or battled, he also understands that suffering is optional and that suffering is caused from pain and all pain can be relieved. At times Hamlet no longer sees the point of bearing the huge burden of suffering as he does, but rather to end the burden through suicide. These thoughts are however based or can be linked back to Hamlet’s emotion and how his negative emotions overcome his logical thinking. We see however Hamlet’s ability to think logically and understand the reasoning behind suffering and the preciousness of his life. At this point in the play Hamlet no longer doubts his meaning in life, this is quite pivotal because this then allows him the confidence and power to seek revenge on Claudius.

    Read More

  • Hamlet's First Soliloquy Analysis

    1245 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hamlet’s first soliloquy takes place in Act 1 scene 2. In his first soliloquy Hamlet lets out all of his inner feelings revealing his true self for the first time. Hamlet’s true self is full of distaste, anger, revenge, and is very much different from the artificial persona that he pretends to be anytime else. Overall, Hamlet’s first soliloquy serves to highlight and reveal Hamlet’s melancholy as well as his reasons for feeling such anguish. This revelation in Hamlet’s persona lays the groundwork for establishing the many themes in the play--suicide, revenge, incest, madness, corruption, and mortality.

    Read More

  • Hamlet, the Existentialist

    1068 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tragic play about murder, betrayal, revenge, madness, and moral corruption. It touches upon philosophical ideas such as existentialism and relativism. Prince Hamlet frequently questions the meaning of life and the degrading of morals as he agonizes over his father’s murder, his mother’s incestuous infidelity, and what he should or shouldn’t do about it. At first, he is just depressed; still mourning the loss of his father as his mother marries his uncle. After he learns about the treachery of his uncle and the adultery of his mother, his already negative countenance declines further. He struggles with the task of killing Claudius, feeling burdened about having been asked to find a solution to a situation that was forced upon him.Death is something he struggles with as an abstract idea and as relative to himself. He is able to reconcile with the idea of death and reality eventually.

    Read More

  • Hamlet’s Self-Perception

    1556 Words  | 4 Pages

    The way we see ourselves is often reflected in the way we act. Hamlet views himself as different to those young nobles around him such as Fortinbras and Laertes. This reality leads us to believe that over time he has become even more motivated to revenge his father's death, and find out who his true friends are. How can you be honest in a world full of deceit and hate? His seven soliloquies tell us that while the days go by he grows more cunning as he falls deeper into his madness. This fact might have lead Hamlet to believe that suicide is what he really wants for his life's course.

    Read More

  • Changes in Hamlet

    1202 Words  | 3 Pages

    People all around the world are familiar with the “To be or not to be” speech. Although some might not realize it is a speech by Hamlet, they do realize how powerful those lines are. Those lines show the mark of a great philosopher, and this is precisely what Hamlet is. Because Hamlet is such a fantastic philosopher at the start of the play, it leads him to what some believe is his downfall. The fact that perhaps he thinks too much on the people and incidents surrounding him is really what pulls him down. He spends an excessive amount of his day thinking about every aspect of every event.

    Read More

  • Free Essays - Hamlet as a Tragic Hero

    1445 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the play’s tragic hero, Hamlet exhibits a combination of good and bad traits.  A complex character, he displays a variety of characteristics throughout the play’s development.  When he is first introduced in Act I- Scene 2, one sees Hamlet as a sensitive young prince who is mourning the death of his father, the King.  In addition, his mother’s immediate marriage to his uncle has left him in even greater despair.   Mixed in with this immense sense of grief, are obvious feelings of anger and frustration.  The combination of these emotions leaves one feeling sympathetic to Hamlet; he becomes a very “human” character.  One sees from the very beginning that he is a very complex and conflicted man, and that his tragedy has already begun.

    Read More

  • Hamlet, A Noble Prince

    1585 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hamlet’s mourning about the death of his father and the remarriage of his mother drives him to madness. This is the main characters inner tragedy that Shakespeare expresses in the play. First he considers suicide but the ghost of King Hamlet sends him on a different path, directing him to revenge his death. Shakespeare uses Hamlet to articulate his thoughts about life, death and revenge. Being a moral character he must decide if revenge is the right thing to do. Shakespeare relays many scenarios of reasoning to the audience about mankind His hero sets the wrongs on mankind right again.

    Read More

  • Conflict in William Shakespeare's Hamlet

    2442 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Condemned: Hamlet’s Moral Dilemma

    1663 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hamlet is one of the most often-performed and studied plays in the English language. The story might have been merely a melodramatic play about murder and revenge, butWilliam Shakespeare imbued his drama with a sensitivity and reflectivity that still fascinates audiences four hundred years after it was first performed. Hamlet is no ordinary young man, raging at the death of his father and the hasty marriage of his mother and his uncle. Hamlet is cursed with an introspective nature; he cannot decide whether to turn his anger outward or in on himself. The audience sees a young man who would be happiest back at his university, contemplating remote philosophical matters of life and death. Instead, Hamlet is forced to engage death on a visceral level, as an unwelcome and unfathomable figure in his life. He cannot ignore thoughts of death, nor can he grieve and get on with his life, as most people do. He is a melancholy man, and he can see only darkness in his future—if, indeed, he is to have a future at all. Throughout the play, and particularly in his two most famous soliloquies, Hamlet struggles with the competing compulsions to avenge his father’s death or to embrace his own. Hamlet is a man caught in a moral dilemma, and his inability to reach a resolution condemns himself and nearly everyone close to him.

    Read More

More about Hamlet Soliloquy Analysis

Open Document