Hamlet Turning Point Essay

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Recommended: Human emotions expressed in hamlet

Hamlet’s Act four, Scenes four soliloquy marks the turning point of Hamlet’s character throughout the end of the play. The soliloquy is made up of five thematic scenes described both declamatory and confessional. The first part of Hamlet’s soliloquy is a declamation defining his mission and his means to act. The third and fourth parts are his confession where he questions himself for failure to carry out his revenge. The final stage of his soliloquy defines the climactic turning point of Hamlet’s character.
The first set of lines opens with Hamlet’s declamation: everything in which he sees reminds him of his inability to fulfill his revenge. “How all occasions do inform against me,
And spur my dull revenge!" (4.4.33-46). The words “inform against me” mean “to accuse,” and is the driving force behind Hamlet’s declamation; performing as if the world is against him and his failure in succeeding his mission. Hamlet’s discusses why he is unable to commit such a heinous crime.
“What is a man, If his chief good and market of his time
Be but to sleep and feed? a beast, no more” (4.4.33-34). Hamlet continues his declamation throughout these lines, explaining how a man who sleeps and eats only equates to a mere animal. Moreover, Hamlet was presented with the perfect opportunity to kill his uncle, yet his conscience will not allow him to commit murder. Furthermore, Hamlet describes how man is built from reason: how we laugh, love, and create means for self-fulfillment rather than pure survival. This rational reasoning was constructed by a higher being, which is continued through his declamation:
“Sure, he that made us with such large discourse, 
Looking before and after, gave us not
That capability and god-like reason
To fust in us unu...

... middle of paper ...

...thing other than his revenge against Claudius. He will stand for nothing else than that which must be carried out. Throughout the rest of the play, we see how all of Hamlet’s actions revolve around the execution of revenge.
In conclusion, the use of syntax diction, and metaphor are driven by emotion, descriptive language, and thought, highlighting both declamation and confession. The first half Hamlet’s soliloquy alludes to the declamation of his mission, while the middle portion tends to mesh internal realities with external consequences. Finally, the latter half of the soliloquy contains Hamlet’s confession revealing the true turning point of Hamlet’s character-from a passive rational thinking man to one driven by madness and desire. Thus, declamation and confession work in parallel format revealing why the end of the drama results in everyone’s ultimate death.

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