Shakespeare uses soliloquies in his play as a means of communicating the thoughts of a character without revealing them to the other characters. I will investigate soliloquies because they are commonly found in literature, but not in every day speech; therefore, I want to have a better understanding of how a soliloquy can benefit the play’s plot rather than the use of conversation between two or more characters. The three plays that we can see the effect of Shakespeare’s soliloquies on the plot are Jacques in As You Like it, Hamlet in Hamlet, and Macbeth in Macbeth. In each of these plays, the subtopics that I will discuss are: how a specific soliloquy reveals the character’s inner thought, how these lines differ from the views society has …show more content…
of these characters, and how these speeches represent the theme of the play. Jacques in As You Like It is one of Duke Senior’s noblemen, and is often referred to as melancholy. A student at Smith College, Kelly Dagan, wrote an essay on Jacques stating how Jacques at first seems to have little place in a play celebrating self-discovery and renewal. When we hear Jacques soliloquy, we can see clearly that he is really just a deep thinker. His soliloquy begins with, “All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players” (2.7.139-40). This line is not contrary to his character as melancholy, rather it shows that there is more to him than being depressed. When Jacques speaks to others, he doesn’t seem to care about anyone or anything, he has no thoughts, and he hates exile; this whole monologue shows that Jacques has more to him than what he would have others believe. Jacques is viewed by society as depressed so often that he has been nicknamed Melancholy Jacques. Jacques is an eiron because the Duke and the other noblemen don’t see his full potential. Jacques says again in his monologue, “Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything” (2.7.163-6). This line concludes the seven acts that Jacques sees in every person’s life. He sees the end nearby for him as well as everyone else, so the first six acts to him seem pointless. Kelly Dagan continues in her essay to say, “Jaques' complaints sharply challenge the Duke's views, even as both men build from the same premise of 'nature as educator' to support their arguments.” An issue that I see in Jacques’ views is that he is so disinterested in life, yet he wants the luxuries that are offered in the kingdom. Jacques’ belief is that if this life is really insignificant, he might as well just do what he can to make his own life comfortable. He sees that everyone in this world is in it for themselves. The theme of the play As You Like It is the ridiculousness of love which can be seen with Rosalind disguising herself as Ganymede, Orlando writes ridiculous poems, and the ending of the play resulting in Hymen coming down to marry all the various couples. The third act in Jacques’s soliloquy says, “And then the lover, Sighing like a furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrow” (2.7.147-9). Jacques knows that he doesn’t have a woman in his life which could be the reason Jacques is so gloomy. He knows that one of the stages in life is finding the woman, and seeing as he is no longer a baby and he has finished schooling (the first two stages), the next step for him is to fall in love. There is no evidence in the play that this has happened, so we can assume that his bitterness stems from his realization that he cannot go anywhere in life. Because the theme of the play is love and the ending for the lovers is resolved happily, Jacques has an unhappy resolution since he is left without a lover. This fits the theme of the play because it shows the opposite end of the theme. Hamlet is an example of how the internal thoughts of a person can be exactly opposite of what the character says to other people. Hamlet has many soliloquys all of which show his inner thoughts, but the one monologue that I will focus on is the “To be, or not to be” soliloquy. Hamlet’s soliloquy begins with “To be, or not to be- that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them” (3.1.56-60). Hamlet is internally suicidal and keeps it secret from the rest of the world. He is filled with revenge as we already know from previous soliloquies, but he is depressed and contemplating taking his own life. Just as with Jacques, both these men prove that those who are depressed think deeply about their situation. In Shakespeare and other lectures by George Dawson, Dawson questions why Hamlet delays killing the King and committing suicide. The reason why he delays his actions can be explained only by his soliloquies because he would never admit his true goals to other people. This soliloquy says, “Thus conscience does make cowards of us all” (3.1.83). Hamlet admits that he knows what he is doing is not right which is what stops him from proceeding. Society believes Hamlet to be a loyal servant to the crown and his family.
The people did not believe that Hamlet was filled with vengeance and hatred because he previously was not this way before his father’s death. An aspect of society that differs from Hamlet’s internal thoughts is that society considers murder and suicide wrong, sinful, and immoral. It is expected that Hamlet would keep his true thoughts secret from others because society would scorn him for those thoughts. Furthermore, if Hamlet were to reveal his plans to anyone, he would risk failing his plan of killing Claudius if Claudius were to hear word of Hamlet’s plans. Hamlet is considered an eiron because those around him would believe that he is loyal to the king, but the truth is that he is filled with vengeance and is …show more content…
suicidal. The theme of Hamlet is loss because of all the characters who are killed in the play. We can see how Hamlet’s soliloquy reflects this theme in the lines, “To die, to sleep— No more—and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd” (3.1.60-4). These lines show loss because Hamlet is contemplating how death simply ends the pain. Hamlet has experienced several deaths at this point of people that he cares for and is beginning to think that death is not all that bad, so he might as well take his own life to end his own pain. In Macbeth, Macbeth has one particular soliloquy that shows who he is in a way that not even Lady Macbeth knows.
In the soliloquy in act II scene I with the dagger, Macbeth’s lines are foreshadowing the ending of the play as well as revealing Macbeth’s innermost thoughts. This soliloquy in particular is the most revealing because his other soliloquies are thoughts that Lady Macbeth already suspects he has. During the dream, Macbeth questions these visions saying, “Mine eyes are made the fools o' the other senses, Or else worth all the rest; I see thee still, And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, Which was not so before. There's no such thing” (2.1.44-7). This line shows that Macbeth is consumed by these thoughts of killing King Duncan to the point of not being able to see clearly. His inner self shows that he is consumed by the power of the crown, but he is hesitant to commit such a risky crime. Macbeth is hesitant toward killing, and he cannot even reveal this to Lady Macbeth because she is so insistent that he kills Duncan regardless of his fears. Macbeth’s situation differs from Hamlet and Jacques because Macbeth was able to turn to Lady Macbeth whereas Hamlet and Jacques were completely alone. This is significant because even though Macbeth could talk to someone, he still had his inner thoughts that not even his wife could
know. Society sees Macbeth as a loyal servant to Duncan after fighting in war for the king. Duncan seemed to have every reason to entrust Macbeth as thane of Cawdor. The soliloquy begins with, “Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutchthee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still” (2.1.33-5). Here, we can really see what Macbeth wants. He desires to kill the king, yet he is still afraid of the consequences. There might even be a part of Macbeth that doesn’t want to kill Duncan, but he feels he must because of the revelation given to him by the three witches and because of his wife’s wishes. Macbeth’s soliloquy shows the audience that he is torn between doing what society would have him do and doing what his wife is insisting he must do.
I will go through Macbeth’s soliloquies and chart his character as it changes. A soliloquy is a speech made only to oneself, or even only thought.
After a long and hard battle, the Sergeant says to King Duncan, “For brave Macbeth,-well he deserves that name,- disdaining fortune, with his brandish’d steel, which smok’d with bloody execution , like valour’s minion carv’d out his passage till he fac’d the slave;” (1.2.16) . This quote shows that Macbeth is viewed as a valiant soldier and a capable leader. However, it does not take long for the real Macbeth to be revealed- a blindly ambitious man, easily manipulated by the prospect of a higher status. His quest for power is what drives his insanity, and after having been deemed the Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth’s ambition can immediately be seen. In a soliloquy, Macbeth says, “Present fears are less than horrible imaginings; my thought, whose murder yet is but fantastica, shakes so my single state of man that function is smother’d in surmise, and nothing is but what is not” (1.3.140). Macbeth has just gained more power, and his immediate thought is of how to gain an even higher status as king. He imagines how to kill Duncan, and then is troubled by his thoughts, telling himself it is wrong. This inner struggle between Macbeth’s ambition and his hesitation to kill Duncan is the first sure sign of his mental deterioration. Although Macbeth does kill Duncan, he questions whether or not he should to do so, which is far different from how Macbeth feels about murder later in the play. Macbeth becomes king, and this power leads
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.
The soliloquy is a literary device that is employed to unconsciously reveal an actor's thoughts to the audience. In William Shakespeare's, Hamlet, Hamlet's soliloquy in Act II, ii, (576-634) depicts his arrival at a state of vengeful behaviour through an internal process. Hamlet moves through states of depression and procrastination as he is caught up in the aftermath of the murder of his father and the marriage of his mother to his uncle. The soliloquy serves to effectively illustrate the inner nature of Hamlet's character and develop the theme of revenge.
Hamlet Soliloquy Act 3 Scene 3 Hamlet has just watched Claudius praying for forgiveness in the church and has been hiding and waiting for his chance to kill him. “Now might I do it pat, now he is praying; And now I'll do't. And so he goes to heaven; And so am I revenged.
Hamlet's First Three Soliloquies Hamlet's words consistently attempt to translate abstract thought into concrete, understandable forms of communication. The characters surrounding Hamlet (except Horatio) never grasped Hamlet's leveled meanings, and he. constantly struggles with (yet sometimes manipulates) this. misunderstanding. On periodic occasions, Hamlet is left alone.
Hamlet gives us seven soliloquies, all centered on the most important existential themes: the emptiness of existence, suicide, death, suffering, action, a fear of death which puts off the most momentous decisions, the fear of the beyond, the degradation of the flesh, the triumph of vice over virtue, the pride and hypocrisy of human beings, and the difficulty of acting under the weight of a thought 'which makes cowards of us all'. He offers us also, in the last act, some remarks made in conversation with Horatio in the cemetery which it is suitable to place in the same context as the soliloquies because the themes of life and death in general and his attitude when confronted by his own death have been with him constantly. Four of his seven soliloquies deserve our special attention: 'O that this too sullied flesh would melt', 'O what a rogue and peasant slave am I!', 'To be, or not to be, that is the question', and 'How all occasions do inform against me'.
Hamlet’s Concern with Death In Hamlet’s first soliloquy (ll. 1.2.129-159) , Shakespeare uses a biblical lexicon, apostrophes, and depictions of corporeal decay to show Hamlet’s preoccupation with the fate of a person after death.
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.
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.
King Claudius exits the play while the scene of his brothers death is being reenacted. Guildenstern and Rosencrantz talk to Hamlet afterward explaining that the King is upset and that his mother has sent for him. Polonius also enters at the end of the scene to reiterate to Hamlet that his mother, the queen, wants to speak to him. This passage is Hamlet’s soliloquy before speaking to his mother. Hamlet is discussing his plan regarding how he’s going to speak with his mother after he confirmed King Claudius is guilty to murder by his action of exiting the play.
"To be or not to be--that is the question..." Many people incorrectly interpret those famous words of Hamlet's, not knowing the true meaning or background behind his speech. In his soliloquy, Hamlet contemplates whether or not he should take it upon himself to act accordingly to his uncle's/step-father's crime against his own father. However, later on in the play, Hamlet realizes Fortinbras' resolve and his quest for victory. By witnessing Fortinbras and his actions, Hamlet comes to realize that he has no inner struggle and sees the actions that he must take in order to bring inner peace to himself and avenge his father's murder.
The Use of Soliloquies in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Soliloquies are defined as "the act of talking to oneself." This dramatic monologue gives the illusion of a series of unspoken thoughts. It is used by a character to reveal thoughts to the audience.
Authors and playwrights often use many literary elements to help aid the audience in a further understanding of their play. An element used frequently in the play Hamlet is the soliloquy. Soliloquies hold a significant role in any play. A soliloquy can be defined when a character speaks to themselves, essentially the audience, revealing their thoughts. The function and purpose of these soliloquies in the play Hamlet is for the audience to develop a further understanding of a character’s thoughts, to advance the storyline and create a general mood for the play.
Soliloquies are one of the most important techniques used within Hamlet. Soliloquies give the audience a deeper insight into the emotions and mental state of the character. Shakespeare uses soliloquies to allow the audience to feel the depth of emotion in Hamlets character. In Hamlets perhaps most famous soliloquy he cries out, to be or not to be, that is the question/Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, /Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, /And by opposing end them (Act III, I, 56). This quote furthermore reveals a part of the story that would be otherwise hidden to the reader, for example, his state of mind and also his desire to commit suicide in order to escape the pain of his life. The readers response, in result, is altered as it is made clear that Hamlet is obviously struggling to come to ter...