Soliloquy Hamlet example essay topic

William Shakespeare's Hamlet is a complex play regarding the kingdom of Denmark, and the unusual stage it is going through. The main focus of the play concerns Hamlet, prince of Denmark, and his feeling of ambiguity toward his recently lost father and his remarried mother. Hamlet is a complicated character who plays assorted roles in order to manipulate people. These various roles make it problematic to develop a sense of the real Hamlet. Only during the soliloquies is the reader given a chance to understand Hamlet, they allow the reader to attempt to decipher who is the real Hamlet and what is an act.

The first soliloquy allows the reader to initially delve into the character of Hamlet, by showing his anger and distaste towards his mother. The soliloquy also shows that, even through his anger, he is in a coherent state of mind. Though this first soliloquy occurs rather promptly in the play, there are still a lot of proceedings that lead up to it. Hamlet comes back from school to find all is not well in the state of Denmark.

His father has died a mysterious death, and his mother has already remarried his father's brother. In royal times it was customary to mourn the death of royalty for a year, yet his mother only waited two months to remarry. She not only waited two months, but she was committing what Hamlet and others considered incest. This anomalous marriage paired with the recent meeting whit his mother and stepfather, where Hamlet is embarrassed by Claudius, is the root of Hamlet's first soliloquy. Hamlet is so burdened by all the recent occurrences, he contemplates suicide.

He quickly decides that suicide is not an option because it is against God. This is evident when Hamlet says, "Or the Everlasting had not fixed / His canon 'gains t self-slaughter" (I. ii. 131-132). Once Hamlet discards the idea of suicide due to its ungodly nature, his true thoughts on women specifically his mother come out. Hamlets true thoughts about his mother's marriage quickly come out, he states, "Fie on't, ah, fie, 'tis an un weeded garden / That grows to seed. Things rank and gross in nature / Possess it merely" (I. ii.

135-137). This clearly shows his dist ain toward the incestuous condition of his mother's marriage. Hamlet is not just upset at his mother's marriage because of its incestuous sate, but also because of the type of man Claudius is. In the soliloquy hamlet says that though Claudius is the brother of king Hamlet, it is clear to him that no similarities between them. Hamlet compares his uncle to a satyr while his father he describes as a Hyperion, the sun god, a model of beauty.

At this point, Hamlet has worked himself up so much that is no long just his mother he is troubled with. Hamlet is troubled by the whole species of women, which is very evident when he says, "Let me not think on't; frailty, they name is woman" (I. ii. 146). The essence of this soliloquy is not focused on the frailty of women or the incestuous state of the marriage, yet rather on the hasty pace it occurred. Hamlet incessantly dwells on the fact that hs mother shamelessly choices to marry Claudius with no mourning for her dead husband. Hamlet feels that this act of injustice has a deeper evil concealed behind it.

"Within a month, /Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears / Had left the flushing in her galled eyes, /She married" (I. ii. 153-156). This clearly reveals Hamlets feelings of distrust towards his mother's actions. When king Hamlet first passed his wife was distraught, weeping like Niobe, however these feelings quickly changed to indifference. His mothers indifference to the death of king Hamlet, and her incestuous marriage enraged Hamlet, some say even to the point of insanity. Yet it most be noted that through all of his anger Hamlet keeps his sanity, "But break my heart, for I must hold my tongue" (I. ii.

159). His heart is broken, but he knows he must not speak his true thoughts to anyone. The first soliloquy reveals to the audience Hamlets hidden feelings concerning the recent events in Denmark. It shows the initial inklings of Hamlets distrust and feelings of fowl play. Hamlet for the first time realizes his life is full of unbalance, and his desperate need for solid ground will not be given by his mother. At this point in the play, Hamlet's mindset goes from simple mourning to anger and bitter despair.

This soliloquy is the basis for all soliloquies to follow. Hamlet in this soliloquy foreshadows the actions that while conspire the rest of the play His anger towards his mother and stepfather continually develops from this point in the play and his thoughts of suicide only get stronger. One of details of this soliloquy that rings true through out the rest of the play is Hamlets ability to calm himself down and bring himself back to a sane state of mind. As irrational as Hamlet lets himself get he always ends up in rational state of mind, just as he does as the end of this soliloquy.