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Replies | Post Reply | Shakespeare Queries From Genuinely Interested Students 4.2.97: Top | Help
Hamlet soliloquies convey his inner most thoughts to the reader. In his first soliloquy, Hamlet's pessimistic outlook is immediately apparent. He finds the confines of the physical world unbearable, from the "too sullied flesh" (1.2.129) to the "weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable" (1.2.133) world around him. Hamlet, wanting to "resolve…into dew" (1.2.130), seems ready to throw off the responsibilities that he must deal with, and return to a time of innocence. However, he is obligated to do acts that he would rather not, by the very nature of the responsibilities. Since Hamlet has been brought up as, and is, a noble person, not fulfilling his responsibilities is an impossible act, like having his "flesh…melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew"(1.2.129-130). The only way that Hamlet can contemplate getting out of his father's expectations, is suicide. However, Hamlet's god has "fixed his canon against self-slaughter" (1.2.132), and therefore, it would be dishonourable for Hamlet to take his own life. Hamlet's worries are increasing and becoming ever worse "like an unweeded garden that grows to seed" (1.2.135-136). For example, his initial problem, his father's death, seems relatively minor to the problems he must later deal with, such as the marriage of his mother and the death of Ophelia. The world around him is also becoming increasingly more dismal, for his mother, a women of class and grace whom he greatly admired, married her recently-deceased husband's brother. With cynicism and sarcasm, Hamlet speaks of how Gertrude once loved Hamlet's father, as if her love for him grew exponentially. Hamlet finds few similarities between his father and his uncle/step-father. This is shown in how he compares his father to a sun-god, while he compares Claudius to a half-goat, half-human creature. Hamlet's soliloquy is filled with vivid imagery. The first imagery he uses is "flat" imagery, that is, images of melting and a flat, plain landscape. This alludes to the fact that Hamlet can see his destiny coming, as once can see far in a flat landscape, but it is so corrupt that he wants none to do with it. The second type of imagery that Hamlet uses, that of a more vibrant and violent world, contrasts the mundane character of the first. Plants and growth are normally linked with positive events, but to Hamlet, the world is out-of-control and unlivable, like an "unweeded garden" (1.2.135) and things "rank and gross in nature"(1.2.136). Hamlet puts blame on her mother for marrying so quickly after her husband's death. He uses the word "dexterity" in describing how she manipulated the situation, suggesting that Hamlet finds his mother to be exploitive.Posted by Sea-doo on April 30, 1997 at 19:43:27
In Reply to "Don't understand Hamlet's first soliloquy!! " posted by Ryu on April 18, 1997 at 16:10:56
Replies | Post Reply | Shakespeare Queries From Genuinely Interested Students 4.2.97: Top | Help