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Replies | Post Reply | Shakespeare Queries From Genuinely Interested Students 4.2.97: Top | Help
Yes. I think Fort is everything Hamlet is not. In this soliloquy, Hamlet is acknowledging that, comparing himself to Fortinbras and berating himself for his inablility to act as swiftly and with such confidence with regard to Claudius. He is scornful of his tendency to think everything to death and realizes that this tendency has kept him from taking action.His ruminations renew his thirst for revenge and he takes off all fired up to kill Claudius again - so I think that Shakespeare
accomplished multitle things with it. He shows us how a REAL MAN who should be king is supposed to act in contrast to the way Hamlet is behaving. He keeps the plot moving, because Hamlet now has a greater sense of urgency (Fortinbras is knocking at his door), and also lets us see that Hamlet may be a tad paranoid ("How all occassions to inform against me...") but he's not as mad as he seems: He can see his situation clearly. Furthermore, he knows that he must act, and appears to have finally made the decision to do so...which renews our faith in him and allows us to continue hanging in there with him until the end.Posted by Lillith on April 08, 1997 at 04:57:26
In Reply to "Act IV Scene 4: What does Hamlet's soliloquy tell us...?" posted by Guy Still on April 07, 1997 at 23:04:57
Replies | Post Reply | Shakespeare Queries From Genuinely Interested Students 4.2.97: Top | Help