HAMLET SOLILOQUY (ACT 3 SCENE 1)

HAMLET SOLILOQUY (ACT 3 SCENE 1)

1. Literary Devices

   • Metaphor
     • "The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.”
     • "sea of troubles."
   • Oxymoron
   • Hyperbole

2. Phrases To Remember The Soliloquy By

   • The phrase, “sea of troubles” contains hyperbole. It also contains a metaphor. The comparison is between the vastness of the sea to the incalculable troubles of the speaker’s life.
   • Hamlet asks whether a noble mind like him has to suffer the metaphorical “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.” In this phrase, Shakespeare compares fortune to an archer who releases arrows and hurts Hamlet’s mind.
   • 'TO BE OR NOT TO BE": This idea reveals Hamlet is not sure whether he wants to live or die. If readers strictly adhere to the plot, they can decode this line differently. It seems that the hero is asking whether it is right to be a murderer for the right cause or be merciful for saving his soul from damnation.
   • "To die—to sleep": Hamlet’s utterings reflect a sense of longing for death. According to him, dying is like sleeping. Through this sleep that will help him to end the mental sufferings, he can get a final relief.
   • "Th’oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely, The pangs of dispriz’d love, the law’s delay, The insolence of office, and the spurns That patient merit of th’unworthy takes, When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin?" : The insults of proud men, pangs of unrequited love, delay in judgment, disrespectful behavior of those in power, and last but not least the mistreatment that a “patient merit” receives from the “unworthy” pain him deeply. He is mistreated in all spheres, be it on a personal level such as love, or in public affairs. In all cases, he is the victim. He has gone through all such pangs while he can end his life with a “bare bodkin.”

3. Interpretation and Analysis

   • Hamlet discovers the truth; his father was murdered by his uncle, Claudius.
     • Overwhelmed by the discovery, Hamlet is enveloped by a sea of thoughts that become a bridge to his desire for death. This brings him to raise the infamous question; 'To be or not to be- that is the question'.
       • In the nunnery scene, the central character addresses his suicidal thoughts and expresses the tendencies he experiences to terminate his existence.
   • The "to be or not to be" soliloquy in Act 3 Scene 1 is essential in demonstrating Hamlet's tragic flaw: his inability to decide and act. The fundamental goal of this soliloquy is to establish Hamlet as a contemplative, analytic, and moral figure, which leads to his tragic collapse.