Hamlet's Soliliquies

Hamlet's Soliliquies

1. 5TH SOLILIQUY Hamlet's Soliliquy becomes juxtaposed with Claudius' becuase it is immediatley after his. He is motivated by greed Whereas Hamlet is concerned with morality- The King also has a ruined soul whereas Hamlet is carefully deciding how not to ruin his soul

   • First Section of the soliliquy- Hamlet sees his chance for revenge.
     • 'Now I might Do it pat. Now he is a-praying. And now I'll do't'
       • Monosyllabic- repetition of now- emphasises the opportunity he has- short syntax- shows he is ready for action- building himself up to it- decisive-Can't quite do it- almost struggling
     • 'Kills my father, and , for that, I,
       • Punctuation- ceasuras- slows rhythm - becomes more reflective- struggling
   • Second part- indicated by pause in line- shows him thinking about the consequences of this
     • 'to take him .. seasoned for passage?'
       • Longer syntax- begins to think- questions- becomes uncertain
     • 'no'
       • Short- impactful- decisive break in the line as he decides what to do
   • Third part- shows he wants Claudius to suffer- uses darkness to show this.
     • 'horrid hent .. drunk asleep .. incestuous pleasure of his bed .. swearing'
       • Semantic field of sin- dark imagery- sibilance- disgusted- angry-
     • 'my mother stays/ This phsycic but prolongs thy sickly days'
       • Rhyming couplet- warning- resolute- conclusion.

2. 6TH SOLILIQUY Last soliliquy echoing his 2nd soliliquy

   • 'spur my dull revenge'
     • More detailed insight intpo his torturd thinking-imagery- striking of a spiritless horse- no matter hw much it is suprred it will never get going- idea he still lacks the passion for it.
   • 'Polack'
     • Links to his father's epic battles and victories- he has felt answerable to two incompatible authorities- his father and god.
   • 'sleep and feed? A beast.
     • His only purpose cannt be to sleep and feed- otherwise he is comparto a beast- at the bottom of the chain of being. Feels like he should use the ability gos gave him to reason and referneces him as unused although he has been using it since Act 1
   • 'to be great .. to find quarrel ... When honour's at stake'
     • Great men will fight when their honour is being challenged- so his 'motive' put his 'effort's ' to shame. Suffers in the trumoil of having to do something that in actuality isn't him.
   • 'My thoughts be bloody or worth nothing'
     • Not just his actions but his thoughts should be oly of violence and revenge- 'blood' connotes eath, violence and consequently tragedy- thought appear to move convincingly to bloodthirsty conclusions - but his speech is a mass of cotradictions- supreme example of what someone says is not aleays what they believe
     • Even after this moment- still preparing himself for action- not 'my actions'. Some rgue that his revenge comes only because of Claudius' actions not his own.