Analysis of Hamlet’s First Soliloquy
Hamlets soliloquy in Act 1 Scene 2 reveals for the first time Hamlets intimate, innermost thoughts to the audience. Hamlet has just been denied his request to study in Wittenberg, and is in a state of distress due to his fathers death, his mother's hasty marriage to his uncle Claudius, and his own inability to do anything in both occurrences. Through the use of figurative language such as allusions and comparisons, Shakespeare presents Hamlet in an emotional state of grief, bitterness, and disgust.
This soliloquy lets the audience know explicitly how Hamlet is struggling with his mind. Hamlet wishes that his physical flesh could cease to exist : "O that this too too solid flesh would melt,/Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!" (133-135), and that God has not "fix'd His canon against self-slaughter" (136). Because Hamlet considers life as "weary", "stale" and pointless (137), suicide is a desirable alternative to him, but he will not go down that path because it is forbidden by religion. Hamlet compares life to a wild, "unweeded garden" (139) to dramatize his state of depression, and Shakespeare also employs this metaphor to symbolize the rotten things that are occurring in Denmark. They are "things rank and gross in nature" (140) that undoubtedly have a grave effect on Hamlet, such as King Claudius's newfound authority over the country, and his marriage to Queen Gertrude, his sister in law. Hamlet’s struggle is also depicted through the slow beat, which matches his sorrow and lack of interest in the world.
One of Hamlet's passionate concerns throughout this soliloquy is that King Claudius is no match against the dead king, and Shakespeare alludes to Greek mythology to form comparisons between the two kings. For example, Hamlet uses the analogy “So excellent a king, that was to this/Hyperion to a satyr” (11-12) to express his view that his father is far superior to his uncle. In Greek mythology, Hyperion is the Titan God of light, whereas a satyr is half man and
This soliloquy lets the audience know explicitly how Hamlet is struggling with his mind. Hamlet wishes that his physical flesh could cease to exist : "O that this too too solid flesh would melt,/Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!" (133-135), and that God has not "fix'd His canon against self-slaughter" (136). Because Hamlet considers life as "weary", "stale" and pointless (137), suicide is a desirable alternative to him, but he will not go down that path because it is forbidden by religion. Hamlet compares life to a wild, "unweeded garden" (139) to dramatize his state of depression, and Shakespeare also employs this metaphor to symbolize the rotten things that are occurring in Denmark. They are "things rank and gross in nature" (140) that undoubtedly have a grave effect on Hamlet, such as King Claudius's newfound authority over the country, and his marriage to Queen Gertrude, his sister in law. Hamlet’s struggle is also depicted through the slow beat, which matches his sorrow and lack of interest in the world.
One of Hamlet's passionate concerns throughout this soliloquy is that King Claudius is no match against the dead king, and Shakespeare alludes to Greek mythology to form comparisons between the two kings. For example, Hamlet uses the analogy “So excellent a king, that was to this/Hyperion to a satyr” (11-12) to express his view that his father is far superior to his uncle. In Greek mythology, Hyperion is the Titan God of light, whereas a satyr is half man and