Hamlet Soliloquies
I. Hamlet - Considering suicide - He is blaming his mother/aunt for being incestuous. - He mentions a rank garden overgrown with weeds. - “O most wicked speed” & “Hyperion to a Satyr” - Fond memories of his parents’ love for each other and bad memory of Gertrude’s frailty.
II. Hamlet - Response to ghost: revenge - Dedicating (in words) his life to killing his father’s murderers. - Deception of mother and uncle? - Speaks more than he does
III. Hamlet - Questions vengeful purpose. - Compares himself to the player that becomes so passionate “for Hecuba!” - “Unpregnant of a cause” & “Am I a coward?” - Hamlet plans the espionage of watching Claudius’ reaction to the play. - Is the ghost something that is changing its form and making Hamlet kill in vain? Or is his mission sent from heaven and hell justly?
IV. Hamlet - Questioning his purpose in life “To be or not to be” - “Outrageous fortune” - Death is easier and more peaceful than life. He equivocates death with sleep. - “Undiscovered country” fear of the afterlife. - Questions the legitimacy of the ghost “No travelers return.”
V. Hamlet - Praying to himself that he might have the will to not murder his own mother like Nero did. - “Cruel not unnatural” & “Speak daggers to her and speak none”
VI. Claudius - “My offence is rank, it smells to heaven” - He is praying to angels: messed up theology - He cannot ask to be forgiven because he won’t give up his kingdom, ambition, and queen.
VII. Hamlet - Perception is different than truth. Hamlet almost kills Claudius but does not because he doesn’t want Claudius to go heaven. - If Hamlet had known the truth about Claudius’ “prayer,” he would have killed him, and the play could have ended differently.
VIII. Hamlet -
II. Hamlet - Response to ghost: revenge - Dedicating (in words) his life to killing his father’s murderers. - Deception of mother and uncle? - Speaks more than he does
III. Hamlet - Questions vengeful purpose. - Compares himself to the player that becomes so passionate “for Hecuba!” - “Unpregnant of a cause” & “Am I a coward?” - Hamlet plans the espionage of watching Claudius’ reaction to the play. - Is the ghost something that is changing its form and making Hamlet kill in vain? Or is his mission sent from heaven and hell justly?
IV. Hamlet - Questioning his purpose in life “To be or not to be” - “Outrageous fortune” - Death is easier and more peaceful than life. He equivocates death with sleep. - “Undiscovered country” fear of the afterlife. - Questions the legitimacy of the ghost “No travelers return.”
V. Hamlet - Praying to himself that he might have the will to not murder his own mother like Nero did. - “Cruel not unnatural” & “Speak daggers to her and speak none”
VI. Claudius - “My offence is rank, it smells to heaven” - He is praying to angels: messed up theology - He cannot ask to be forgiven because he won’t give up his kingdom, ambition, and queen.
VII. Hamlet - Perception is different than truth. Hamlet almost kills Claudius but does not because he doesn’t want Claudius to go heaven. - If Hamlet had known the truth about Claudius’ “prayer,” he would have killed him, and the play could have ended differently.
VIII. Hamlet -