Soliloquies in Hamlet

SOLILOQUIES IN HAMLET

Soliloquy is useful device by means of which the dramatist lays bare before the reader the secret thoughts and feelings of a character. Generally speaking, soliloquies served two dramatic purposes, first is to inform the audience about the incidents which could not be presented on the stage and the second is to present an analysis of the inner mind of the speaker.

In ‘Hamlet’, soliloquies are the backbone of the play in the sense that they reflect Hamlet’s personality in detail. They reveal his inner-self, his mental agitation, his melancholy, his analytic approach, his moral vision, his sensitivity, his nervous instability and his irresolution towards revenge. So these are the important part of play. 

There are a number of soliloquies in ‘Hamlet’. In the first soliloquy, we find Hamlet thinking aloud:

                                               “O that  this too too solid flesh would melt,

                                              Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!”

Hamlet is much upset by the death of his father. The words of consolation offered by Claudius and Queen Gertrud do little to appease his grief. He is also sad to note the incestuous and over hasty marriage of his mother. In extreme sadness he utters.

                                               “O God! God!

                                                How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable,

                                                Seem to me all the uses of this world!

                                                   Fie on ’t! ah, fie! ‘tis an unweeded garden!”

While condemning his mother and whole female class for its inconsistency, he says,

“Let me not think on ‘t. Frailty, thy name is woman! --”

This soliloquy shows the effect of intense melancholy on the mind of Hamlet.

The second soliloquy introduces the element of revenge for the first time. It is uttered by Hamlet after his meeting the Ghost. He is determined in avenging his father’s murder first of all, putting aside other works considering them trivial motives.

                                           “And thy commandment all alone shall live

                                          Within the book and volume of my brain,

                                          Unmix’d with baser matter. Yes, by heaven!”

Hamlet also curses his mother and his uncle:

                                           “O most pernicious woman!

                                                O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!”

The third soliloquy is about Hamlet’s own delay in avenging his father’s murder. No one can be harsher on Hamlet on the subject of neglecting his duty to take revenge than Hamlet himself. This soliloquy is full of self-condemnation. He regards himself:

                                         “O, what a rough and peasant slave am I!

                                           …

                A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak.”

The fourth soliloquy occurs at the beginning of the Nunnery Scene. The lines of the soliloquy have an outstanding importance in the world of literature:

                                      “To be, or not to be --- that is the question,

               Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer

                                          The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.”

It is according to A.C. Bradley:

“The most philosophical of all” and “A mental debate”.

Here Hamlet is mentally much upset to get rid of evils of life. He thinks of committing suicide but here again he is afraid of unknown life after death.

The fifth soliloquy occurs when Hamlet is about to meet his mother. He wants to be cruel to his mother. At the same time, he wants to respect the Ghost’s words not to be rude to his mother. But he determines:

“I will speak daggers to her, but use none.”

Afterwards, we come across the most important soliloquy from the point of view of Hamlet’s delay. It occurs when Hamlet is prevented by himself from killing the king at prayer and he says:

                                          “Now might I do it pat, now ‘a is a- praying;

                                         And now I’ll do’t --And so ‘a goes to heaven.”

He decides to kill him:

                                             “When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage;

                                            Or in th’ incestuous pleasure of his bed.”

The last soliloquy of Hamlet is prompted by the “Passage of Fortinbras’ army” through Denmark. He reproaches himself for unnecessarily delaying the revenge. In contrast, the young Fortinbras is rushing to attack his victim for not a very serious reason. As he says to himself:

                “I do not know,

                 Why yet I live to say ‘this thing’s to do’,

                                            Sith I have cause, and will, and strength, and means,

                 To do it”.

Thus this soliloquy too emphasizes his irresolution and procrastination. Apart from Hamlet’s soliloquies, there are three soliloquies of Claudius. They throw light on the wicked and cunning personality of Claudius. In his first soliloquy, he reflects upon the heavy weight that lies upon his heart. In the second soliloquy, we get a more vivid picture of his pricking conscience. He kneels down to pray but his guilty conscience does not allow him to do so:

“My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent”.

In the third soliloquy, he schemes to kill Hamlet in England. He plans a second murder even before he succeeds to come out of the guilt of his first murder. This shows his evil nature.

There is also a soliloquy by Ophelia at the end of the Nunnery Scene in the play. She expresses her grief over the overthrown condition of Hamlet and her own pitiful condition:

“And I, of ladies most dejected and wretched.”

For she is deprived of her love and her lover has lost his senses.

In short, we can say that the soliloquies of Hamlet have helped us to get an insight into Hamlet’s character. It is noticeable that the soliloquies are also indicative of advance in action in the play. Moreover, these soliloquies are important for their poetic quality, excellence of language and also their perennial appeal for men of every age.

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