Hamlet expresses his views through a soliloquy in Hamlet written by William Shakespeare full of decorative language and meaning. The passage describes Shakespeare’s mental stage throughout the play and embodies the superb language Shakespeare uses to convey Hamlet’s thoughts. Through the use of literary devices, Shakespeare captures Hamlet’s suicidal and contemplative thoughts.
The character Hamlet continues his melancholy behavior after seeing actors without any motivation act more aggressively then Hamlet should be doing against the King Claudius. The feelings are expressed in a soliloquy, which more often than not reveals the character’s true thoughts because it is a speech of his inner thoughts. He is mentally disturbed shown by the famous line, “to be or not to be-that is the question.” Here he is contemplating whether to live or to end his existence. The words are succinct and sweet because they follow a rhythm characteristic of Shakespeare’s poetic blank verse.
He debates whether it would be nobler to suffer through the pains of life or to take the ultimate challenge and choose death. Hamlet wants to choose the most honorable path, including avenging his father’s death. He is not afraid of it and is willing to “take arms against a sea of troubles” by ending his life. Hamlet then continues thinking about death and simplifies it as sleeping. Ending all the woes of his life is greatly desired especially ending the memory of his tragic father’s murder and his mother’s betrayal.
The Essay on Hamlet Classics Speech Death Life
Hamlet's classic "To be or not to be... ." (Hamlet, prince of Denmark, 3. 1. 57) speech really shows who he is. Obviously Hamlet is horribly depressed. We have already seen several examples of this, but this speech gives us a clear picture of his sadness. More importantly however, his speech shows his weakness and indecisiveness. Hamlet is consistently melancholy, but he never really acts on it; ...
Hamlet begins to focus on sleeping and dreams. The line “To die, to sleep, to sleep, perchance to dream” is written in iambic pentameter. The reader will notice it immediately because of the way the syllables sound and way Shakespeare plays with the words. It is a good introduction into what Hamlet believes to be the main obstacles keeping him from death, the unknown. People do not know “what dreams may come” and is reason why people suffer through the calamities of life. The lines between 85 to 90 sum up the conclusion for people’s relationship toward death. They would rather suffer through known turmoil than to suffer the grief of the what lies in the undiscovered and unknown. The irony that Shakespeare’s Hamlet points out is “conscience does make cowards of us all.” We are born cowards and live through life as cowards because we are afraid of death. Even though a person believes he is brave, he is still cowardly to the extent that he is afraid of death until he dies. Hamlet is unable to make the right choice because his conscience is creating fear and that fear is impeding clear thinking.
The soliloquy ends with a metaphor of rivers turning awry as an interpretation for life. If a person lives his life as a coward, there will be no momentum or excitement in life. Life would be meaningless and stagnant if they suffered through life always worrying about death. The concept of life and death are so basic, but yet so meaningful, that Shakespeare captures the meanings to eloquently in the soliloquy.
Hamlet’s mental state is that of grief and suicide shown by his perceptions on honor and death. After the ghost of King Hamlet reveals to young Hamlet about the murder, he creates the heavy burden for himself of avenging his father. His emotions are trapped inside himself and sees death as a solution to end his suffering.
The thoughts Hamlet describes about his life and the world probably reflect the way most suicidal people think. They want to end their life because it solves a problem to unbearable but taking that leap from life to death is too aggravating. The unknown dreams as Shakespeare describes it will prevent them from ending their life, but will create another day for their meaningless and stagnant life. The passage has several images representing suicidal death throughout it and the play as well. Some of these being sleep and a “bare bodkin” as symbols for death. Dreams can also a symbol for the unknown. Shakespeare uses these images constantly and intermittently to emphasis Hamlet’s suicidal behavior. The images are representative of what Hamlet notices in his surroundings and suffering and death seem to be the most prevalent throughout the passage.
The Term Paper on King Hamlet Shakespeare Plot Text
William Shakespeare authorship: The text of Hamlet contains indications that Shakespeare portrayed himself a san allegedly dead university graduate. HAMLET: A TRAGEDY OF ERRORS, OR THE TRAGICAL FATE OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE? by Alfred Barkov To the contents When the text of William Shakespeare: a mask for Hamlet - Christopher Marlowe? William Shakespeare Hamlet is read attentively, and no details ...
It is not surprising to see why Shakespeare was such a famous writer in the Elizabethan period and still today. The Elizabethan period focused on increasing the richness of language. It was more valued to have lively language then to achieve appropriate or plan expression. The talented author used a variety of literary devices to arrange the words in unique order to give a strong and fresh meaning. Shakespeare was able to capture the thoughts of Hamlet in a manner that adequately portrayed his thoughts. In this process Shakespeare also included themes on life and death that are important beliefs in today’s society. They will remain important throughout the ages because the complexities of life and death can never be fully understood from the perspective of humanity. Although Shakespeare has given us a window to see through utilizing his plays and characters.
