Explore the Different Ways Shakespeare Uses Hamlet's Soliloquies to Convey to the Audience Hamlet's Thoughts and Feelings at the Time of Speaking.

“To be or not to be…”- that is Hamlet’s dilemma. To be or not to be a revenge hero, to kill or not to kill? Shakespeare uses soliloquies to show Hamlet’s feelings, and his thoughts, to show how he changes his mind during four of his soliloquies. However, it is not always clear if he is acting his “madness” or those are his own sincere thoughts. I will be commenting on four of his main Hamlet soliloquies, which are: “O that this too too solid flesh would melt”, ”O what a rogue and peasant slave am I”, “To be or not to be…” and “Now might I do it pat, now a is a-praying”. I will try to show his state of mind at different situations of dilemma.

In the first soliloquy Hamlet is very sad and angry: it is been three weeks after his father’s death and his mother has just married her own brother-in-law. He really thinks that his mother is being unfaithful to his father. Hamlet is lost and locked in his own mind. He does not want to think about all the events happening around, but he can not help doing so. He is very upset and doesn’t know what to do, what makes him think about death: doesn’t want to live but doesn’t want to commit a suicide (condemned by the church) either. That is the context of the first soliloquy. The second soliloquy (Sol. three) is much clearer, he has seen the Ghost and heard what he had to say but he’s not sure whether he should believe him or not as he could be from the dark side. In fact in this soliloquy Hamlet is a lot stronger: he is planning to reveal his uncle’s behaviour. Hamlet has just seen some actors and wants to use the play in his revenge. He thinks that if Claudius watches a re-enactment of what he has done, he will definitely show his guilt. The next soliloquy (Sol. four) is the most popular of Hamlet’s soliloquies: “To be or not to be…” where Hamlet is having a conversation with himself about death and life. But that definitely is not sincere, because he was called by Claudius and he expects someone to be there. He is trying to find the answer to the questions, which bother him. In the soliloquy five Hamlet was called to visit his Mother and on his way he sees Claudius praying. So this soliloquy mainly contains Hamlet’s speech of killing or not killing Claudius while he’s praying. Hamlet’s point is that if he kills him in the church, praying “a goes to heaven”, and he asks himself “and so am I revenged”? The time came, and he needed to act, but it appeared that he was unable to kill. Maybe he is finding an excuse for himself, not to act?

Hamlet’s feelings during the first soliloquy are really understandable. His father’s death makes him sad, melancholic and depressed, while his mother’s marriage makes him angry and negative. He is in moral pain, and he cannot help it. Hamlet is comparing his father and Claudius, his father is godlike (Hyperion) while Claudius is bestial (satyr). In the soliloquy number three, which is “to catch conscience of the King” Hamlet calls himself a coward and he questions his own courage. Hamlet is very angry and cunning, he speculates how actors can be used to catch the King for his guilt. He is depressed and aggravated but he is vengeful. The main focus of the next (number four) soliloquy is debating (questions and answers). However it is not clear if he is performing or those are his sincere thoughts. But he definitely is depressed and confused and he probably knows that somebody is here, listening to him that is why Hamlet is saying strange things about death and life. This speech absolutely scares Claudius and Palonius and make them think that Hamlet is still mad. The last but not the least soliloquy number five is telling us more about Hamlet’s state of mind, because he knows now that Claudius murdered his father and Hamlet is seeking for revenge. But as in every single of his soliloquies- Hamlet is confused. He can’t make up his mind whether to kill or not to kill and in the end decides not to. Hamlet is elated and vengeful. He is waiting until the perfect time comes. But will this time come in time?

The language that presents the story is very useful, because Shakespeare uses different techniques to show Hamlet’s state of mind. By the language of the first soliloquy, I can notice that Shakespeare uses listing technique. Lots of punctuation and dashes make the soliloquy very emotional and aggressive. Hamlet changes his mind very quickly and fluently (Shakespeare uses dashes). Short and sharp words show us that Hamlet’s state of mind is negative, and the soliloquy also contains quite a few metaphors. The soliloquy number three is not much different. Shakespeare uses complex sentences that make Hamlet’s state of mind more stabilised. He still lists things and Shakespeare uses questions and answers to show Hamlet’s instability of mind, he is lost and thinks that asking