Understanding the Mind of Hamlet with His Soliloquies Essay

Understanding the Mind of Hamlet with His Soliloquies The term soliloquy is a literary or dramatic form of discourse, within which a character talks to himself and reveals his inner thoughts without addressing a listener. Hamlet uses soliloquies to express his feelings towards his dead father and self loathing to the reader of the play but to none of the characters within it. Hamlet has a complex character and it is important for the audience to be able to understand Hamlet’s feelings on the themes of the play without him having to explain them to another character. Hamlets three soliloquies are guide of how he is feeling at different points of the play. In the first line of Hamlet’s†¦show more content†¦Hamlet compares his Father to Claudius as ‘Hyperion to a satyr’ Using this imagery of Hyperion, a powerful sun god in contrast to a Satyr, a half-man creature Hamlet shows how strongly superior he feels his father was to Claudius. This emotive comparison shows Hamlets obvious mourning for his dead father, which is playing strongly on his mind as his mother is showing such little bereavement. Hamlets self-loathing is also apparent from the second and third soliloquies showing that this is playing on Hamlets mind through out the play. In the second soliloquy he describes himself as ‘coward†¦ pigeon-livered†¦ lacking gall.’ He blames himself for being so cowardly not being able to seek revenge for his father, in this speech Hamlet gets angry with himself, asking rhetorical questions such as ‘why, what an ass am I?’ From this second soliloquy it is apparent that Hamlet is very troubled by his incapability and self-loathing, he talks of actors on the stage and says ‘Had he the motive and the cue for passion that I have? He would drown the stage with tears†¦make mad the guilty†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Going through Hamlet’s mind is such strong hatred for Claudius and disgust for Gertrude because of their flippant and inappropriate behaviour after the death of Polonius, he can’t understand how these actors who have no realSh ow MoreRelatedHamlet Soliloquies and Their Analysis1527 Words   |  7 PagesHAMLET’S SOLILOQUIES THEIR ANALYSIS In the course of the play, Hamlet has seven long soliloquies. The first of these occurs before he has seen the Ghost. In this soliloquy, Hamlet reveals the grief that has been gnawing at his mind. He wishes that religion did not forbid suicide so that he could kill himself and be rid of this grief. He feels disillusioned with the world. â€Å"How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, Seem to me all the uses of this world†. 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