Hamlets 2nd Soliloquy
In Hamlet's second soliloquy the tones of worthlessness and inadequacy are prevalent and serve to emphasize the dissatisfaction he feels with his actions, or lack of action. He rambles incessantly and wallows in his own self-pity as he realizes he has not fulfilled his promise to the Ghost to avenge his father's murder. Instead, he has thought more about his own death than that of his father's supposed murderer, Claudius, and is a piteous coward for taking no action towards this murder. At the beginning of his soliloquy Hamlet has witnessed a player acting a scene engorged with emotion; the scene reminds Hamlet of his own lack of dedication to his cause. It is "monstrous" (578) that the player "in a dream of passion" (579) could put so much emotion into the piece that he even cried "all for nothing" (584). Hamlet is amazed but also suffers from a feeling of pitiful inadequacy because he sees that this player, acting out a speech about a fictional woman who is no more than a character on paper, has put much more emotion and passion into his speech than Hamlet has into avenging his own father's death. Hamlet loved his father and still continues to mourn for him long after anyone else, and while he should be putting as much
Instead, it is a plot to determine if the Ghost is telling the truth by attempting, through a play, to see if Claudius is truly guilty of his father's murder. He is not making attempts to avenge his father's death, which is the thing over which he tears himself apart and that makes him feel so useless and inept. He would rather pace the halls of his home, read, and wish for his own death. The action he does decide to take is not even action that will directly help him achieve his desired end, that is the killing of his father's murderer. He will continue to whine and mope like a pathetic, rambling child because he has not taken direct action to fulfill his promise. He is a pitiful, weak, miserable fool who lacks the "gall" (604) to step up to his commitment. He feels worthless, inadequate, pathetic, cowardly, and miserable. By explicitly stating that he is weak and melancholy he is accepting the situation in which he finds himself while he continues to complain and whine like a fool. "Not [even] for a king/ upon whose property and most dear life/ A damned defeat was made" (596, 597, 598) does Hamlet act. The staging of this trap for Claudius, Hamlet's comparisons of himself to a whore, and his endless dribble about his cowardous nature all serve to convey Hamlet's tendency to complain and mope continually yet never take any action. While Claudius may react negatively to it and Hamlet may infer he is guilty based upon this premise, it will not put Hamlet any closer to fulfillment of his cause and so Hamlet will find himself in the same position as before. While to Hamlet Claudius is a villain, so too is he for not taking any action. Claudius stole all the late King Hamlet had and now the late king suffers in Purgatory because he had not the chance to confess his sins while his own brother sits on the throne and lays in bed with his wife; still, Hamlet does nothing.
Common topics in this essay:
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Ghost Instead,
Claudius Hamlet's,
Hamlet Claudius,
King Hamlet,
player acting,
killing father's murderer,
killing father's,
avenge father's,
putting emotion,
father's murderer,
father's murder,
own death,
father's death,
taking action,
late king,
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Acceptance Essays
