Hamlet’s soliloquy in Act two - scene two - line-starting 50

‘Hamlet’ by William Shakespeare set in twelfth century Denmark, incorporates the idea of revenge and The Spanish tragedy throughout the Play. The Prince of Denmark ‘Hamlet’ returns home to find out that his father the King is dead, and his mother has remarried his uncle Claudius, the deceased King’s brother. He soon encounters a spirit who resembles his own father and is told to wreak revenge upon Claudius for he had poisoned and murdered him. In Hamlets second soliloquy in act two, scene two, Shakespeare uses powerful and emotive language depicting the Princes anger at himself for his cowardice, yet his resentment towards his uncle and love for his father allows him to be more determined and passionate about taking vengeance upon the New King of Denmark.

From the start of his dramatic soliloquy, it is apparent that Hamlet is annoyed at himself for failing to act and fight for his father. He degrades himself by stating that he is ‘a rogue and peasant slave’ which conflicts against his a

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Adding to it the much use of punctuation illustrates his developing anger and Shakespeare’s use of harsh language and imagery also contributes to this. The soliloquy ends with a rhyming couplet accentuating his certainty in acting against his uncle with the cunning ideas of using actors presenting a play, which makes Claudius the subtext, ‘play something like the murder of my father Before mine uncle. ‘Muddy-mettled rascal’ also contributes towards this idea implying that he is bad spirited and unpleasant in this matter.

Throughout the course of the soliloquy, it is obvious that Hamlet is determined to fight for his father. ‘John-a-dreams’ suggest that hamlet himself is a dreamer, and is ‘unpregnant’ or unready and not responding fast enough. He questions himself, ‘Am I a coward?’ and also feels shame for not acting against Claudius, shown through the past tense ‘I should ha’ fatted’. Hamlet clearly dehumanises his own uncle when he denotes him as ‘guilty creatures’ giving him unhuman characteristics and illustrating his depravity and decadence. The juxtaposition between ‘heaven and hell’ stress the fact that heaven urges him to avenge hell’s repulsive deed, in this case referring to Claudius as ‘hell’ and hamlet being the victim. Although there are uncertainties in some respect, Hamlet’s frustration at himself and at Claudius clearly draws him to want to get back at his uncle for both murder and stealing the Queen’s heart. We can see that Hamlet cares about the King, as he realises that ‘The spirit’ ‘May be a devil’ yet he is determined to do whatever it takes in order to put the late King’s mind at rest. ‘Scullion’ suggests him being the lowest of the low, as it describes a servant of the most inferior position, and thus portrays him as one with diminutive morals and no life, again discrediting himself. He reveals that the King’s life was ‘most dear’ and that it was wasted due to the ‘damned defeat’, which is fortified through the use of alliteration. Also, he refers to himself as ‘pigeon livered’ illustrating his lack of courage and dread, which is further reiterated in ‘lack gall’ and ‘ass’. ‘Cunning of the scene’ also conveys this idea, and he states that talent is the tool to tell the story as shown in ‘though it have no tongue, will speak…’ and describing this ability as ‘most miraculous organ’ emphasising its importance.

Common topics in this essay:
Claudius Bloody, King Denmark, Denmark Hamlet, King Throughout, William Shakespeare, , love father, soliloquy act scene, hamlets soliloquy act, hamlets soliloquy, fight father, soliloquy act, act scene,

Approximate Word count = 719
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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