The given extract is Hamlet's first soliloquy in the play. It is recited by Hamlet after he is told by Gertrude and Claudius not to return to Wittenberg for his studies, however to remain in Denmark. This soliloquy portrays a prominent difference to the previous scene, which features a controlled, synthetic dialogue between Hamlet and Claudius.
             The purpose of it is to illustrate Hamlet's current state of mind, namely his deep depressions and the reasons for these. Hamlet gusts out his feelings about the situation with Claudius killing his father and marrying his mother. These are represented by extreme anger, grief, sorrow, desperation and disgust. The first line ("O, that this too too solid flesh would melt") already exemplifies this. Shakespeare repeats the word too, with the purpose of emphasizing Hamlet's lament and gives the quality of melting to the flesh in order to provide imagery, to depict Hamlet's thoughts about suicide. This is the first time he thinks about suicide (his flesh "melting") and wishes that suicide would not offend his religion ("His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! God!"). In the next line ("How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable"), Hamlet explains that everything in his world, without exception, is either pointless or shameful. The word "flat" is referring to a cowardly and spiritless world, rather than to a literally flat landscape. Hamlet wants to imply that "self-murder" looks like a very plausible option to the troublesome world he is living in. He does not actually commit suicide due to his religious beliefs. Shakespeare uses the metaphor of an "unweeded garden" to paint a picture of Hamlet's world. The next line says that the weeds in this garden grow "rank" and "gross" in nature. This means that Hamlet accepts that there are always positive and negative aspects to life, however ...