The uselessness of the world, parallel to the uselessness Hamlet feels within himself is seen through the image of an ‘unweeded garden, / That grows to seed.’ Shakespeare presents this image of an ‘unweeded garden’ to show the lack of order and control that Hamlet feels all around him. After his father’s death, there would have been chaos amongst an ‘unweeded garden’, now however, the ‘unweeded garden’ has ‘[grown] to seed’ displaying the incestuous nature of his mother in her marriage to Claudius. The garden’s rank weeds embody the marriage between Claudius and Gertrude and ultimately the corruption within Denmark. Hamlet cannot take on board his mother’s actions, he cannot accept that this is his own ‘rank and gross’ flesh and blood. In the anguish of Hamlet’s mind, the weeds have grown so as to possess nature entirely – there is no order in the world. Corruption has taken over every corner of Hamlet’s world, ‘That it should come to this!’ The use of the word ‘it’ shows that Hamlet cannot even bring himself to name the corruption that has taken place.
Shakespeare presents mythical imagery used by Hamlet to compare his father and his uncle. This juxtaposition of a ‘hyperion to a satyr’ denotes the respectability Hamlet feels for each man. His father represents honour, virtue and regality like the sun god; he is the true king of Denmark. Claudius on the other hand represents the indulgence and indecency of a half-man, half-beast. Hamlet’s disgust for Claudius is clearly seen here, everything associated with Claudius Hamlet despises, even Gertrude his own mother. Hamlet cannot even bare to think ‘why, she would hang on [Claudius]’ when her former husband was ‘so loving…That he might not beteem the winds of heaven / Visit her face too roughly’. Hamlet cannot understand why his mother would love ‘a satyr’ after the love the king gave to her; he would even control the weather for her.
Not only is Hamlet horrified by the fact that his mother has married Claudius, but also by the time and speed in which she did so, ‘within a month’. This leads Hamlet to believe that women are weak – a quality they all possess – ‘Frailty, thy name is woman!’ Gertrude is unable to be loyal to her husband and it sickens Hamlet. He calls her ‘a beast, that wants discourse of reason’, if she had any rationality Hamlet argues that she would have mourned for longer and not married his uncle who is ‘no more like [his] father / Than [he is] to Hercules. This comment not only shows the disregard for his uncle but it also displays the disregard he feels for himself. The lack of self worth that Hamlet begins to show in this soliloquy becomes the focus of what Hamlet thinks about in the scenes to come.
Before Shakespeare presents to us the second of Hamlet’s soliloquies, Hamlet encounters the ghost of his father who tells him it was Claudius who murdered him. He is inclined to believe this, but must be sure of Claudius’ treachery before he takes action. He devises a play to be performed by a group of actors to confirm whether the ghost is speaking the truth, for Hamlet cannot be sure or not whether the ghost is real or in fact a lying devil, sent to damn him.
Shakespeare presents Hamlet in the second soliloquy full of self-hatred and angry with himself for not taking action. Hamlet refers to himself as ‘a rogue and peasant slave’; displaying how useless and discredited he feels. He compares himself to the player and is struck by the idea that someone can feel so strongly about something not real. By using the image of something unreal, that it is ‘monstrous’ the player can feel so strongly, Shakespeare conveys the astonishment Hamlet feels towards the player and the disgust that he himself cannot feel the same. The player is crying in response to ‘fiction, in a dream of passion’ and Hamlet is in a state of disbelief. He cannot believe that the ‘tears in [the players] eyes’ and his ‘broken voice’ can be caused only by imagination, ‘all for nothing.’
The short lines Shakespeare uses not only break up Hamlet’s thoughts, but also show the strength of his feelings. ‘For Hecuba!’ enforces Hamlet’s disbelief. ‘What’s Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba,’ – the player has no connection with Hecuba (a figure of classical mythology) and yet he produces so much feeling and passion that Hamlet feels inadequate, as he cannot produce such a passion for revenge. Hamlet goes on to question what the player would do if he was in Hamlet’s position with ‘the motive and cue for passion that [Hamlet has]’. The player’s reaction would be even greater as what he would be feeling would be real, not just a figment of the imagination. The exaggerated hyperbole of ‘He would drown the stage with tears’ shows how Hamlet feels enraged with himself that he cannot bring forth such emotion. It is his own father who has been murdered and Hamlet is outraged with himself that he cannot react or take revenge in the way the player can. However, Hamlet is perhaps forgetting that the player is doing his job, he is an actor and Hamlet is not. Perhaps Shakespeare presented Hamlet’s thoughts in this way to convey the irrationality of Hamlet’s condemnation for himself. Hamlet’s unfavourable comparison of himself to the player just doesn’t seem reasonable. It could be that Shakespeare portrayed this comparison unreasonably in order to provoke a feeling of compassion for Hamlet amongst the audience.
Shakespeare clearly presents Hamlet as full of self-hatred. Hamlet wishes he could be the player and ‘amaze indeed the very faculties of eyes and ears,’ but as his change of thought shows, he cannot act as the player does. Hamlet mocks himself and procrastinates about his own procrastinating. This self-hatred is caused by his delaying and yet he carries on delaying and only thinking about how terrible he is instead of doing something about it. He is ‘unpregnant of [his] cause, / And can say nothing; no, not for a king.’ The sarcasm used here enforces how Hamlet feels such loathing for himself – the player can produce powerful emotion for absolutely nothing whereas Hamlet cannot produce even the slightest amount for a king. He reiterates the reason for why he should act and then goes on to question himself, ‘Am I a coward?’ Hamlet constantly reproaches himself for inaction; the self-hatred he feels towards himself is vivid throughout the soliloquy. He calls himself ‘pigeon livered and lack gall,’ the exaggerated language expresses the bitterness that Hamlet feels within himself for not being able to act.
Shakespeare brings Hamlet’s anger he feels for Claudius to a climax in the soliloquy when he presents a list of words condemning Claudius: ‘Bloody, bawdy villain, / Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain!’ Hamlet is trying to wind himself up and at this point it is possible that the audience may be inclined in thinking that he is finally going to act, as Hamlet is desperate to take revenge at this point. However, the energy suddenly drops, ‘Why what an ass am I.’ Hamlet again, turns to talk and not action. He uses sarcasm to mock himself for being a coward, ‘This is most brave’ – he is so angry with himself for being a coward and instead ‘like a whore, unpack[s] [his] heart with words.’ It is true that Hamlet is a thinker, not a murderer; all he has is words and because he cannot revenge his own fathers death such words turn to melancholy, self hatred and loathing. It is as if he feels he cannot be a real man, he feels he is acting like a woman, merely a ‘whore’.
Hamlet carries on despising himself, mentally abusing himself using words – he loathes himself for acting like a male whore or a kitchen maid. Such a status he feels he is only fit for, he does not feel worthy of being a prince, as he cannot act like the son of a king.
At the end of the soliloquy, Hamlet gives an explanation of the play he is going to put on in order to obtain proof of his father’s murder. For Hamlet this is the next step of taking action, but it is still not revenge, only a way of trying to clear his conscience. Shakespeare presents Hamlet’s doubt of the ghost, ‘The spirit that I have seen / May be a devil’, but merely it is another excuse for his inaction. The play may be seen as a device to confirm Claudius’ guilt and to a certain extent Hamlet does want to clear his conscience, however the play is also an excuse for further delay as Hamlet feels reserve and guilt for the task he needs to undertake.
In Hamlet’s third soliloquy, ‘To be or not to be’, Shakespeare gives a clear picture of Hamlet’s sadness. Although such feelings have been felt before by Hamlet, at this point in the play it seems that everything has become too much for him. Hamlet is incredibly weary of life, he views life as a ‘sea of troubles’ and these troubles are causing him great pain. The troubles of life are never ending, they are constantly flowing like the sea, water is deep and so is Hamlet’s anxiety. It is as if he feels he is drowning and suffocating amongst the troubles that life has caused him. In the second soliloquy Hamlet viewed himself as a coward, unable to take action and revenge for his fathers death. These feelings have gradually increased and turned to total melancholy. Not only does he fee a coward but also useless in such a futile life. In this state of complete turmoil, Hamlet questions whether ‘Tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune’. He does not know whether to fight back and suffer or to turn against such turmoil and end his life. Life is throwing things at him, there is no notion of where these painful ‘slings and arrows’ are going to come from – the fate that Hamlet has encountered in his life is ‘outrageous’, it is possible that anything could happen and if you fight back there is the possibility that you may drown anyway.
Shakespeare displays Hamlet’s weakness that has been building up over the course of the play coming to a climax in this speech. Hamlet is extremely indecisive and cannot seem to accept his fate and yet he still does nothing about it; even in his desire for death he will only speak and not act.
Hamlet’s contemplation continues, ‘To die, to sleep – No more;’ the pause after ‘No more’ shows how much of a relief this idea feels to him. The notion that there is nothing else, nothing to worry him feels like the perfect ending to his weary life. Death is compared to sleep, as in a peaceful sleep one forgets all the suffering and trouble they feel when awake. The sleep that death will bring is a ‘consummation’ for Hamlet, at this moment in time it is the ultimate ending. It is a final point to end the ‘heartache’ that life has caused him.
Shakespeare turns Hamlet’s thoughts in another direction, the sleep of death that seemed so perfect a moment ago is no longer the ultimate ‘consummation’ because ‘To sleep, perchance to dream’. The idea of this frightens Hamlet as you never know what the dreams are going to be, ‘For in that sleep of death what dreams may come’. The fact that Hamlet does not know what happens after death makes him extremely apprehensive and although suicide seems very attractive, the fear of the unknown and the ‘dread of something after death’ terrifies Hamlet enough to keep on living. Through life’s miseries Hamlet feels he has no other choice but to ‘bear the whips and scorns of time’ as fear of the ‘undiscovered country…does make cowards of us all’. Hamlet cannot act on his desire for death, just as he cannot act on revenging his father’s death. Hamlet seems constantly despondent and although he talks about his desires he never carries anything through. Perhaps all this wish for death is just a result of the utter melancholy he is feeling which started at the haste in which his mother remarried and progressed and came to a pinnacle with the knowledge of his father’s murder. Such troubles in life have all become too much for Hamlet and have resulted in self-hatred and the wish for an untroubled mind away from the burdens of life.
In the final soliloquy Shakespeare presents to us Hamlet’s own self-realisation – he has seen the army and consequently feels inadequate; ‘How all occasions do inform against me’. It seems that everyone else is taking action and all Hamlet can do is carry on contemplating his actions and pondering, ‘What is a man’, and the purpose of life, returning to the idea of what makes a person human. The army do their duty and they take their orders without thinking them through – they do not look at what they are doing in terms of right and wrong. Hamlet argues that God gave men reason and it should not go to waste. However, Hamlet thinks too much, and ‘A thought which quartered hath but one part wisdom, / And ever three parts coward’ – he feels his thoughts and contemplation make only a quarter of him wise and the other three quarters cowardly. Again Hamlet questions himself and why he has not avenged hi father’s murder since he has the ‘cause, and will, and strength, and means / To do’t.’ The army can fight for nothing worth having, yet Hamlet cannot fight even though he has the reason and the proof in which to do so. Hamlet admires Fortinbras, ‘a delicate and tender prince’ as he is a brave man of action who will fight ‘Even for an egg-shell.’ The tone of the soliloquy is similar to when Hamlet compared himself to the player – both the player and Fortinbras can take action for a cause not wholly believable and Hamlet cannot fight for something that is justly and worth fighting for. Fortinbras will fight when honour is at stake even if the cause is minute and Hamlet feels pathetic as he has had ‘a father killed, a mother stained’ and he cannot stand up for the honour of his own family.
Through the course of the soliloquies Shakespeare presents Hamlet’s thoughts and feelings to show the development of the character and for Hamlet to discover his own judgement and realise who he himself is. The final soliloquy draws in on all of Hamlet’s thoughts and finally it seems by the end that he will take action. However the language continues to contrast action with words and though Hamlet may feel intent the audience are still yet to see whether he will take action or not. The final words of the soliloquy may be seen as a turning point, ‘O from this time forth, / My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth.’ The reason that God has given him will be worth nothing now if he does not act, and the feelings and emotions that Hamlet has gone through will be a waste – he surely will be nothing but a coward if he does not take action.
