Hamlet's first soliloquy is essential to the play as it highlights his inner conflict caused by the events of the play.

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Hamlet's first soliloquy is essential to the play as it highlights his inner conflict caused by the events of the play. It reveals his true feelings and as such emphasises the difference between his public appearance, his attitude towards Claudius in the previous scene is less confrontational than here where he is directly insulted as a "satyr".. In this presentation, I will outline how Shakespeare communicates the turmoil of Hamlet's mind with the use of imagery and other poetic devices.

First, we will start off with a structural analysis of the soliloquy.  At first glance, we can tell that it is written in free verse.  There is no rhyme scheme, which is much similar Hamlet’s ambivalent nature.  He is undecided and does not really know how to fulfill his actions.  However, this poem is written in iambic pentameter and gives an overall order to the poem.  The analogy can be made here that like Hamlet’s thoughts it is contained like a nutshell.  His conscience in the core of the shell has order and he is aware of it.  However, on the outing rims, he is actions are undecided and disillusioned much like the fact that there are no rhyme schemes and stanzas in the soliloquy.

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The structure of the piece also communicates the nature of Hamlet's thoughts as he is constantly changing subject, "Let me not think on't - Frailty thy name is woman! A little month", and is doing so by using short, broken sentences. These helps reveal and suggest the depth of Hamlet's thoughts; he has so much going in his head that he wants to commit suicide and is therefore trying to reduce his feelings.

At the start, Hamlet says that he wants his "too too solid flesh" to "...melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew".  This goes alongside ...

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