This soliloquies shows how Hamlet is quite sensitive, he feels raw emotion and then dwells upon it. This emotion confuses his mind and he finds it hard to shake off too. Hamlet also appears to not think things through thoroughly, rather he just thinks on the same thing over and over instead of finding a solution or cheering himself up. He does seem quite intuitive though; he does sense there is something sinister in his mother and uncle’s wedding despite it being incestuous.
Second Soliloquies (P120)
By this time, Hamlet has been visited by his father’s ghost and is believes there is a possibility that Claudius killed his father. He is unsure, as he does not know whether the ghost was sent from the devil. A group of players has come to Denmark and showed Hamlet a seen of someone who has lost a loved one. Hamlet feels very inadequate after seeing this, as he believed the actor showed more emotion than he did when his father died. “Is it not monstrous that this player here…Could force his soul so to his own conceit.” L448. He has a very low opinion of himself because of this and also because he feels that all he is doing is thinking about his feelings rather than acting upon them. “Yet I, a dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak like John-A-Dream.” L563. Hamlet’s sorrow begins to turn from bitterness to revenge. He speaks of a plan he has thought up to find out if his uncle has killed his father. He plans to change the play the actors will put on to show the murder of his father and look for a reaction from his uncle. “The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.” L603.
This soliloquy again shows how Hamlet feels emotion very strongly. He is still feeling the pain of his father’s death though some time has passed, he does not seem to have moved on in any way. New emotion is being shown in Hamlet as he shows revenge; in a way this shows how he as progressed though it may not have been very effectively.
Third Soliloquies (P124)
Hamlet’s mind is now in constant turmoil, he is now unsure whether he should live or die. “To be, or not to be – that is the question.” L56. The reason that Hamlet comes to for not killing himself is partly as he does not believe he will get to Heaven and also as he does not know if the soul dreams in death. “To die, to sleep – To sleep – perchance to dream.” L64. He does not want to dream, as this will be a real to him as reality is. At the end of the soliloquies the only thing he is certain of is not to kill him. He is still indecisive about whether his uncle is guilty or not.
This third soliloquy shows how Hamlet seems to have digressed rather than progressed about his anguish. This may be because he keeps going over and over the same thoughts about how his father was great and his uncle is awful. Despite the fact that it is possible Claudius is a murderer, Hamlet might have done better had he moved on, as it does not seem that avenging his father’s death will bring him any happiness.
