The play is packed with theatrically conscious words such as ‘business’ and the first soliloquy is almost like a show, with connotations of theatre as the entertainment industry: ‘Tis now the very witching time of night.’
Fittingly, the play ends with another such word, which possesses an enchanting double meaning. Fortinbras says, ‘Bear Hamlet, like a soldier, to the stage.’ Hamlet’s soliloquies are of fundamental importance in establishing, developing and consolidating the relationship between the eponymous hero and the audience. Nobody else on stage, is privy to the words Hamlet speaks: they are of the privilege of the audience. The soliloquies do nothing to develop relationships between Hamlet and the other protagonists, only between Hamlet and the audience.
In addition, it is necessary to note, the soliloquies are Hamlet’s true perception of what is taking place: his interpretation of events. In this way, the audience is somehow forced to empathise with Hamlet and see at least some of things that are happening from his point of view. In short, the soliloquies are the unadulterated communication between Hamlet and the audience as they reveal his true state of mind. It is therefore necessary to now look closer at what these soliloquies reveal about Hamlet’s state of mind.
The first soliloquy is concerned with memories and remembering. Here, Hamlet is obsessed with memory and tortures himself by remembering what his mother did, and uses bitter, vivid imagery to convey this. He also remembers how great his father was and contrasts him with Claudius. It is worth noting that in this initial mood of violent passion Hamlet expresses complete confidence in the ghost as he says to Horatio, ‘It is an honest ghost.’ (Act One; Scene Five; line 142).
The Hamlet of the first soliloquy is an outraged man who, disgusted by his ‘sullied self’, can see no outcome to his disgust other than death. To free himself from the grip of his flesh he must put an end to his life. However, he tells us God, the Everlasting, does not allow one to act in this way. God still rules the universe and Hamlet must obey his strictures: “O that this too too sullied flesh would melt,
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew;
Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d
His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter.” (act one; scene two; line 129-132)
This first soliloquy reveals to us Hamlet’s true state of mind and emotional state; his mood is very low indeed and he talks of suicide. In this soliloquy the keynote is the mood of profound disillusion. The suddenness with which his mother’s wedding followed the funeral of his father, whom he had plainly both loved and admired, distresses Hamlet. He cannot understand the lack of taste she displayed in choosing Claudius, who, he feels cannot compete with his father. He expresses a sense of disgust with his mother and with women in general: ‘frailty, thy name is woman.’ He is hurt and miserable, and has to keep quite. His grief clearly goes beyond ‘normal’ mourning for a loved one.
This soliloquy also hints at even at this stage Hamlet may not find avenging his father’s death an easy task. When he says ‘And shall I couple hell?’ (Act One; scene five; line 93) perhaps Hamlet is aware of the enormity of the task and of the awesome implications of involvement with evil. When he says, ‘O cursed spite That ever I was born to set it right,’ he seems to be experiencing unease and a sense of reluctance.
Hamlet’s attitude is different in ‘To be, or not to be,’ from that of his first soliloquy. He asks himself about death beyond religious considerations; the nature of his dilemma has changed. This soliloquy, probably the most famous speech in the English language, is spoken by Hamlet in Act Three; Scene One .This contains Shakespeares’ most logical and powerful examination of the theme of the moral legitimacy of suicide in an unbearably painful world, and it touches on several of the other important themes of the play. Hamlet poses the problem of whether to commit suicide as a logical question: "To be, or not to be," that is, to live or not to live. He then weighs the moral ramifications of living and dying. Is it nobler to suffer life, "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune," passively or to actively seek to end one's suffering? He compares death to sleep and thinks of the end to suffering, pain, and uncertainty it might bring, "the heartache, and the thousand natural shocks…That flesh is heir to." Based on this metaphor, he decides that suicide is a desirable course of action, "a consummation…. Devoutly to be wished." But, as the religious word "devoutly" signifies, there is more to the question, namely, what will happen in the afterlife. Hamlet immediately realizes as much, and he reconfigures his metaphor of sleep to include the possibility of dreaming; he says that the dreams that may come in the sleep of death are daunting, that they "must give us pause."
He then decides that the uncertainty of the afterlife, which is intimately related to the theme of the difficulty of attaining truth in a spiritually ambiguous world, is essentially what prevents all of humanity from committing suicide to end the pain of life. He outlines a long list of the miseries of experience, ranging from lovesickness to hard work to political oppression, and asks who would choose to bear those miseries if he could bring himself peace with a knife, "when he himself might his quietus make…With a bare bodkin?" He answers himself again, saying no one would choose to live, except that "the dread of something after death" makes people submit to the suffering of their lives rather than go to another state of existence which might be even more miserable. The dread of the afterlife, Hamlet concludes, leads to excessive moral sensitivity that makes action impossible: "conscience does make cowards of us all … thus the native hue of resolution … Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought."
In this way, this speech connects many of the play's main themes, including the idea of suicide and death, the difficulty of knowing the truth in a spiritually ambiguous universe, and the connection between thought and action. In addition to its crucial thematic content, this speech is important for what it reveals about the quality of Hamlet's mind. His deeply passionate nature is complemented by a relentlessly logical intellect, which works furiously to find a solution to his misery. He has turned to religion and found it inadequate to help him either kill himself or resolve to kill Claudius. Here, he turns to a logical philosophical inquiry and finds it equally frustrating.
In this soliloquy the keynote is the mood of despair and frustration as Hamlet grapples with apparently insoluble contradictions. Inaction – the product of conscience and thought – makes us cowards, but action – the product of blood and instinct – makes us less than human. Hamlet feels trapped in this paradox. We only see Hamlet’s true state of mind at this time, in this soliloquy. Hamlet again continues to almost delay avenging his father’s death and in doing so expresses a need for proof of Claudius’ guilt. In the first soliloquy Hamlet submits to rules and prohibitions whereas in this soliloquy he imagines and rationalises, and decides to remain in the world, for the moment at least.
The other two soliloquies are memorable because they reveal all the passionate nature of Hamlet’s personality. Observing young Fortinbras and his army on the way to conquer Poland – ‘an eggshell’, ‘a wisp of straw,’ – Hamlet, on the edge of despair, asks himself why he, when he has so many reasons, cannot stir himself to action, why he cannot carry out the necessary act of vengeance. The last lines of this soliloquy again promise bloody thoughts and action against Claudius: “My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth.’ (Act Four; Scene 4; Line 66) This soliloquy of ‘How all occasions do inform against me’ echoes ‘To be, or not to be,’ in the idea of the conscience that ‘makes cowards of us all.’
Another soliloquy that must be noted is that at of Act Two, the ‘O what a rogue and peasant slave am I!’ soliloquy which takes place immediately after the discussion between Hamlet and the travelling players. Here Hamlet is enraged, furious and rude. He lays himself, we feel, totally bare. He is no fool however as we see in this soliloquy. Recovering his spirits he devises a plan which will lead the King to betray himself. He has the idea that, when presented with a play telling the story of what they have done, murderers have confessed their crimes. He will arrange for the players to act such a play before his uncle, and he will watch him carefully. This reveals that Hamlet is in fact not as mad as he appears.
In this soliloquy, Hamlet’s language is stamped with relentless change in tone, the peaks of rage inter-cut with short moments of profound depression or of incredulous questioning. Hamlet comments on the way the actor seemed moved by his lines, whereas he, with a very real cause for grief, can say nothing. Hamlet blames himself for not yet having taken revenge for his father’s murder. He calls himself a coward for making use of words, not deeds: “Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words.” (Act two; scene two, lines 591-592).
In conclusion, the soliloquies reveal Hamlet’s true state of mind. Throughout these soliloquies the audience relates to Hamlet and we believe we are witnessing Hamlet’s true feelings. When Hamlet is left alone, he expresses a variety of attitudes to death and at different times in the play his moods range from intense fear of the unknown to seeing death as a welcome release from the agonies and injustices of life. Also, during these soliloquies we learn about Hamlet’s mood of despair and frustration at avenging his father’s death. We also see his thoughts on the conscience, which prolongs him in killing his father’s murderer, although his desire to never fades. Through the soliloquies we form a rapport with Hamlet and discover his true state of mind.