The first soliloquy is very public and is in the great hall where everyone can hear him; I think this is because he wants everyone to hear what is on his mind, and what he thinks about his mother and Claudius. He talks about his mother and Claudius who should not be married. He has lots of stops and repetitions this shows how confused and unclear his mind was at the moment. He repeated himself because he could not believe Gertrude had married his uncle. “Married with my uncle, my father’s brother.” He cannot believe that it really is his father’s brother who is married to his mother because it is incest. He also doubts his mother’s grief for his father’s death. “Ere yet the salt of unrighteous tears had left the flushing in her galled eyes.” Here he says that she was not really sad and had insincere tears. This is how he sees it, his mother and Claudius see it very normal to marry so soon and he finds it weird especially because Claudius is his uncle.
In the second soliloquy he is in a corridor and it is very private. The structure is more organized this means he is less confused. He talks about suicide and death. “To be, or not to be, that is the question.” By this he means should I live or should I die, so he is considering killing himself. He says he has had enough of all his problems he is suffering from. He repeats “To die-To sleep” He is comparing dying to sleeping, and later he says he just wants to rest. The only thing keeping him alive at this moment is the question about what is after death, his love for Ophelia and his promise he had made his father about taking revenge on Claudius. He is scared it is not what he hopes for, not a long rest. “For in that sleep of death what dreams what death what dreams may come, when we have shuffled of this mortal coil.”
The imagery in the soliloquies shows that Hamlet is very confused, upset and angry. He is considering ending his life. “Had not fixed his cannon against self slaughter.” He cannot see the point of life. “How weary, stale, flat.” Claudius and Gertrude do not know he is upset and this surprises Hamlet. He is also very confused about his mother marrying his uncle, and his father dying. He stops in the middle of his sentences.
In these soliloquies he uses words like Hyperion, which shows he is very educated. In the first soliloquy he uses lots of stops, which give the effect to show his confusion and stress in his life. And then he repeats a lot of things; also an effect of stress and confusion, and how he does not believe it is true that his mother and his uncle are married. The imagery is mostly shown through the metaphors.
Shakespeare has shown us Hamlet’s character and his thoughts through these soliloquies and used a lot of different types of language; he used repetition to show he was confused and frustrated. He used metaphors to show how he really felt, etc. These two soliloquies help us understand Hamlet’s feelings and his problems. The imagery shows his state of mind and his character.