In his soliloquy, it is revealed that he has no plans on becoming or wanting to be king. Rather he is obsessed truly with his family matters: his father, uncle and mother. For Hamlet, his father was everything and hence with his death, Hamlet had gone into a state of severe depression. To the point that, while grieving his father’s death. He had contemplated on taking his own life or suicide in other words. Reasoning himself with the idea that it would allow him with the, “spiritual release” that he was seeking for in order to get out of his own skin and flesh. As the speech progresses however he realizes that this act of, “cannon gainst” will be a major hindrance for him in attaining heaven so he does not commit it. But what it leads to is an anger that is unprecedented towards Claudius. Which is seen at regular intervals in the speech of Hamlet, one such instance is when he says, “this Hyperion to a satyr”. Hamlet hence is using allusions to compare his father and Claudius. Hyperion is one who represents the virtues and traits of honor which he uses to speak of his father while a Satyr allusion is used to speak of Claudius’s traits which are primarily of greediness. A second instance is when Hamlet comments that Claudius is no, “more like my father than I to Hercules”. An allusion and metaphor is used by Shakespeare, to vividly and metaphorically show how much he loathes Claudius.
Thus, anything related to Claudius is going to be scrutinized by Hamlet. For this reason Gertrude’s marriage to Claudius is not acceptable to Hamlet and is also one of the prime reasons for his extreme levels of frustration. His annoyance takes such a toll on him that he feels that his mother never really loved his father and that her enactments of emotions for him, even at the time just after his death were all false and was displayed only to satisfy her-self. Hamlet's bewilderment and disgust at his mother's hasty marriage to the inferior, Claudius is revealed in his comparison to her as an experienced post horse. The disgust is present not only in the imagery, but in the sounds of Hamlet's words. For example, he refers to his mother as a 'beast' (line 150), which implies that she feels that she is women who has no morals. The fact that she so easily agreed on marrying Claudius only intensifies that thought as he says, “he married. O, most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!” (I.ii161-162). The character of Hamlet also uses a metaphor when he comments that, “ an unweeded garden that grows to a seed” to compare how she has lost her purity ever since she become involved with Claudius. Though he condemns the matrimony but quite mournfully vows the marriage.
Since the Soliloquy is the first time where, Hamlet is expressing himself truly. The soliloquy is filled with deep emotions. The use of literary features helps the reader to truly understand what Hamlet is going through and his emotions. Imagery for instance is used to create the somber mood that hamlet is in. So the imagery is mostly dark and “gross” as stated in the play. Other literary features such as allusion and metaphors are used by Shakespeare to clearly distinguish between Claudius and Hamlet and also to emphasize and support Hamlets claims. As stated before, since it is for the first time that Hamlet, has opened up himself so fully the tone is obviously one of emotionality. In conclusion, the soliloquy is meant to help the readers understand the struggle that the character of Hamlet is going through and this is accomplished by it as readers do get a deep insight into the character.
Word Count: 801
