Hamlet Soliloquy Essay Act 2, Scene 1. Hamlets emotions are apparent in this soliloquy as Hamlet expresses his feelings on the revenge
Hamlet Commentary Act 2, Scene 2
McDonald A4
Tatia Pacey
Hamlet’s soliloquy in Act 2, Scene 2, creates a dual character for Hamlet. Hamlet’s emotions are apparent in this soliloquy as Hamlet expresses his feelings on the revenge as well as the uncertainty of his father’s ghost. Hamlet’s attitude in this soliloquy is full of rage and uncertainty as he describes the situation he is inevitably stuck in. Hamlet berates himself for his lack of passion and frustration for his imminent revenge on his uncle and his ambivalent feelings of attachment and doubt for his father’s ghost.
At the start of the soliloquy, Hamlet talks about the passion that the player had when he reenacted Hecuba’s character. Hamlet questions, “What’s Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba? What would he do, Had he the motive and the cue for passion That I have?”, to relate his present situation of grief, just like Hecuba wept for Priam. This allusion emphasizes the passion that he feels he should have for avenging his father. This impact that the player had on Hamlet also acts as a parallel and he reproaches himself for his own lack of action as Hamlet can’t quite express this passion, but he desires to acquire it. The issue with passion then expands as he describes the play being so respectable that the players will make the guilty “mad” and “appal” the free. This use of copiousness adds to the accumulation to help increase in tension that Hamlet is trying to create.