Hamlet Soliloquy Essay Act 2, Scene 1. Hamlets emotions are apparent in this soliloquy as Hamlet expresses his feelings on the revenge

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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.  

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Along with the lack of passion Hamlet displays, he is frustrated with himself as he questions his role on the revenge on Claudius. Hamlet calls himself a “rogue and peasant slave”, which explains why he is not directly acting on the revenge of his uncle, and instead, resides to an indirect approach of constructing a play of his father’s death. This reference continues as he states that he is like a “muddy-mettled rascal” and a “scullion”. This repetitive use highlights the self-loathing that is evident in this soliloquy. The frustration continues as Hamlet describes that he should courageously kill ...

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