Nevertheless, it is obvious to the audience that Hamlet is in an extreme state of depression, as apparent from his description of the world:
'tis an unweeded garden
That grows to seed, things rank and gross in nature
Possess it merely.
(Act I. Scene ii. 135-137)
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‘unweeded garden’ - Note that a well-tended garden was symbolic of harmony and normalcy.
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‘That grows to seed, things rank and gross in nature’ - The literal meaning: If your garden has no weeds the plants will be more likely to grow. ‘Rank’ refers to the fertile overgrowth of vegetation. Metaphorical: You need to remove the ‘weeds’ (bad, evil beings) from your life to grow as a person.
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‘In nature / Posses it merely’ - Although Hamlet accepts weeds as a natural part of the garden (and more generally a natural part of life), he feels that the weeds have grown out of control and now possess nature entirely (merely = absolutely).
‘That it should come to this - But two months dead, nay not so much, not two-’ (I.2.137) - Shakespeare's intent here is to emphasise Hamlet's extreme distress, but the language also stresses the speed at which his mother re-married and Hamlet's obvious distaste towards it. Shakespeare demonstrates Hamlet's building grief, making the rhythm accelerate as Hamlet's thoughts resides on his mother's actions.
Hamlet absolutely abhors Claudius, describing him as a ‘bloat-king’ and a ‘Satyr’- simply a beast in modern terms, which is in contrast to the vast admiration for his deceased father, the ‘Hyperion’- the beautiful sun God. The fact that Hamlet's true father was a ‘hyperion’, that he was ‘so loving to my mother’ and that ‘she would hang onto him’ with great happiness, implies that Hamlet idealised his parents' marriage.
‘That he might not beteem the winds of heaven / Visit her face too roughly’ (I.2.141-2) - This conjures up an image of a huge protective figure shielding Gertrude from all dangers. The picture Hamlet paints of his father’s love for his mother is on an epic scale: he was so loving to her.
A final important contrast in the soliloquy is seen in Hamlet's self-depreciating comment ‘but no more like my father/Than I to Hercules’ (1.2.154-55). Although Hamlet's comparison of himself to the courageous Greek hero could be devoid of any deeper significance, it is more likely that the remark indicates Hamlet's developing lack of self-worth -- a theme that will become the focus of his next soliloquy.
‘Oh most wicked speed, to post / With such dexterity to incestuous sheet;’ (I.2.156-7) - The intensity of Hamlet’s disgust here underlines how impossible he finds it to come to terms with the incestuous union of his uncle and his mother and the indecent haste of his mother’s re-marriage. Hissing sibilants [The audience can see the actor playing Hamlet, spitting these words out in his anger] convey the young man’s nausea as, fascinated by intense disgust, he imagines his mother and his uncle in bed together.
‘But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue’ (I.2.159) - Hamlet feels bound to suffer in silence. For the audience, Hamlet’s words are ironic. They know a Ghost, resembling his father and dressed in steel, is haunting the castle. Even knowing nothing of the conventions of revenge tragedy, the audience would realise that Hamlet will not be permitted simply to suffer.
[NB: ‘break my heart’ – i.e. with unuttered grief. The heart was thought to be kept in place by ligaments or tendons (the heart-strings) which might snap under the pressure of great emotion.]
First glimpse of Hamlets' shattered opinion of women, showing a particular obsession with what he perceives to be a connection between female sexuality and moral corruption, as suggested when Hamlet states, ‘Frailty, thy name is woman.’ This motif of misogyny occurs only sporadically throughout the play, but it is an important inhibiting factor in Hamlet's relationship with Ophelia and with his mother, Gertrude.
‘or ere those shoes were old’ (I.2.147) – 1) ‘or ere’ means even before. Both words mean before, so the phrase is just an intensification. 2) ‘Those shoes were old’ is an extraordinary homely touch among these references to ‘Hyperion’ and ‘Niobe’ (Symbolic of a mother's grief). His mother had worn shoes for her husband’s funeral, and they were still as good as new for her marriage to Claudius. Hamlet describes the haste of her marriage to his uncle her.
However, the betrayal of his mother to the ideal of marriage at an insincere instant, ‘unrighteous tears’ at an ‘O most wicked speed’, badly bruised Hamlet's opinion of women, degrading their honour and purity. The poet Hamlet uses personification to express his disgust to womankind in general: ‘Frailty thy name is woman!’ This disgust in women is what I believe caused Hamlet's bitter rejection for Ophelia, not because Hamlet is insensitive, but because his fragile sensitivity was taken advantage of and bruised. Hamlet later continues to express his disgust in women by using similes referring to women in a negative way to describe a bad situation: ‘Like a Whore unpacked...’ (II.2.548).
Act I, Scene V:
Hamlet sees and speaks to the ghost of his dead father, in Act I Scene V. Hamlet learns that his father was murdered by Claudius, his father's brother, while he was asleep in the orchard.
The ghost asks Hamlet to 'revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.' Hamlet is very angry that Claudius could poison his own brother and also upset because his dead father tells him he must go to hell where there are 'sulph'rous and tormenting flames.' His father knows he is going to hell because he had committed sins which he never got the chance to confess to before he was murdered. Hamlet tells his friends, Horatio and Marcellus that he will 'put an antic disposition on' and pretend to be mad 'with arms encumb'red thus or this head shake,' or by 'pronouncing some doubtful phrase'.
Hamlet feels on the brink of madness as a result of what he has been told. The phrase ‘In this distracted globe’ (I.5.97) is richly ambiguous, referring to Hamlet’s mind, to the world’s in which he finds himself and also of course, to the theatre in which the play is being performed.
Shakespeare deliberately uses the word ‘commandment’ (I.5.103) to draw attention to the moral dilemma Hamlet finds himself in. The Ghost’s commandment is absolutely at odds with God’s.
The repetition ‘Remember… Remember… remember’ in Hamlet’s short soliloquy suggests that he fears he may not be able, or wish, to remember what he has been told to do.
Hamlet's duty as a son, in his social context and circumstances, is one which encourages him to seek revenge for his murdered father. For Hamlet to be perceived as a noble and worthy son, he would have to kill his father's murderer, and his actions would be supported by society as long as the murderer was believed to be guilty. In Hamlet's first soliloquy after the encounter with the ghost early in the play, when the ghost tells him that he must seek revenge, Hamlet quickly acknowledges his duty as a son:
‘I'll wipe away all trivial fond records,
All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past...
And thy commandment all alone shall live
Within the book and volume of my brain,
Unmixed with baser matter.’
Act 1, scene v (99-104)
Hamlet decides with determination that he will ‘wipe away’ all of his memories of ‘youth’, and all ‘pressures past’ so that the ghost's ‘commandment’ to seek revenge would be his only focus, without the distraction of ‘baser matter’. Hamlet's duty as a son is shown clearly at this point where he accepts the ghost's words, be it from fear or loyalty, and he appears to decide that he must fulfil his duty and kill Claudius. However, Hamlet's duty to the monarchy and his role in society are in direct conflict with his duty as a son. Hamlet's duty to the monarchy is to protect the King and his role in society as a Prince is to ensure stability in the kingdom. If Hamlet were to kill Claudius he would fulfil his duties as a son but society would view his actions as betraying society and the monarchy. He would be acting against his own socially enforced values and in the opinion of society, and perhaps in his own mind, he would be committing the highest act of treachery. This is very important with respect to Hamlet's indecision and resulting isolation.
