Explication Of Hamlet's Soliloquy '

Hamlet Act Three Explications- #1

“To be, or not to be: that is the question:

Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,

And by opposing them. To die, to sleep-

No more- and by a sleep to say we end” (III.i.56-61) Signet Classic Edition

This is the beginning of another soliloquy said by the protagonist of the play, Hamlet, from Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. The theme of suicide is thoroughly expressed throughout the soliloquy, but it is most prevalent in the six lines above. The quote starts out with Hamlet saying “To be, or not to be”, which is him asking himself is he would rather live or die. Then, the goes on to say “Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to

In the quote above, Ophelia is remisiecenting of how Hamlet used to be like before he went mad. This quote provides a sharp contrast between Hamlet’s state of mind before and after Old Hamlet’s death , it also illustrates what madness can do to a person. The quote starts out with Ophelia lamenting that Hamlet’s “noble mind is here o’erthrown”, which means that Hamlet has lost his mind. Then, she describes Hamlet as “The courtier’s, soldier’s, scholar’s, eye, tongue, sword”. Ophelia used to view Hamlet as having the characteristics of a courtier, soldier, and scholar, who are all honorable people, to illustrate how noble he used to be. Also, the “tongue” that she mentions is important because it shows how dignified his conversation used to be, unlike now where he blurts out the randomest things to everyone. Later Ophelia goes on to say that Hamlet was “Th' expectancy and rose of the fair state, The glass of fashion and the mold of form,”, which translate that he used to be the ideal heir and icon of Denmark and how he was seemed to be perfect. Now,“Th' observed of all observers, quite, quite down!”, which says that anyone can see that he has fallen deep into insanity. Overall, this quote fully illustrates Hamlet’s deportment before he became insane. It also displays the theme of insanity and what it can do to completely change a

is feeling very murderous and he wants to take his rage out on Claudius to avenge his father’s murder. The quote starts out with Hamlet saying “Tis now the very witching time of night”, which is symbolism for late at night when evil things come out. Then he goes on to say that in this time of the night, the“churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out/Contagion to this world.” This line uses a lot of personification. Churchyards are personified to yawn to symbolize that the good in the world going to sleep. Also, hell is personified to breath illness into the world, which is used to symbolize that evil is quickly spreading into this world. Overall, in the first two lines, Hamlet is trying to show that he feels murderous and wicked through the description symbolism of the night. In the next line, Hamlet emphasis his murderous sensation by saying “saying that [he] could drink hot blood”, which shows that he feels very rageful and bloodthirsty that night. Later in he says, he could “do such bitter business as the bitter day”. The bitter business he is referring to is getting revenge on his father’s death by killing Claudius. So in this line, Hamlet is trying to say that in the next day, he is completely ready to murder Claudius. Overall, this quote illustrates the theme of murder-revenge that is shown throughout the play. In this scene, especially, Hamlet is ready to murder Claudius