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Hamlet Soliloquy Essay

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A Discussion of 3 Messages from To be or not to be Soliloquy
The “to be or not to be” soliloquy in “Hamlet” is one of Shakespeare’s most famous soliloquies. “There are more than 300 soliloquies in Shakespeare’s plays and we find them in every play, but their frequency in the individual plays varies,”(Clemen) A soliloquy is when an actor in a performance speaks their thoughts out loud. Actors usually speak their soliloquies when they are by themselves and sometimes around others. The words spoken within a soliloquy is the actor’s thoughts only and no other actors can hear them speaking their thoughts. In “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare, there are three messages from the to be or not to be soliloquy. The first message in Shakespeare’s …show more content…

This soliloquy has relations to other soliloquies from the play. When Hamlet becomes a thinker, he calls himself a coward for not taking action. “Even if he depreciates himself sometimes as a coward for not killing Claudius, Hamlet demonstrates his bravery in these two confrontations.”(De-yan) Just like the soliloquy in Act II, Hamlet beats himself up for not being able to go forth with his actions of killing his uncle, Claudius. “Thus conscience does make cowards of us all, and thus the native hue of resolution is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,”(Act III, Scene 1, Lines 90-92) The idea of overthinking is what caused Hamlet to become a coward. He thought about precise details which lead to him not taking action at the …show more content…

Why does one suffer when they can choose to die? One can choose to put up with suffering or choose to do something about it. Hamlet discusses the option of ending suffering because his life is a wreck, his father is dead, his mother remarried, and his new father is guilty of killing his old father. He has the option of putting up with this suffering or end it. “To die, to sleep-- no more-- and by a sleep to say we end the heartache, and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to.”(Act III, Scene 1, Lines 67-70) Hamlet is ready to kill himself, kill his uncle Claudius. He contemplates whether suicide is a reasonable answer or not. Hamlet longs for death and wishes to end his suffering. “...to feel the hero’s suffering, to see with his eyes. But in Hamlet this is not so. We need not see through Hamlet’s eyes.”(Knight) He is afraid to commit suicide though due to the fact that he will be sent to hell if he chooses

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847 Words | 4 Pages

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