Hamlet Soliloquy Rhetorical Devices

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In scene two of the first act of Hamlet, Hamlet is extremely depressed and is still mourning his father’s death. When he is alone, he wishes that he could commit suicide and grieves his father’s death. Hamlet is also angered at the fact that his mother married his lesser uncle believing that his father and his mother were truly in love. Hamlet finds that neither religion nor his family can give him support. Hamlet’s soliloquy in this scene features many literary rhetorical devices such as synecdoches, metaphors, allusions, and personification. His miserable attitude conveys that the world is nasty and a bitter to place to live in and that fighting through it requires overcoming obstacles such as thoughts of suicide, depression, and religion. …show more content…

If one were to go through Hamlet’s situation in life, nothing would be appealing.
Shakespeare also makes a metaphor about the world saying that “tis an unweeded garden/ That grows to seed; things rank gross in nature/ Possess it merely.” The world was a garden when Hamlet’s father was still alive, but his death and the reign of Claudius made the world seem worthless and empty. No seeds will grow and “ gross” things have assumed control. He enters a state of depression or heavy sadness, which is something readers can relate to. The things that once interested him no longer gives him pleasure. One’s thoughts become focused on one subject and it is retained in their mind. Allusion in the soliloquy can be also be found when Hamlet compares his mother’s lamentation to Niobe,”… she follow’d my poor father’s body/ Like Niobe, all tears.” Niobe once ruled Thebes and it is said she angered the gods and lost her children. Niobe began to cry until she turned into stone. This shows Hamlet’s contempt with his mother because of her ungrateful and untruthful actions. Her show of grief was marrying her husband’s brother. Hamlet loses faith in his mother and turns her away. Hamlet is so lonely that he is losing people to go to because he feels that Claudius is inferior and his mother’s actions do not respect her ex husband and the relationship they had. One can relate to Hamlet in that a loved one did not react to a situation as one may have

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