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role of theatre in the elizabethan era
Hamlet a psychological approach
Hamlet a psychological approach
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Investigating the Function of the Main Soliloquies in Shakespeare's Hamlet
“Hamlet” is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare in around 1601
when Queen Elizabeth the first was on the throne. In the play we see
the royal court of Denmark becoming more and more corrupt with ghosts,
murder, madness and incest, culminating in the highest death toll in
any of Shakespeare’s plays. The lead character of Hamlet is an
intellectual whose aim in the play is to avenge his father’s death by
killing his uncle, the king. However his tendency to think too much
and inability to carry out his actions gets in the way of him bringing
the king to justice, and this hesitancy is a major recurring theme in
the play. At the time of Hamlet first being performed, the royal
family of England would have been similar to the celebrities of today,
and the public of the time would have loved any scandals or gossip
involving royalty. This made Hamlet very popular with the audience
watching the plays, and even though this particular royal family was
that of Denmark, the public would have loved to imagine that the same
sort of scandal and excitement could happen amongst the royalty of
this country.
This Essay will be focusing on Hamlet’s soliloquies, which are a main
feature of the play. A soliloquy is a section of dialogue that is
spoken by an actor that is alone on the stage. This not only reveals
the characters thoughts and feelings and keeps the audience involved,
it also moves the plot on and re-caps on what has happened.
Soliloquies also add to the dramatic impact of Hamlet’s character, and
are essential to the plot of the play.
The first of Hamlet’s s...
... middle of paper ...
...elp convey his
feelings to the audience. The soliloquies are especially effective as
they help the audience keep up with the plot of the play and give them
an insight into how the main character is feeling.
The soliloquies are important in this particular play because they let
us see Hamlet’s thoughts. Hamlet is an intellectual rather than a man
of action, so it is crucial that we are let inside Hamlets head to
understand what he is thinking. If it weren’t for the soliloquies, the
audience would have no idea what hamlet’s intentions were when he was
commissioning the play, or when he was contemplating suicide, or when
he was putting off the murder of Claudius those numerous times!
To understand the plot of hamlet you must first understand Hamlet’s
character, and that is exactly what his soliloquies enable us to do.
Soliloquy and Revenge in Hamlet The soliloquy is a literary device that is employed to unconsciously reveal an actor's thoughts to the audience. In William Shakespeare's, Hamlet, Hamlet's soliloquy in Act II, ii, (576-634) depicts his arrival at a state of vengeful behaviour through an internal process. Hamlet moves through states of depression and procrastination as he is caught up in the aftermath of the murder of his father and the marriage of his mother to his uncle. The soliloquy serves to effectively illustrate the inner nature of Hamlet's character and develop the theme of revenge.
Hamlet is a famous play created by an amazing writer, William Shakespeare. The original play is set in Denmark and is based on the revenge Prince Hamlet has upon Claudius. The plot of the play induces dramatic irony, and context that targets its Elizabethan audience who are consumed of social values and perspectives. In act 4 Hamlet states:
As for Act III, Scene I, this scene starts off in a room within the castle, where King Claudius, Queen Gertrude, Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern are in play. To start thinking off, King Claudius had asked Rosencrantz and Guildenstern if they had found any sort of information that they can use to find out what is wrong with Hamlet. Though gentlemanly, the two sadly did not have much information to figure out what is wrong with Hamlet, due to his cryptic questions and answers. If anything, they do know now that he is truly insane. However, they were able to reveal that when he was told about the players’ arrival, he felt excited, and actually wishes to the King and Queen come to the play, in which they would. After that, the
In William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” there are four major soliloquies that reflect the character of Hamlet.
Shakespeare uses soliloquies in his play as a means of communicating the thoughts of a character without revealing them to the other characters. I will investigate soliloquies because they are commonly found in literature, but not in every day speech; therefore, I want to have a better understanding of how a soliloquy can benefit the play’s plot rather than the use of conversation between two or more characters. The three plays that we can see the effect of Shakespeare’s soliloquies on the plot are Jacques in As You Like it, Hamlet in Hamlet, and Macbeth in Macbeth. In each of these plays, the subtopics that I will discuss are: how a specific soliloquy reveals the character’s inner thought, how these lines differ from the views society has
greatly pained at the loss of his father. It is also clear that he is
makes the paly thrilling to read. It keeps the reader hooked to the play and the
The soliloquy that appears in Act 3 Scene 1 of Shakespeare’s Hamlet is easily one of the most popular speeches in English literature. It has been referenced to in Star Trek, Calvin and Hobbes and A Nightmare on Elm Street. However, this speech was not intended to be a lighthearted reference as indicated by Hamlet’s contemplative, philosophical, and bitter tones he uses while questioning the nature of life and death in this soliloquy.
The interpretation of Hamlet’s, To Be or Not to Be soliloquy, from the Shakespearean classic of the same name, is an important part of the way that the audience understands an interpretation of the play. Although the words are the same, the scene is presented by the actors who portray Hamlet can vary between versions of the play. These differences no matter how seemingly miniscule affect the way in which someone watching the play connects with the title character.
Hamlet’s first soliloquy takes place in Act 1 scene 2. In his first soliloquy Hamlet lets out all of his inner feelings revealing his true self for the first time. Hamlet’s true self is full of distaste, anger, revenge, and is very much different from the artificial persona that he pretends to be anytime else. Overall, Hamlet’s first soliloquy serves to highlight and reveal Hamlet’s melancholy as well as his reasons for feeling such anguish. This revelation in Hamlet’s persona lays the groundwork for establishing the many themes in the play--suicide, revenge, incest, madness, corruption, and mortality.
During the first act of William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet, Shakespeare uses metaphors, imagery, and allusion in Hamlet’s first soliloquy to express his internal thoughts on the corruption of the state and family. Hamlet’s internal ideas are significant to the tragedy as they are the driving and opposing forces for his avenging duties; in this case providing a driving cause for revenge, but also a second-thought due to moral issues.
Hamlet gives us seven soliloquies, all centered on the most important existential themes: the emptiness of existence, suicide, death, suffering, action, a fear of death which puts off the most momentous decisions, the fear of the beyond, the degradation of the flesh, the triumph of vice over virtue, the pride and hypocrisy of human beings, and the difficulty of acting under the weight of a thought 'which makes cowards of us all'. He offers us also, in the last act, some remarks made in conversation with Horatio in the cemetery which it is suitable to place in the same context as the soliloquies because the themes of life and death in general and his attitude when confronted by his own death have been with him constantly. Four of his seven soliloquies deserve our special attention: 'O that this too sullied flesh would melt', 'O what a rogue and peasant slave am I!', 'To be, or not to be, that is the question', and 'How all occasions do inform against me'.
Claudius' soliloquy about his remorse over his murder of Hamlet's father is important to the play because it's the one place where we learn how Claudius feels about what he has done. The rest of the play is all about how Hamlet feels about what Claudius has done, and I think it rounds out the play to get it from a different perspective.
The Use of Soliloquies in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Soliloquies are defined as "the act of talking to oneself." This dramatic monologue gives the illusion of a series of unspoken thoughts. It is used by a character to reveal thoughts to the audience.
Authors and playwrights often use many literary elements to help aid the audience in a further understanding of their play. An element used frequently in the play Hamlet is the soliloquy. Soliloquies hold a significant role in any play. A soliloquy can be defined when a character speaks to themselves, essentially the audience, revealing their thoughts. The function and purpose of these soliloquies in the play Hamlet is for the audience to develop a further understanding of a character’s thoughts, to advance the storyline and create a general mood for the play.