Selena Yasmin Sapphire Galadriel Seay-Reynolds

The soliloquy is a window, a moment of clarity and insight into the plot of a play. Amidst the fog of lies

and deceit, we learn the truth. We can see the true Hamlet, behind his masquerade of madness, his pretenses of

bravery, his cutting comments. We learn the true extent and depth of his inner turmoil, what “passes show”

(1.2.87). Were the play centered merely around action, it would have faded away centuries ago. The basic plot

isn’t extraordinary—a king killed for his crown, his wife wed to the murderer, a son who swears to take

revenge. No, the attraction and complexity of the play is found in Hamlet’s inner struggle, summarized by

Shakespeare’s most famous question—to be or not to be?

Throughout the course of the play, and Hamlet’s monologues, he wrangles with the choice he must

make. While Hamlet’s “To be or not to be…” soliloquy is often interpreted and portrayed as a suicidal

meditation on whether to live or die, I believe it is actually a reflection on action. The nature of action, the

causes for action, the consequences of action, his inability to act, etc. Hamlet’s entire existence, at least as we

know it in the play, revolves around action, or at least the idea of it. In his first soliloquy, Hamlet laments his

present state, lacking any sort of appetite for life, and finding it pointless. “How weary, stale, flat, and

unprofitable / Seem to me all the uses of this world!” he cries (1.2.137-138). Hamlet lacks conviction, passion,

a purpose. His soliloquy poses the problem, and foreshadows a solution. It also effectively paints the

background for our play. He tells what has transpired off the stage, of his father’s death and mother’s marriage,

all vividly illustrated through his bitter words:

“Within a month,
Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears
Had left the flushing in her galled eyes,
She married.” (1.2.158-161)

After he sees the Ghost in Act I, Scene v though, after he swears to avenge his father, after he finds a

purpose, all this talk of “sullied flesh” melts away. In his soliloquy in Act 1, Scene v, we see Hamlet commit to

action for the first time. He practically jumps at the opportunity to do so, and in line 119, he has “sworn ‘t.” As

we see in his later soliloquies, though, he finds himself unable to fulfill his oath, and is tormented with why he

cannot. Hamlet is undoubtedly not a ‘man of action,’ and while it may seem obvious to us, it is more difficult
 Selena Yasmin Sapphire Galadriel Seay-Reynolds
for him to realize this and deal with it. His anguish is fascinating though, and we, the crude voyeurs to his

misery, eagerly look on.

In Hamlet’s soliloquy in Act II, Scene ii, he is brought to a full realization of how unprepared he is for

the daunting task he faces—not only to merely act, but to murder. He explains, both to himself and to us, that

he has no hesitations regarding the nature of the deed; as “the son of a dear father murdered,” he must revenge

himself by killing his father’s murderer (II.ii.612). He has no personal attachment to Claudius, no

“compunctious visitings of nature shake [his] fell purpose” (forgive the borrowing from the Scottish play,

1.5.45-46). It is rather “the attempt and not the deed” which confounds him (again, the Scottish play, 2.2.11).

Hamlet is truly furious, with himself. He swears and curses, calling himself a “rogue and peasant slave” (l.

576), “a dull and muddy-mettled rascal” (l. 594), “coward” (l. 598), “pigeon-livered” (l. 604), “ass” (l. 611).

Hamlet has no need here to convince anyone that he is these things, save himself. He has no need for over-

exaggeration, no need to become overly emotional. He is absolutely sincere in what he says in his soliloquies.

We see him reach a turning point in his soliloquy in Act II, scene ii. Not only does he come to this

realization about himself, but we see him take concrete steps toward the fulfillment of his oath. He makes a

plan. A plan to make plans, but still a plan.

“I’ll have these players

Play something like the murder of my father
Before mine uncle. I’ll observe his looks;
I’ll tent him to the quick. If he do blench,
I know my course.” (2.2.623-627)

He makes a decision to no longer be passive, the subject of his next, and most famous soliloquy. As is

with everything Hamlet says, he finds it harder to do than he originally thought. He has not yet confirmed

Claudius’ guilt, but now bound to his plan, he begins to think through the possible outcomes. We have seen the

Ghost tell Hamlet that Claudius is guilty, and Hamlet has sworn Claudius’ guilt. Yet the fact that he crafts this

plan, shows that he does have doubt. While in waiting to spring his trap, his doubts brood in the back of his

mind, and he questions himself. Hamlet knows too much, and yet not quite enough. He knows enough to

realize that he does not know the full extent that the repercussions of his actions will have, and so he hesitates.

He knows well enough to question himself, but he does not know the answers.
 Selena Yasmin Sapphire Galadriel Seay-Reynolds
“Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovered country from whose bourn
No traveler returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?” (3.1.84-90)

He is not merely fabricating excuses—his concerns and reasons for his actions are sincere. For he poses

all of these to himself in the solace of the soliloquy. We are but onlookers. He has no reason to lie, nor to

speak anything but the absolute and utmost truth. And so we are guided through the very reasoning behind

what everyone else sees.

Hamlet is torn between these two roads, but also between two worlds, two entirely different ways of

thinking. He is a prince, and has been raised that he should act and think a certain way. He is taught to hold

honor above all, and to avenge his father. But he is also an intellectual and a student. He questions the precepts

he is simply expected to follow. He does not compromise his morals and beliefs for mere tradition. He is wiser

than he believes though, and interprets this for cowardice. But in fact, by not fulfilling his “duty,” he acts all

the more honorably.

Hamlet’s fourth soliloquy is different from all the others. He winds down an intricate trail of logic, and

forms the basis for his questions. But his questions are not pithy and self-centered, as in his first soliloquy.

These seem to extend beyond the stage, beyond the audience, even. He is not overly dramatic, nor overly

serious. He asks very real questions that apply to things greater than his character. Hamlet shows a level of

depth and insight previously obscured by his seemingly childlike behavior. And when his words have sunk in,

we feel for him. Whether by his fault or not, he has lacked purpose his entire life and has never learned how to

act. He asks “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, end them” (3.1.65-68). He has “suffered the slings and

arrows of outrageous fortune” quietly, not protesting his mother’s and Claudius’ marriage, nor anything else,

thinking himself almost martyr-like in his silence. Hamlet is filled with uncertainty, with questions without

answers, and so, doubting his conviction, he does not act.

 Selena Yasmin Sapphire Galadriel Seay-Reynolds
The Ghost, a supernatural force, provides Hamlet with validation. This is what finally spurs him to

action. As we see, in Act III, Scene ii, he calls upon the forces of darkness, upon hell itself from where the

Ghost came. He invokes images of darkness and the inferno, almost as if casting a spell, to give him strength to

follow through with his plan. He cannot do it, though. As seen in his penultimate soliloquy, in Act III, scene

iii, his actions are halted by his thought. He has the opportunity to kill Claudius, and recognizes it. But in the

momentary pause that he takes, his fears rise up. Hamlet does not intentionally weasel his way out of it, though.

He does not intentionally seek for some excuse. Hamlet wishes, with all his being, that he could kill Claudius,

and is absolutely devastated by his inability to. We know form his actions later in the play that he is capable of

murder, and, depending on interpretation, he actually tries to murder Claudius. More importantly, though,

Hamlet expresses exactly this in his soliloquy, to himself. His lines are in sync with his actions, not pre-

planned. He begins to act, and then is caught off guard by his fears. Hamlet is truly frightened of the

possibility of what might happen if he were to kill Claudius, and his fears are not totally ungrounded. He is

frightened by what he does not know, and is stopped. He then divulges into his customary ramblings and trains

of logic, as he has done in every soliloquy thus far.

Hamlet’s final soliloquy represents a second, and final turning point in his character. The Hamlet we

see in this soliloquy is more experienced. He knows action, finally. He has lost some of his prior fear, and with

the knowledge gained from his new experiences, he attempts to objectively question and analyze his task. He is

filed with true, and felt conviction. He no longer pursues his goals out of obligation, or supposed duty, but

because he, himself is sure of them. “Rightly to be great / Is not to stir without great argument, /But greatly to

find quarrel in a straw / When honor’s at the stake,” he says (4.4.56-59).

By his final soliloquy, he is not much different from he was when he started—he still has yet to plan and

execute Claudius’ murder; he has not fulfilled his goal. He has changed, though. He has made a decision, not

exactly to act, but he is now capable of action, and more importantly, is his own person. He learns to stand on

his own. He is wiser. He has reached a sort of enlightenment, gained self-fulfillment. Hamlet has found

purpose and meaning.