When is hamlet first soliloquy

He feels that she acted too hastily and states. O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason Would have mourned longer! She married. O, most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! To Hamlet, Claudius is nothing compared to his deceased father.

Hamlet is tormented by images of Gertrude's tender affections toward his father, believing that her display of love was a pretense to satisfy her own lust and greed. Hamlet even negates Gertrude's initial grief over the loss of her husband. She cried "unrighteous tears" because the sorrow she expressed was insincere, belied by her reprehensible conduct. Notice Shakespeare's use of juxtaposition and contrast to enhance Hamlet's feelings of contempt, disgust, and inadequacy.

His desire for dissolution into dew, an impermanent substance, is expressive of his desire to escape from the corporality into a process suggestive of spiritual release. Immediately juxtaposed to this notion, and standing in contrast to "flesh", is his reference to the "Everlasting", the spiritual term for the duality.

Paradoxically, in his aversion from the flesh, his body must seem to him to possess a state of permanence, closer to something everlasting than to the ephemeral nature of the dew he yearns to become" Newell Another striking juxtaposition in the soliloquy is Hamlet's use of Hyperion and a satyr to denote his father and his uncle, respectively.

Hyperion, the Titan god of light, represents honor, virtue, and regality -- all traits belonging to Hamlet's father, the true King of Denmark. Satyrs, the half-human and half-beast companions of the wine-god Dionysus, represent lasciviousness and overindulgence, much like Hamlet's usurping uncle Claudius.

It is no wonder, then, that Hamlet develops a disgust for, not only Claudius the man, but all of the behaviours and excesses associated with Claudius.

In other passages from the play we see that Hamlet has begun to find revelry of any kind unacceptable, and, in particular, he loathes drinking and sensual dancing. Although Hamlet's comparison of himself to the courageous Greek hero could be devoid of any deeper significance, it is more likely that the remark indicates Hamlet's developing lack of self worth -- a theme that will become the focus of his next.

In Shakespeare's masterful play Hamlet , Hamlet, the young prince of Denmark, experiences inner turmoil after his father's premature death and his mother's subsequent remarriage to his uncle Claudius. In this passage, Hamlet's first soliloquy and the reader's first real glimpse at Hamlet, Hamlet expresses his frustration with the situation that he has been thrust into; as he expresses his emotionally-charged diatribe, the reader gleans important insights into Hamlet's psyche.

Shakespeare uses Hamlet's first soliloquy in order to develop Hamlet's character as both highly emotional while intelligently analytical, tracing his thought processes to ultimately establish the theme of the turbulent conflict between a man's reason and emotions.

In the beginning of the passage, Hamlet lets his emotions loose and vividly depicts his poetic wish of suicide, typifying the role of emotion in one's thoughts. The image he provokes of flesh liquefying progressively becomes more gentle; at first, he uses the harsh word "melt", followed by the more gentle "thaw", and finally the encouraging "resolve itself into a dew". Shakespeare establishes the pattern of a harsh initial outburst, followed by an unsuccessful mellowing of emotion, and a repeated harsh exclamation.

This pattern characterizes the passage: Hamlet makes outlandish declarations out of emotional frustration, yet he is unable to contain his feeling. He thus uses imagery to make his point more vivid and emotional to the reader, and then softens his imagery to uphold the pattern. Hamlet speaks about the world, likening it via extended metaphor to an unweeded garden. Just prior to this exclamation, Hamlet expressed his frustration with God's law; he thus alludes to the Garden of Eden, complaining that God's creation is imperfect.

Just as a serpent corrupted the Garden of Eden, so too, impure things taint the world. As Hamlet will soon find out, Claudius murdered Hamlet senior and blamed it on a "serpent"; already, Hamlet labels Claudius with uncomplimentary appellations such as "satyr". Thus, Hamlet complains emotionally about how impure matters corrupt his life.

At this stage in the passage, Hamlet is merely expressing his discontent about the world; he poetically uses extended metaphor, in order to show how he already and somewhat rationally, as he will go on to prove suspects certain creatures of being responsible for his world turning upside down. However, he isn't yet able to back up his emotionally-based suspicions with reason; the next part of his thoughts proceeds to do so.

Thus, Hamlet's emotionally-charged initial diatribe shows how his suspicions and frustrations have a firm emotional bases, so much so that he is unable to restrain his feelings from bursting within him; his emotion-marked by exclamation points-will continue to permeate his more reasoned arguments. Hamlet uses analogy and reasoned argument, albeit with occasional hyperbole, in order to rationalize his emotions and justify his behavior and feelings. Hamlet ceases to express his frustration, and instead describes why he is so upset.

By comparing his father to a hyperion, Hamlet asserts that his father is godlike. In his emotional outburst prior to his reasoned expression, Hamlet laments to "God", with a capital "G"; now he compares his father to one of the minor gods.

Hamlet isn't merely indulging in hyperbole as he does elsewhere in his soliloquy when comparing his father to a minor god; Hamlet also hints at several similarities between God and Hamlet Sr. For one, both are "Everlasting"; God is eternal, while Hamlet survives as a ghost.

Additionally, God looks after His people, and is benevolent; so too, Hamlet Sr. Finally, people only appreciate God in His absence; that is, when things go well, people tend to attribute success to their own hands-it is only when they start failing that they pray to God. People don't appreciate the sun until it is night, when it is dark and cold. So too, Hamlet suggests, people will only begin appreciating his father after Claudius' death.

Thus, one can't attribute Hamlet's analogies to mere eloquence of language and outbursts laced with hyperbole; rather, his analogies suggest the presence of reason in his choices of comparison. Of course, his viewpoint of his father is biased, but his approach includes reason. Hamlet's second analogy-comparing his father to Hercules, and Claudius to Hamlet Jr-again shows how Hamlet viewed his father as the son of God, while Hamlet himself, like Claudius, is far from him.

Again, Hamlet's use of Hercules is calculated: just as Hercules was killed by someone close to himself, so too does he suspect that Hamlet Sr. His comparison of himself to Claudius shows that despite their many differences-for example, Claudius likes to party while Hamlet wants to study diligently in Wittenberg-they both can't even come close to the level of Hamlet Sr.

By using analogy, Hamlet conveys the deep-rooted differences between Claudius and his father, showing that Hamlet isn't just upset about his personal loss, but also by Denmark's loss of a fine ruler and gain of a lousy replacement. The diction used in the soliloquy also shows how Hamlet attempts to keep his cool and continue to use reason.

Exclamation points mark the points at which emotion gets the better of him; before the exclamation points, however, Hamlet experiences a brief inner struggle marked by hyphens. By using the particular punctuation, Shakespeare emphasizes the emotions Hamlet experiences as he explores different trains of thought; Shakespeare thus emphasizes Hamlet's struggle of reason against emotion.

In the first part of the soliloquy, emotions-evidenced by exclamation points-reigned supreme; the next segment consists of reason, briefly interspersed with emotion.

Ah, I wish my dirty flesh could melt away into a vapor, or that God had not made a law against suicide. Oh God, God! How tired, stale, and pointless life is to me. Damn it! Only nasty weeds grow in it now. Such an excellent king, as superior to my uncle as a god is to a beast, and so loving toward my mother that he kept the wind from blowing too hard on her face. Test your knowledge Take the Act 1, scene 2 Quick Quiz. Popular pages: Hamlet. Take a Study Break. Original Text. Modern Text.