Soliloquies of Hamlet
Soliloloquy is an act of talking to oneself, whether silently or aloud. In drama, it denoted the convention by which a character alone on stage utters his or her thoughts aloud. Playwrights use this device as a convenient way to convey information about a character’s motives and state of mind. This device was long an accepted dramatic convention especially in the theatre of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. William Shakespeare used the device of soliloquy more artfully as a true indicator of the mind of his characters.
The play Hamlet gives us many celebrated soliloquies which are even now subjects of literary autopsy. In the first soliloquy Hamlet cries out, “o that too too solid would melt”(act 1, scene 2) expressing his melancholy and disgust. Hamlet is depressed due to his father’s death and he speaks this soliloquy after seeing his mother married to his uncle Claudius expressing his fury at her offensive act. He is terribly shocked at his mother’s act of surrendering her increased carnal desire. Hamlet cannot understand his mother’s attitude and he expresses his contempt for her, producing the most famous quote “Fraility,thy name is woman!”. He sees this world as an unweeded garden where love and affection can easily be forgotten. He wishes to melt away from this world. This soliloquy rightly serves its purpose as it unveils the turbulent mind of Hamlet.
The second soliloquy, “O all you host of heaven! O earth! What else?”(act 1,scene 5) was uttered by Hamlet after his father’s ghost disclosed to him the tragic truth his father was killed by his uncle Claudius, the then king of Denmark. The ghost asks to avenge his death. Hamlet is thoroughly overwhelmed by hatred towards Claudius and Getrude.He pledges himself to kill Claudius to avenge his father’s death. He is profoundly dedicated to the mighty task that he vows to push out everything stored in his memory except one thing – revenge unmixed with baser matter....