...and when? Why is Horatio with Bernardo and Marcellus there? The play, begins in Elsinore with Francisco, who is waiting for Bernardo to relieve him of his duty right after midnight. Bernardo calls wondering who is there, to which Francisco replies that Bernardo should tell him who he is first. 2. What is Horatio's initial response to the story of the apparition? Horatio’s initial response is skepticism, as in disbelief. 3. What does Horatio first assume the appearance of the ghost means (1.1.)? He assumes it must mean that there is something wrong with the government. 4. What happens when the ghost appears for the second time (I.I)? Horatio asks the ghost why it had come in the first place and the reason behind such appearances 5. What do we know so far about the nature of the ghost? Do we know yet if it is a "good" ghost? Summarize the circumstances surrounding the first encounter with the ghost. The ghost is Hamlet’s father; one can categorize him as good because he explains to Hamlet the real reason behind his death. 6. Identify Hamlet’s first Soliloquy in Scene 2. What is it that is really bothering him about what has happened since his father's death? How would you describe the tone of his feelings? In his first soliloquy he mourns his father. It is a passionate and startling passage that strongly contrasts to the artificial dialogue and actions that he portrays to his uncle Claudius throughout the remainder of the play. This soliloquy serves to...
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...William Shakespeare. “The play, set in the Kingdom of Denmark, recounts how Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle Claudius for murdering the old King Hamlet, Claudius's own brother and Prince Hamlet's father, and then succeeding to the throne and marrying Gertrude, the King Hamlet's widow and mother of Prince Hamlet ("Hamlet”).” Shakespeare’s main objective was to impress his Elizabethan audience because entertainment through theater was extremely important to everyone in the era ("Elizabethan Theater"). Shakespeare successfully captivated an Elizabethan audience with this production (“Hamlet”). This essay will explain how an Elizabethan audience was targeted by Hamlet’s final monologue (act 4, lines 32-66). This speech effectively targeted and engaged an Elizabethan audience because its format, mentions of revenge and exciting nature caused the audience to sympathise with Hamlet’s decisions and feelings, and become enthusiastic and involved in the play. The format of this speech is a key factor which explains why the Elizabethan audience is effectively targeted. This speech is written and delivered in the form of a soliloquy. This means that it is an “uninterrupted speech delivered by a single character to the audience but not to other characters” (Jaber Al-Ogaili 48). Soliloquies are a literary device that is most often used as a technique to express the character’s inner most thoughts and feelings in a realistic and personal way. The audience feels connected with the character...
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...Importance of Hamlet’s Soliloquies in Shakespeare’s Hamlet Shakespeare often has his characters speak in soliloquies during the course of his plays. Soliloquies are essential to the presentation of a story through the medium of a play because they provide the opportunity the chance to tell the audience specific pieces of information which cannot be disclosed through normal conversation. In his work, Hamlet, Shakespeare’s title character is shown to speak in seven soliloquies. Each soliloquy advances the plot, reveals Hamlet’s inner thoughts to the audience and helps to create an atmosphere in the play. The first soliloquy which Hamlet delivers gives the audience their first glimpse of him as a character. Hamlet is reflective and depicts the way he views his own position; he tells of his father’s death and then his mother’s quick remarriage. He says, “It is not, nor it cannot come to good” (I, ii, 163), when referring to the marriage of his mother. This gives the audience a hint of foreshadowing because it is the first time when Hamlet mentions the future. This speech also reveals his thoughts further when he says that his mother is frail because she is a woman, while he also admits that he knows he must hold his tongue. During the course of this speech Hamlet makes several allusions to historical figures and this demonstrates to the audience that he is an intelligent young man. One of these allusions is when he compares the love his late father had for his mother to Hyperion...
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...George Awtrey English April 16, 2011 Hamlet’s Psychological Analysis William Shakespeare was and still is one of the most renowned play writers of all time. Shakespeare had a talent like no other that allowed him to create plays that entertained viewers of his era and beyond. One of his most popular plays is Hamlet. Because this play was one of his more complex works it is also became of the most analyzed plays as well. The main character, Hamlet, has fascinated readers and audiences for centuries, and one of the first thing to point out about him is that he is indecisive (22 Newell). But even though he is thoughtful to the point of obsession, Hamlet also behaves rashly and instinctively. When he does act, it is quickly with little or no premeditation, like when he stabbed Polonius through the curtain without even checking to see who he was. He seems to step very easily into the role acting crazy, behaving erratically and upsetting the other characters with his careless speech (22 Newell). It is also important to note that Hamlet is extremely laid back and unconcerned with it comes to the state of affairs in Denmark and in his own family. He is extremely disappointed with his mother for marrying his uncle so quickly. He rejects, Ophelia, a woman he claimed to have loved once. At a number of points in the play, he contemplates his own death and even the option of suicide. But, despite all of the things with which Hamlet expresses dissatisfaction, it is remarkable that...
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...notices a shift in Hamlet’s personality. He along with Hamlet’s mother, tries to uncover the meaning of Hamlet’s melancholy behavior. In Hamlet’s notorious “to be or not to be” soliloquy, Hamlet contemplates two extremes: life and death. For the first time in the play, Hamlet acknowledges his own feelings about avenging his father’s murder. Hamlet’s emotions are raw. He is stripped from being the Prince of Denmark and turns into a grieving son. It shows Hamlet in a humane light. Hamlet is conflicted as he wants to do right by his father and also do right by his own moral code.We can all relate in some aspect of wanting to do right by ourselves and also wanting to do right by others. Although Hamlet wants to kill Claudius, Hamlet is terrified...
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...Hamlet's Soliloquy - To be, or not to be Hamlet's "To be, or not to be" soliloquy is arguably the most famous soliloquy in the history of the theatre. Even today, 400 years after it was written, most people are vaguely familiar with the soliloquy even though they may not know the play. What gives these 34 lines such universal appeal and recognition? What about Hamlet's introspection has prompted scholars and theatregoers alike to ask questions about their own existence over the centuries? In this soliloquy, Shakespeare strikes a chord with a fundamental human concern: the validity and worthiness of life. Would it not be easier for us to simply enter a never-ending sleep when we find ourselves facing the daunting problems of life than to "suffer / the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune"? However, it is perhaps because we do not know what this endless sleep entails that humans usually opt against suicide. "For in that sleep of death what dreams may come / When we have shuffled off this mortal coil / Must give us pause." Shakespeare seems to understand this dilemma through his character Hamlet, and thus the phrase "To be, or not to be" has been immortalized; indeed, it has pervaded our culture to such a remarkable extent that it has been referenced countless times in movies, television, and the media. Popular movies such as Billy Madison quote the famous phrase, and www.tobeornottobe.com serves as an online archive of Shakespeare's works. Today, a Shakespeare stereotype...
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...lines 31-65, in which the titular character Hamlet decides that the time for revenge is at hand in an insightful soliloquy. The audience would have been attracted to the scene because they would receive a moral insight into Hamlet’s mind, revealing his true thoughts. It also would have expanded on the theme of revenge, and how this theme would affect the final scene of the play. Finally, by focusing on the theme of morality, the soliloquy would have provided audiences with a thought-provoking look into their own consciences. In Shakespeare’s original version of Hamlet, Hamlet’s speech from Act IV, scene iv effectively targets the Elizabethan Era audience. Through the soliloquy, the audience is able to clearly see Hamlet’s thoughts, and this discerning look behind his motif effectively catches the audience’s attention. At the beginning of Hamlet’s speech, the audience becomes aware that Hamlet regrets his hesitation to avenge his father, and he decides the time for vengeance is upon him. The prince admits this when he thinks to himself, “How all occasions do inform against me,/ And spur my dull revenge” (IV. iv. 31-32). It is apparent to the audience what Hamlet is thinking, and allows them to predict how these thoughts will affect his actions. Thus, the audience is interested to hear what else he thinks to further understand his future plans. It is as if Hamlet’s thought pattern is a puzzle; thought by thought, the audience is able to piece together the way his mind works until...
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...Unit 3 activity 7 FINAL The soliloquy in act 4 scene 4 that starts with “how all occasions do inform against me” echoes a monologue recited to Hamlet’s two friends, Rozencratz and Guildenstern. The monologue earlier in the story paints the picture that Hamlet is still struggling with his thoughts of all the events that are happening and he is still unsure of what to do. He is adamant that murdering his uncle is against his character so he finds himself in a dilemma. Following the soliloquy in act 4, the Elizabethan audience is left with a favourable scenario. The lords would favor his philosophical thought process and the lower classes would favor the anticipation of bloody mess end of the act brings. The main reason for this is Hamlet’s soliloquy. This soliloquy serves as a continuation of the monologue to show the audience that Hamlet is getting over all that and is finally set on his mission. It also serves to show the audience how Hamlet came to those final decisions and gives the audience something to be excited for. As Hamlet approaches his destination England, he comes across Fortinbras marching with his army to Poland to fight a way for merely nothing. Hamlet in shock claims that man will fight and act so violently for something of little gain. This encounter reminds Hamlet of what he has to gain from his plan of murdering the king. Following this encounter is when Hamlet recites the soliloquy mentioned before. It is at this point that Hamlet realizes that his duty...
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...found in Act IV, Scene IV, lines 30-66, and it causes its target audience to have an effect on all three of these values. This field of study is important because it shows the reader that there is a relationship between the dramatic works and their target audience. The first, second, and third points will discuss Hamlet’s soliloquy’s and how the speech causes its target audience to have an effect on the social, cultural, and economic values, as they are all crucial evidence to this thesis. Firstly, there is one reason why the speech causes its target audience to have an effect on the social value. Hamlet’s soliloquy indicates his failure to act when he has so much reason to do so. “How all occasions do inform against me, / and spur my dull revenge! What is a man, / If his chief good and market of his time / be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more. / Sure he that made us with such large discourse, / Looking before and after, gave us not / that capability and godlike reason / to fust in us unused. Now whether it be / Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple / of thinking too precisely on th' event -- / A thought which, quartered, hath but one part wisdom / and ever three parts coward -- I do not know / Why yet I live to say 'This thing's to do', / Sith I have cause, and will, and strength, and means, / To do't” (IV, IV, 32-46). This quote shows the aspect of Hamlet and his well-being, such as his ability to participate in making decisions that have affected himself. Hamlet...
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...In Shakespeare’s novel Hamlet, one of the most dynamic events occurring thus far in the play is Hamlet’s contemplation of suicide in his first soliloquy. This is the first exemplification of the side Hamlet shows to no one; his deep inner thoughts, his conscience. He releases all of the built up tension he has felt in regards to his father’s death, his mother’s hasty marriage, and hatred towards his uncle. This scene is especially significant because although these thoughts torment Hamlet internally, enough to ensue suicidal tendencies, he does not feel comfortable discussing them with anyone, thus leaving him feeling vulnerable and insecure. Prior to the soliloquy, the play goes into detail of the events in which lead up to it. Claudius...
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...the would have been an offset to nature in Denmark. There was a transfer of power post the death of the king that led some to believe that the future of Denmark was in trouble. It is proven by the later appearance of the ghost that there would be a Denmark tragedy. What is a soliloquy? A Soliloquy defined is the disregard of the people around while speaking to themselves about in-depth thoughts, usually in a play or drama. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, n.d). In dramas and play, when this is used, the people or characters are not mindful of things that person speaking is speaking about. When realism was introduced in the late 1800’s, soliloquies was not as prevalent. In the play, “Hamlet” soliloquies were used throughout to disclose his most in depth feelings to the viewers. William Shakespeare uses soliloquies in not only “Hamlet” in other pieces that he was afforded the opportunity to write The Question: To Be or Not to Be? Hamlet, In Act Three Scene 1, presents the well-known soliloquy, “to be or not to be; that is the question”. During the course of the play, there are several soliloquies that Hamlet used that was centered around his sentiments. Nevertheless, not like other soliloquies in the play that seem to...
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...in “Soliloquies and Other Wordplay Let the Audience Share Some of Hamlet’s Thoughts” explains the interplay of dialogue, soliloquies and narrative in Hamlet’s role: By any reckoning Hamlet is one of the most complex of Shakespeare’s characters, and a series of soliloquies is only one of the means which encourage the audience to enter imaginatively into his very personal and frightening predicament. The play’s narrative is handled so that a prolonged two-way chase is sustained between him and the king, during which the audience knows more than either one of them and so thinks ahead and anticipates events. In interplay with Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and Polonius, and perhaps with Claudius, Gertrude and Ophelia, Hamlet has asides to draw attention to what dialogue cannot express(55-56). Marchette Chute describes the opening scene of the drama: “For two nights in succession, just as the bell strikes the hour of one, a ghost has appeared on the battlements, a figure dressed in complete armor and with a face like that of the dead king of Denmark, Hamlet’s father. [. . .] The hour comes, and the ghost walks” (35). Horatio and Marcellus exit the ramparts of Elsinore intending to enlist the aid of Hamlet. There is a social gathering of the court, where Claudius pays tribute to the memory of his deceased brother, the former king, and then conducts some items of business. Hamlet is there dressed in black, the color of mourning, for his deceased father. His first words...
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...Outline Hamlet Essay Politics, hatred, envy, incest, love, and most importantly revenge. These are all themes that boldly occur in Shakespeare's Hamlet. Literature is made to be understood and related to by the audience and throughout Hamlet; Shakespeare presents his audience with many soliloquies. As a matter of fact, the most famous of words in English literature "To be or not to be" (III, i, 58) is in a soliloquy said by Hamlet. Like all speeches in Shakespearean pieces, Hamlet's soliloquy captures the audience's eyes, ears, and hearts with relation to the economic, social, and political aspects of life. Through the common social tendencies of humans and Body Paragraph 1 Death is all around, whether caused through nature or by another man it will always haunt the world. Many people tremble upon the subject of death and it even haunts many to think of dying, this is why and how Shakespeare found a way to captivate his audience. This is evident when Hamlet says "while, to my shame, I see the imminent death of twenty thousand men, that for a fantasy and trick of fame, Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot whereon the numbers cannot try the cause, which is not tomb enough and continent to hide the slain?" (IV, iv, 59-65). Here Hamlet expresses the great number of people that are being slaughtered in comparison to the one man who he is destined to kill to avenge his father. The audience analyzes this and now understands what it means to take a life. Shakespeare shows...
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...Home > Why Hamlet Delays His Revenge Why Hamlet Delays His Revenge (Excerpt from Quintessence of Dust: The Mystical Meaning of Hamlet) Kenneth Chan ... Hamlet is finally alone, and the stage is set for the soliloquy that gave rise to one of the most persistent mysteries in literature: Why does Hamlet delay his revenge? Hamlet Ay, so, God buy you. Now I am alone. Oh, what a rogue and peasant slave am I! Is it not monstrous that this player here, But in a fiction, in a dream of passion, Could force his soul so to his whole conceit1 That from her working all his visage wanned, Tears in his eyes, distraction in his aspect, A broken voice, and his whole function suiting With forms to his conceit? And all for nothing! For Hecuba! What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, That he should weep for her? What would he do Had he the motive and the cue for passion That I have? He would drown the stage with tears, And cleave the general ear with horrid speech, Make mad the guilty and appal the free,2 Confound the ignorant, and amaze indeed The very faculties of eyes and ears. Yet I, A dull and muddy-mettled3 rascal, peak Like John-a-dreams,4 unpregnant5 of my cause, And can say nothing--no, not for a king, Upon whose property and most dear life A damned defeat was made. Am I a coward? Who calls me a villain, breaks my pate across, Plucks off my beard and blows it in my face, Tweaks me by the nose, gives me the lie i'th'throat As deep as to the lungs? Who does me this? Ha, 'swounds, I should take...
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...Hamlet: Analysis of Act IV Soliloquy Hamlet by William Shakespeare is a tragic play about a young prince named Hamlet and his struggle to avenge the death of his father. Hamlet is outraged when he learns that what appeared to be an accidental death was actually a murder carried out by his uncle. He vows to get revenge on the murderer at all costs. Throughout the play, Hamlet is hesitant about his actions until he sees a group of soldiers preparing to battle over a very small piece of land. At this point Hamlet has a soliloquy; he reflects on his actions and is upset with himself for not fulfilling his plan yet. He decides that it is time to complete what he has started and kill his uncle. This speech directly affects the target audience, the people of the Elizabethan Era. The audience is captured by the use of poetic devices, they can relate to Hamlet and feel his pain, and his speech adds excitement as the audience knows there will be a change of events. Shakespeare uses an abundance of literary devices to enhance his work. In this soliloquy there are multiple examples that draw in the viewer and intensify the meaning of his words. The speech opens with an example of assonance: “How all occasions do inform against me,/ And spur my dull revenge!” (4.4.31-32). The repetition of the “o” sound in the first line and the “u” sound in the second line make the words flow together. This captures the audience’s attention because it makes the phrase easy to listen to. The words are...
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