Fahse 1

Tori Fahse
Mrs. Bernhard
English 221
2 October 2014
Hamlets Character Revealed
The story, Hamlet, is a revenge tragedy that takes place in the Kingdom of Denmark.
Prince Hamlets father, King Hamlet, is killed by his own brother, Claudius, who subsequently
marries Queen Gertrude, King Hamlets wife. Prince Hamlet is outraged by Claudiuss deed and
seeks revenge on behalf of his fathers unjustifiable murder. It is said that Hamlet has gone mad,
but no one knows Hamlets true character. His character is revealed in his seven soliloquies,
when he expresses his thoughts aloud while he is alone. Hamlets seven soliloquies reveal his
character to be angry, disgusted, sad, grieving, curious, self-hated, fearful, self-controlled, and
passionate.
The first soliloquy happens in Act One, Scene two after the King and Queen announce
their marriage. This makes Hamlet even sadder due to the fact that he has not even had time to
grieve about his fathers death. They believe that he has become mad due to his fathers death,
and because he tends to speak aloud to himself. Hamlets internal debate has become a very
literal public dispute (Pollack-Pelzner, 407). In this soliloquy, he talks about how he wishes he
could commit suicide, but the Lord made it a sin to do so. Another feature of Hamlets use of
language is his tendency to repeat himself. This tendency is particularly evident in his first
soliloquy (O that this too too solid flesh would melt; 1.2.129-50), where the circularity of
his thought tends to reveal an obsessive and highly emotional quality (Pearce and Duffy, 1). He
talks about how his mother is weak and quick to jump into a bed of incest, and how he cannot

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express his feelings aloud, so his heart must break in silence. During this time, Hamlet has a lot
of anger built up, disgust, sorrow, and grief.
In Act One, Scene two, the ghost of Hamlets father tells Hamlet that Claudius poured
poison into his ear while he was asleep in his garden. The ghost tells Hamlet that he must seek
revenge upon the murderer of his father. Hamlet agrees to remember and obey the ghosts
wishes. He carries grief still especially after seeing the ghost of his deceased father, and rage
after knowing his new step father was the cause of his fathers death.
Hamlet shares his inner feelings during his third soliloquy, and scolds himself for not
following through with his plan to seek revenge for his fathers death. He wants to know the
truth whether Claudius is the culprit or not, so he decides to write a play that resembles the scene
of his fathers murder. He would then observe Claudiuss reactions to the play to see if his guilt
will eat him alive. This reveals his anger, self-hatred, and curiosity.
Irving convinced himself that the To be passage gave him access to Hamlets sublime
and noble contemplations (Hirsch, 24). The Prince begins to toy with the idea of suicide again,
and thinks of two alternatives to the situation. He can suffer silently the torture of fate or put up a
fight against the hardships of his life. He believes that death may end all the troubles and
problems he has, but wonders about his afterlife. Would he have more issues than before? Would
this prove to be a reflection of all the crimes he has done? His more rational thinking is usually
phrased in the form of a question (Pearce and Duffy, 1). Since no one has returned from their
afterlife to share information of what it is, he wonders if one does not get to sleep and is restless
for eternity. This is one thing that puts his plan on hold, the unknown consequences of his
afterlife. In the To be or not to be soliloquy, Hamlets thought becomes even more reflective
and philosophical (Pearce and Duffy, 2). He thinks that after he kills Claudius, he will be killed

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shortly after. He fears death due to the fact that he fears the negative consequences that may be in
store for him in his afterlife. The idea of the future is very strong in the histories (Maclean,
277). This reveals his fear.
The fifth soliloquy takes place on Hamlets way to talk to his mother, Gertrude. He
politely asks to be left alone in order to practice what he is going to say to her. It is his goal to be
harsh, but to not harm her. In his words, speak with daggers to her, but use none. The domain
of love also requires knowledge and action (Maclean 279). He wishes to not lose control of
himself, but to make sure he gets his point across and make her feel like she did do something
wrong. This reveals his anger, but also self-control. In the soliloquies themselves, Hamlet is
essentially involved in thought rather than action (Pearce and Duffy 1).
At the play, Claudius flees the scene and does not return. Hamlet finally gets his answer,
that Claudius did indeed kill his father and is guilty for doing so. Now, Hamlet can seek his
revenge. While Claudius is praying to the Heavens and asking for forgiveness, Hamlet realizes
he must put his sword away, and reschedule his murder. If he were to kill Claudius now, he
would be sent straight to heaven which is not revenge at all. He must do it at a time where
Claudius is not cleansed of his sins like when he is raging, drunk, or asleep. It is unfair that his
father is living with the penalties of his crimes and sins, so Claudius will have to do the same.
This reveals his passion for getting even. Hamlet himself emphasizes the need to control
passion on many occasions in the play (Pearce and Duffy, 3).
The last soliloquy spoken by Hamlet takes place on his way to England where he sees
Fortinbras. Fortinbras is leading an army through Denmark to capture a piece of land that is said
to be worth nothing, but the name. This makes Hamlet even angrier with himself because men
are willing to put up a fight and die for something that is worth nothing. But himself, has a

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reasonable motive for revenge for his fathers death, and will not do it. A person who believes
in a deterministic cosmic order and suffers from melancholy is unlikely to take fate into his
own hands or to violate that cosmic order by deceiving his father and brother (Hirsch 8).
Hamlet believes that every man has a purpose they should fulfill, and should seize any
opportunity to defend his sense of honor. Arresting analogies include the adoption by each
figure of a disguise of sorts to gain time, acquire knowledge, and so at last act to some purpose;
the obsessive concern of both with honor (Maclean 273 and 274). He keeps urging himself to
put his plan into effect, but his consequences seem to get in the way again. In his final soliloquy,
Hamlet is once again in a highly rational, reflective mode. He is no longer circular or repetitive
in his thinking and one notices his ability to pursue thought in a linear sequence, reaching a
conclusion (Pearce and Duffy, 2). This reveals more anger and self-hatred.
In conclusion, it is revealed that Hamlet is more into thinking about what he wants to do,
than actually doing it. He wishes to fulfill his fathers requests of revenge, but his fear overrules
his doings. Hamlet is full of anger, sorrow, self-hatred, rage, passion, disgust, curiosity, selfcontrol, and fear after all the tragic events that have happened in his life. We get to know the true
Hamlet during his seven soliloquies where he speaks his private thoughts aloud. These
soliloquies answer the question whether Hamlet is truly mad, or not.

Work Cited

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Pollack-Pelzner, Daniel. Shakespeare Burlesque An The Performing Self. Victorian Studies

54.3

(2012): 401-409. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 Oct. 2014.

PEARCE, BRIAN, and KEVIN DUFFY. Hamlet: Rational And Emotional Units Of Meaning In
Four Soliloquies. Shakespeare In Southern Africa 22.(2010): 21-28. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 1 Oct. 2014.

Hirsh, James. "Shakespeare And The History Of Soliloquies." Modern Language Quarterly 58.1
(1997): 1. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 Oct. 2014.

Maclean, Hugh. Looking Before And After: Hal And Hamlet Once More. Papers On
Language

& Literature 23.3 (1987):273. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1. Oct. 2014.