Hamlet' First Soliloquy Hamlet's First Essay

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"So excellent a king, that was to this Hyperion to a satyr" (Shakespeare, William) is a Shakespearian juxtaposition used to compare Old Hamlet with Claudius. Hamlet alludes to Hyperion, the God of Light who represents not only honor and virtue, but also nobility, which are all traits Hamlet saw in his own father. The half-human, half-beast satyr creature represents hedonism and excess, similar to the way Hamlet regards Claudius. Finally he compares the two men as Hercules to himself, a mortal man. He truly believes that Claudius does not represent his mother's best intentions and that he could never live up to his father's image and character.

To Hamlet, Claudius represents the fall of his mother. He says, "She married. O, most wicked speed, to post with such dexterity to incestuous sheets!" (Shakespeare, William) He sees Claudius as an impure tempter, and believes that his mother lost her purity in his incestuous sheets. Claudius is Hamlet's uncle, but it is not out of the question to wonder if Hamlet's protective nature is somehow driven by some sort of oedipal desire for his own mother (Lacan, Jacques; Miller, Alain; and Hulbert, James, 11), no matter how non-sexual in nature that desire may be. In Hamlet's time, the church frowned upon incest, yet in the royal circles, it was common for one family member to marry another in order to keep the throne and chain of command in the family blood line. Even so, Hamlet is disgusted by his mother's marriage to his father's brother, and anguishes at the haste with which the marriage is conducted.

The soliloquy is extremely important to the plot of the play, and gives the audience a look inside Hamlet's mind. It shows the contempt that he holds for Claudius and his mother's relationship, and the high esteem and respect that he holds for his father, even in death.

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There are a multitude of literary elements at work in this soliloquy, and the serious undertone and personal nature of Hamlet's words reveal the inner turmoil that plagues the price throughout the play. Shakespeare uses juxtaposition and dark, rank imagery to accomplish comparisons that can only make sense through the angered and mourning eyes of Hamlet himself. Hamlet's words also lend insight into his actions later on in the play, and create a foundation of understanding that the audience has as Hamlet's world begins to turn upside down culminating in the deaths of many of his beloved friends and relatives.

Hamlet's own depression and anger has gotten the best of him, even in these early stages of the play. Remembering this, the audience can see the haste and disregard that Hamlet has in some of his own later actions. The marriage of Claudius to his own mother acts as a major motivator for Hamlet and begins to really eat away at him, acting as a catalyst to his own potential insanity. Later in the play Hamlet starts to see his father's ghost, leaving the audience to wonder if he is truly insane or if he is being visited by his late father. This soliloquy sets the stage for later confrontations with and hatred of Claudius. Through this marriage, Hamlet has lost interest in the things that once gave him joy and pleasure but knows that God forbids him to commit suicide, so he must remain on Earth and witness his mother's marriage.

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