Friday, July 19, 2019
The Soliloquies of Shakespeares Hamlet - To be or not to be Soliloquy
The ââ¬Å"To be or not to beâ⬠Soliloquy of Hamlet à à à à Does the hero in Shakespeareââ¬â¢s Hamlet deliver a soliloquy that does not fit the dramatic context? Does the soliloquy suggest that suicide is imminent? This essay proposes to answer these and other questions relevant to the ââ¬Å"To be or not to beâ⬠soliloquy. à Lawrence Danson in the essay ââ¬Å"Tragic Alphabetâ⬠discusses the most famous of soliloquies as involving an ââ¬Å"eternal dilemmaâ⬠: à à The problem of timeââ¬â¢s discrediting effects upon human actions and intentions is what makes Hamletââ¬â¢s ââ¬Å"To be, or not to beâ⬠soliloquy eternal dilemma rather than fulfilled dialectic. Faced withà the uncertainty of any action, an uncertainty that extends even to the afterlife, Hamlet, too, finds the ââ¬Å"wick or snuffâ⬠of which Claudius speaks: ââ¬Å"Thus conscienceâ⬠ââ¬â by which Hamlet means, I take it, not only scruples but all thoughts concerning the future ââ¬â à does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied oââ¬â¢er with the pale cast of thought, And enterprises of great pitch and moment, With this regard, their currents turn awry And lose the name of action. ââ¬â (III.i.83). (75) à Considering the context of this most notable soliloquy, the speech appears to be a reaction from the determination which ended the ââ¬Å"rogue and peasant slaveâ⬠soliloquy. In fact, in the Quarto of 1603 the ââ¬Å"To beâ⬠speech comes BEFORE the playersââ¬â¢ scene and the nunnery scene ââ¬â and is thus more logically positioned to show its emotional connection to the previous soliloquy (Nevo 46). Marchette Chute in ââ¬Å"The Story Told in Hamletâ⬠describes just how close the hero is to suicide while reciting his famous soliloquy: à à Hamlet enters, desperate enough b... ... Levin, Harry. ââ¬Å"An Explication of the Playerââ¬â¢s Speech.â⬠Modern Critical Interpretations: Hamlet. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. Rpt. from The Question of Hamlet. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1959. à Nevo, Ruth. ââ¬Å"Acts III and IV: Problems of Text and Staging.â⬠Modern Critical Interpretations: Hamlet. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. Rpt. from Tragic Form in Shakespeare. N.p.: Princeton University Press, 1972. à Rosenberg, Marvin. ââ¬Å"Laertes: An Impulsive but Earnest Young Aristocrat.â⬠Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. from The Masks of Hamlet. Newark, NJ: Univ. of Delaware P., 1992. à Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html
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