Blog #6: Hamlet Close Reading

Hamlet’s first soliloquy is by no means a happy one, and is in a sense suicidal.  He is extremely depressed, weighed down by the death of his father and rapid marriage of his mother.  He is conflicted, which can be seen by his use of juxtaposition between the divine and the earthly.  To Hamlet, his father was to his uncle Claudius like a “Hyperion to a satyr” (140), comparing his father to the divine sun god and his uncle to an earthly half human-half beast.    This contrast can be seen again when Hamlet says, “my father’s brother, but no more like my father / than I to Hercules” (152-153).  Simply stated, Claudius is to Hamlet’s father as Hamlet is to Hercules. His father is comparable to the gods, while Claudius is comparable to Hamlet.  The fact that Hamlet chose the repulsive, inferior creature to be himself shows his dissatisfaction with not only his uncle but with himself, which explains why he wishes his “sullied flesh would melt … or that the Everlasting had not fixed / his canon ‘gainst self-slaughter” (129, 131-132).  The self-hate is very evident in these lines, as Hamlet yearns for his body to melt and for suicide (“self-slaughter”) to not be considered a sin. His obvious contempt for both himself and his uncle is apparent in both of these metaphors, along with the great respect he holds for his deceased father. 

However, this contempt and respect greatly contributes to Hamlet’s disgust towards his mother.  Similar to Claudius, Hamlet’s mother is compared to a mortal being, a prideful woman named Niobe.  However, Hamlet goes even further and claims, “O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason /  Would have mourned longer” (150-151).  His mother is demoted prideful woman to a beast, the most repulsive representation of the earthly, due to her rushed marriage to Claudius.

Finally, I think Hamlet is experiencing some sort of identity crisis.  I don’t think it was a coincidence that he compared his father to Hyperion, god of the sun.  This reference brought me back to lines 64 and 67, as I noticed a play on word with sun/son.  Hamlet, much to his disgust, is now considered Claudius’ “son”.  As Claudius says in line 64, “But now, my cousin Hamlet, and my son.” (64) Hamlet is both a cousin and a son who is “too much in the sun” (67), or in other words, the focus of the new king’s unwanted attention.  But when brought up in regards to his true father, Hamlet refers to the sun in a much more positive light.  Hyperion is the god of the sun, and Hamlet’s father is a god to his son.  Hamlet’s use of pun and juxtaposition only further exhibits his obvious love and respect for his father, as well as his feelings of hopelessness as a son.