Hamlet's "rogue and peasant slave" soliloquy is ultimately a man's vocalized frustration towards his unalterable god-given traits.
From Hamlet's very first appearance, we see an introspective man making snarky comments towards himself, the initial evidence that supports the continually reiterated point that Hamlet is reflective and more given to reading/planning than to any sort of action. It is then ironic that, in this soliloquy, Hamlet is by far at his most aggressive thus far--the problem is that his target is himself. The majority of his anger is directed towards himself because he declares himself "pigeon-livered" and "lacks gall," a recognition of his own traits (61). He adds to this frustration by claiming that he "must...unpack [his] heart with words" (61). There is a large emphasis on the word "must" because it implies a lack of control and free will in making decisions.
Hamlet's perceived lack of control over his own mind is indicative of him thinking of himself as two separate people. One person, the inner self, has everything analyzed and chooses the best course of action, but the other, the outer self is obedient to Hamlet's genes and cannot complete these actions. This struggle is indicatory of the play's motif of what exactly constitutes madness. In Hamlet's case, his supposed madness is a supreme self-awareness, a trait that falls somewhere in the grey area of the definition. As some people deem him mad while others do not, there is a discrepancy that is even more confounded by the fact that some of those deeming him mad may be just as mad as well.
Jordan, I really like your claim and how you talk about how Hamlet is almost like two separate people. Your conclusion is really interesting take on who really is mad in the play. I liked your close reading with the word "must" and how you made it significant. I think you could have added a few more observations to back your claim stronger.
ReplyDeleteHi Jordan, I really loved the part about Hamlet thinking of himself as two separate people as well. I think that you could have focused more on this claim within your post and substantiated it with more textual evidence. In the soliloquy, he presents so many dimensions of existence with his diction. He also moves from introspection to superficial acting, which I think would pertain to your lovely point about inner self vs. outer self!
ReplyDeleteI like your point that Hamlet is frustrated with his inability to change himself. I think this ties in with his inability to get rid of his indecisiveness, or to believe the Ghost. Your point about his self-awareness was also really interesting, it's as if he's so busy analyzing himself that he doesn't know who he is.
ReplyDeleteI don't necessarily think that Hamlet's self-centered thoughts completely block his path to action. I think that Hamlet uses his introspection as a means of eventually achieving action. He may spend most of the soliloquy berating himself, but by the end he does have a cohesive plan to call out his Uncle's guilt.
ReplyDeleteI think your take on Hamlet imaging himself as two separate people is interesting, and there are definitely two different perspectives in the soliloquy. But is it possible if the real Hamlet lies somewhere in between - does Hamlet have to be one of the extremes?
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