Blog Response #7: Hamlet's Soliloquy II.ii.

Nothing is real. Hamlet’s soliloquy in II.ii. demonstrates the lack of concreteness in the play, the major issue that grips its characters, and our own lives. The main contentions of the soliloquy that capture this are Hamlet’s acknowledgement of his emotional shortcomings, the lack of credibility the ghost possesses as a messenger of the truth, and the cyclic idea of plays, acting, and reality. 

Hamlet begins this soliloquy just as he did in I.i.: with self-loathing and self pity. He proclaims that he is “a rogue and peasant slave” (II.ii.488), and compares himself to the skilled actor (player) before him. He is upset by the player’s flair for portraying his character’s emotion, even for a character that is wholly unassociated with him. Hamlet wonders aloud “[w]hat’s Hecuba to him, or he to her,” (II.ii.497), and laments that the player would be better at portraying sadness over the death of his own father. He wonders aloud what the player would do: “What would he do / Had he the motive and the cue for passion / That I have” (II.ii.498-500)? This thought is interesting since it directly contradicts the scorn he reacted with when Claudius and Gertrude suggested the young prince may have been laying it on a bit thick.

When his mother asked why his gloom for the past two months seemed like an occurrence that was unique to him, he responded with “[s]eems, madam? Nay, it is. I know not ‘seems” (I.ii.77), and finished his short speech by explaining, “[t]hese indeed seem, / For they are actions that a man might play, / But I have that within which passes show” (I.ii.83-85). Such strength in his convictions would be convincing to not only Gertrude, but the audience as well, leading both to trust Hamlet due to his rhetoric.Yet in II.ii. he reveals the truth—or some of it—that he feels less than an actor who would portray his life as a scene in a play. 

This moment of the soliloquy questions reality in general. Hamlet was posed in the beginning of the play as a somewhat credible, although distraught, character. When we realize that even he is not credible, and what we learn from every character is questionable and may not be the reality of the situation. It complicates the reality of the play, the play within a play, and our own lives.

While Hamlet’s emotional state is curious and lends itself to a great deal of the interrogative mood of the play, the ghost plays an important part in the soliloquy as well. Until this point in the play the credibility of the ghost, no matter how questionable, has not been considered. The command it gave for revenge, and story it told of King Hamlet’s murder was taken as true. In his soliloquy, however, Hamlet claims that he has been, “[p]rompted to ... [his] revenge by heaven and hell” (II.ii.523). This line examines a crucial dichotomy that was mentioned in I.v., the fact that the ghost represents both good and evil.

Posed as a messenger of the truth King Hamlet’s ghost—if he is the kind man Hamlet remembers—would hypothetically be a kindred spirit. Instead he is caught in purgatory for “the foul crimes done in [his].. days of nature” (I.v.10). Now Hamlet outrightly questions if this being descends from otherworldliness for good or bad purposes. Even if what the ghost speaks is true, and even that is questionable, there is a strange reality-bending contrast when the truth comes from such an ostensibly evil prophet.

Beyond this contradiction, there is the continuation of the inactive motif in the play. As he is devising the scheme for determining Claudius’ guilt he states, “I have heard that guilty creatures sitting at a play / ... / ... have proclaimed their malefactions” (II.ii.528-531). Although the scheme here is not a terrible idea, it detracts from the reality of the situation in the way Hamlet is to assess Claudius’ guilt and carryout the plan. He has decided that he will observe the king and search his face for guilt during the play. This is an extremely unreliable plan which depends completely on the capricious and ever-changing emotions of a person. Furthermore, Hamlet’s basis for utilizing this plan is that he has heard it will be effective. This vicarious recommendation again begs the reality of what he easily accepts as true. 

Clearly the obtainment of the truth and acceptance of reality is posed as unattainable. The entire play is about a man being assigned a task by a ghost, and attempting to create reality for that task, and the subsequent events surrounding it, for himself.