Hamlet's words

"O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt
Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!
Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd
His canon 'gainst self slaughter! O God, God,
How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable,
Seem to me all the uses of this world!
Fie on't! ah fie! 'tis an unweeded garden,
That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature
Possesses it merely. That it should come to this!
But two months dead: nay, not so much, not two.
So excellent a king; that was, to this,
Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother
That he might not beteem the winds of heaven
Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth!
Must I remember? why, she would hang on him
As if increase of appetite had grown

By what it fed on: and yet, within a month --
Let me not think on't -- Frailty, thy name is woman! --
A little month, or ere those shoes were old
With which she follow'd my poor father's body,
Like Niobe, all tears: -- why she, even she --
O, God! a beast that wants discourse of reason
Would have mourn'd longer--married with my uncle,
My father's brother, but no more like my father
Than I to Hercules. Within a month,
Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears
Had left the flushing in her galled eyes,
She married. O, most wicked speed, to post
With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!
It is not nor it cannot come to good.
But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue."

In this soliloquy Hamlet expresses first his desire to die, but he realizes that suicide is a sin and he does not want to be damned to hell. He sees the world as a terrible place, looking at every situation with a depressing and pessimistic view. He asks how his mother went from a 'sun god' (his father) to a 'goat' (his uncle). He says that his father loved her so much and wouldn't ever harm her. He thinks that his mother moved on so quickly, as if she grieved for a matter of seconds before she snapped out of it. He compares the situation to an animals, saying that the animal would have grieved longer. The last few lines he touches on the fact that he thinks his mother and uncle's marriage is filthy and incestuous, filled with promiscuity.

EC: Believing in Death

Death is a universal experience in human life and one of the least talked about. People tip toe around the topic avoiding it at all cost. In class many of us were watching what we said, trying not to offend any of our classmates. Its an unspoken rule. Although we all know its coming, talking about it is unacceptable. I have never lost a parent and can't imagine what its like, something I am grateful for.

As a young child, I was a little more curious then most about death. This curiosity continues today. I find the thoughts and practices of people regarding death fascinating. My grandmother died when I was in 5th grade following a long fight with breast cancer and various other serious illnesses. By the end she was a shell of her former self, nothing like the strong woman who was a role model as I grew up. A little piece of me was thrilled to hear that she had passed away because she was suffering so much in life. I was eleven years old and as the oldest grandchild by several years had the most memories of her when she was healthy. She was never buried, her ashes are sitting in a wooden box in my uncle's house. Also in the box is a postcard of a place she always wanted to go. My uncle stuck it in there a few years ago because he felt she would have wanted to see it. At the time of her death I was upset at the idea that she wouldn't be buried. I wanted a place to go and visit her, something that is very important to many people. Over the years though I realized I didn't need one. I have the memories of her life. For the next several years, I clung to the idea of an after life. Looking back this probably stemmed from a desire to see her again. Since then I have lost this notation.

I feel that the desire for an afterlife goes hand and hand with a desire to see a loved one again. I had several amazing years and a few shitty ones with my grandmother. I'm lucky some people get much less. My brother only had 7 years and most of them she was sick or he was too young and my sister was only 6 months old and remembers nothing. She doesn't know the joy she brought my grandmother in the last few months of her life. For some people I can understand their desire for an afterlife their time with a loved one was cut way to short, but other times I worry it is an insurance policy. A safety in case you didn't spend enough time with your loved ones in life. If someone, or their family member, is given a fatal diagnosis they almost always change their lifestyle. However most people don't get a heads up. For me, the need for an afterlife, exhibits a problem with the way we live our lives.

I worry about death and losing loved ones just as much as the next person but I'm not afraid of it. The idea of one's existence ending and becoming nothing but dirt is upsetting to some but comforting to me. I appreciate that similarity of the human existence, as well as its universality across cultures. For years I have explained to my family, friends and loved ones, what I want after death and I have asked them. Probably my only fear about death is the possibility of coming back to life. (Zombies and the idea of being a zombie scares me way more than is really necessary.) Often I have to remind myself that this isn't something we talk about, at least not until after it happens.

EC: Death

To many, death is sad and something that is fearful. How we all see and experience death changes in ourselves in our own life, and to many different people. Death to me is life. To die is to be reborn in what we have always been. Everything that is me has existed on this planet since it was devoid of life, and that thought is extraordinary. Everything I am came from the universe in itself. I was not created, but merely assembled into a being, with thought, reason, experiences and an impact on what is around me. I am atoms, elements, I am what made so many things before me and so many after. Someday I will again join this cycle, in another form. I am not afraid of dying, because I will never truly die. What made me will continue, change, and become what is something else. I do not find death sad, because we all die. The person who has died is devoid of reason, feeling, and sensation. What they are and were will keep changing, and hold in nothing but my memories in the ones left behind, only until they join the cycle of living and death.

EC: Death Has Lost Its Sting

      Death is a very morbid topic that we tend to avoid in American culture/society. As we have discussed in class, our culture in particular avoids conversation of death at any cost. To us, death is an ending - it is a sad time in one's life when he/she loses someone that they love. Funerals are held as solemn reminders of what once was rather than what could be, and we dress ourselves in black to commemorate this time of depression and deep sorrow and loss. When one dies, we apologize, we grieve with our fellow humans, we mourn; we, more often than not, curse the powers that be or whatever higher power we may believe in - we curse them for giving our loved one illness, or causing the event of their death to take place. Sometimes we even wish that we died in he/she's place. We are a culture that avoids talking about this. We hate the concept of pain because it reminds us of our human weakness and lack of control in different aspects of our lives. Death, to us, is despicable and horrid, no matter the circumstance. 
     Other cultures have a very different view of death. In some cultures, death is a celebration of life well-lived. It is a time to honor one's achievements and the impact that they had on the world. It is also a time for hope - hope that this earthly life is not the end and that there is more to come afterwards. There is definitely a sense of grief, pain, and sorrow despite this, though. In small villages, when a village member loses a loved one, the whole village grieves. There is a sense of community amidst the solemnity of death. There are also ceremonies and rituals that are performed to honor the dead and send them on their way to the afterlife, or whatever they may believe occurs after death. Death is something that is pondered and explored, rather than pushed aside. 
     I am Christian and my opinion on death is solely focused on what I believe has been done for me by Jesus Christ. Due to his death on the cross and the gift of grace and love that he bestowed upon everyone, I believe that we no longer have to worry about death. Yes, we may leave our earthly bodies and the pleasure of this world, but I believe that there is something much more appealing in what comes after. The concept of "heaven" - where all those who have received Jesus go, is a comforting thing for those who believe in it. We do not fear death as we did before, but rather have this hope that we will be much better off after our souls are freed from the entrapment of this world. But, does this mean that death is complete joy? No, rather it is a constant reminder of the sin and evil that is in this world. It shows how weak and frail this life is and how incredibly fleeting our lives are. I still view death as horrible and have had my fair share of experiences with it, and can say that despite my belief in an afterlife, I am not solely confident in joy. 
    Overall, death has varying connotations depending on one's beliefs and culture. It is interesting to see how each person views it and how what it may be to one person, is not so for another. I am sure that my belief in God and heaven will not be shared by a majority of people, but I know that most people want to believe that this life is not it, that there is something more after. I think there is a comfort in believing that the pain of this world will ebb away and will no longer hold us captive. 

EC: Avoided Beauty & Enlisted Essence

When it comes to the idea of death, there are many emotions stirred up with each individual... and with those emotions come different thoughts or ideas on the said topic. The different emotions can range from sorrow, in thinking of a loved one who was lost (due to various causes - war, age, disease) to relief, in thinking of how vulgar one's own personal world is and how awful life is for them, and how it wouldn't matter if they died today, tomorrow, or such (suicidal thinking).

We were asked, as a class, at the beginning of the year to write about our ideas on death, in the form of what first comes to mind, after thinking about each of the topics given. In saying this, most of what I'll say will be based off of that packet, as those are sincerely, my first thoughts on death and the basis belief of my beliefs on it. Most of my beliefs are grounded in my faith. Yet, some also just stem off of my mere human intuition and thought processing as an individual living and experiencing the wonderful world around me.

It's been noted in class, and I mentioned it as well in the packet, that death is typically almost always a topic of avoidance. I hinted to it above, but I'll say it again, but more in-depth. Death is the cause of heartbreak, pain, depression, grief, and even death itself. It takes, often-or-not, people or animals who were (and still are, or so I hope) dear to us, as well as loved, away. Often, into some said dimension or some unsaid dimension (however, there could just be the idea that he or she died, and that's that... his or her body will decompose and return back into the said "Circle of Life" in a biological sense).

I'm going to say in bluntly, though, that death is beautiful. Now, don't get me wrong, if someone takes his or her own life or someone else take's another's (in any form -- capital punishment, revenge) that is not beautiful. But the concept of it is. Even though someone or some animal may be lost forever, there are memories. Memories are powerful -- more powerful than one would often think, or so I think. It indicates that the time span set for each individual's life is over and that it's time to move on, in search of release from the current life he or she may live, no matter how plentiful or dreary it might have been. It gives way to a realm of new, of new beginnings and of new hope.

This leads into my thoughts on afterlife, which I briefly mentioned in my First Thoughts script. I believe in God. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. I therefore, also believe in Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection, and Heaven. I believe that when someone dies, if of a Christian faith (believing in Jesus), that he or she will ascend to Heaven. I believe that Heaven is the dwelling place of God, my wonderful, ever-lasting Father, as well as Christ and the Holy Spirit (the Trinity). I believe it is a place of wondrous entities, with praises, peace, and an unknowing (and unimaginable sense! of) love all around, and all those living in Christ dwell. See, there are no other requirements to get into this amazing palace, this temple, except to believe and accept Christ as your Savior. Whatever your actions are/were on earth -- they don't matter. They are covered by Christ's blood, which he shed on the cross, paying a debt we couldn't pay but through death, itself. As of now, I'm not even quite sure what happens to unbelievers until, what I believe in, will be the revelation, Tribulation, a time when judgment occurs, and the return of Christ - in the end with God making a new heaven and a new earth.

This is the enlisted essence.

Hamlet's Soliloquy: "To be or not to be"

"To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, ’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there’s the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover’d country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.–Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remembered."

This soliloquy starts out with Hamlet contemplating whether to exist or not, and if he should choose death or suicide.  Throughout this soliloquy, he debates internally on the pros and cons of his existence.  He asks himself what is the right thing to do: to live miserably or to ultimately end his life.  He also relates death to sleep, and what may come from this sleep. He wonders what happens in the "afterlife" and questions if his pain will carry over to the afterlife, which makes him continue questioning death.  Towards the end, Hamlet still is contemplating death and naming the advantages and disadvantages of it.  But, in the end, he realizes that people choose life over death because of the unknown, as no one can truly know what happens in the afterlife.  

Suffering: A Central Theme

Suffering is a central theme in both Job and Gilgamesh.  In the Book of Job, Job suffers by losing everything important to him, yet still remaining faithful to God.  He suffered by losing his health, such as having open sores and boils all over his body.  He lost all of his wealth in one day.  He lost his sons and his daughters.  His wife isn't on his side.  He eventually loses his faith in God and resents him, wondering why God is causing him to suffer.  The idea that "the righteous suffer" is shown through Job.  The reason why Job started to resent God and blame him for his own suffering is because he did not believe or have faith in himself.

In Gilgamesh, suffering occurs in many situations.  Both Gilgamesh and Enkidu have to suffer the wrath of the Gods.  Enkidu suffers for days and has to endure a long, painful death.  Gilgamesh suffers by losing Enkidu, his best friend, in the end.  He also suffers by battling with his own morality after witnessing the death of someone very close to him.  Lastly, Gilgamesh suffers internally, as he struggles with finding himself and his inner journey.

Hamlet Solioquies

Now might I do it pat. Now he is a-praying. And now I’ll do ’t. And so he goes to heaven. And so am I revenged.—That would be scanned. A villain kills my father, and, for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send To heaven. Oh, this is hire and salary, not revenge. He took my father grossly, full of bread, With all his crimes broad blown, as flush as May. And how his audit stands who knows save heaven? But in our circumstance and course of thought 'Tis heavy with him. And am I then revenged To take him in the purging of his soul When he is fit and seasoned for his passage? No. Up, sword, and know thou a more horrid hent. When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage, Or in th' incestuous pleasure of his bed, At game a-swearing, or about some act That has no relish of salvation in ’t— Then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven, And that his soul may be as damned and black As hell, whereto it goes. My mother stays This physic but prolongs thy sickly days.

Hamlet realizes that by killing Claudius in prayer, he would go to heaven instead of hell where he belongs. Hamlet then remembers that by sending Claudius to heaven, he would be a bad son and not uphold the honor of his fathers own murder. By saying it is "hire and salary" he is saying that if Claudius goes to heaven, he will be paid for taking his father "grossly". With contemplation, Hamlet decides to kill Claudius in a wicked act, where Claudius's sins will be exposed before death. The best times Hamlet decides will be when Claudius is drunk, angry, or enjoying his "incestuous pleasure of his bed". This is a connection to the fact that his mother now sleeps with her dead husbands brother, and Hamlet's struggle with this fact. 

I believe Hamlet thinks he is trying to revenge his father's death, but the entire play gives a feeling that Hamlet is beginning to go mad with grief. At this point its been 4 months since his father has died. Not one person grieves the same way, but Hamlet has taken grief to the next level of revenge. I still have mixed feelings on weather he is justified in his actions or not, I will see as we continue with this play. 

Hamlet Monologue: Dust

I have of late,—but wherefore I know not,—lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercises; and indeed, it goes so heavily with my disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory; this most excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave o’erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire,—why, it appears no other thing to me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours. What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason! how infinite in faculties! in form and moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension, how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?

Here, Hamlet speaks to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern about the melancholy that has deeply affected him since the death of his father. He pretty much goes off on a seemingly irrelevant tangent where he speaks of Earth and humanity in general in an extremely glorified and verbose manner only to to label it a “quintessence of dust”. He dismisses the air, Earth, and Sun by calling them nothing but “a foul and pestilent congregation of vapors”. He then builds up humanity in general by noting human beings’ reason is noble, their faculties are infinite, their forms and movements are fast and admirable, their actions are angelic, and their understanding of things can be godlike. But in Hamlet’s eyes, humanity is nothing more than mere dust. This entire monologue demonstrates how Hamlet is obsessed with the physical aspects of death, and how he thinks that humans are more admirable in thought than in reality.

The beloved dead, the disgraceful living (second attempt)

Act 1. Scene II:

O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt,
Thaw and resolve itself into a dew,
Or that the Everlasting had not fixed
His canon 'gainst (self-slaughter!) O God, God,
How (weary,) stale, flat, and unprofitable
Seem to me all the uses of this world!
Fie on 't, ah fie! 'Tis an unweeded garden
That grows to seed. Things rank and gross in nature
Possess it merely. That it should come (to this:)
But two months dead--nay, not so much, not two.
So excellent a king, that was to this
Hyperion to a satyr; so loving my mother
That he might not beteem the winds of heaven
Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth,
Must I remember? Why, she (would) hand on him
As if an increase of appetite had grown
By what it fed on. And yet, within a month
(Let me not think on 't; frailty, thy name is woman!)
A little month or ere those shoes were old
With which she followed my poor father's body,
Like Niobe, all tears--why she, (even she)
(O God, a beat that wants discourse of reason
Would have mourned longer!), married with my uncle,
My father's brother, but no more like my father
Than I to Hercules. Within a month,
Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears
Had left the flushing of her galled eyes,
She married. O, most wicked speed, to post
With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!
It is not, nor it cannot come to good.
But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue.

The misery Hamlet seems to be indulging himself in seems to be a very human response. As an individual, the people that he believes should be in mourning or supporting him are instead going off to carouse and indulge themselves, and so he feels as if he as if has no one to turn to. In addition, he is a male, and as such is not encouraged to express emotion, but rather withhold it so as to not bother others. Earlier, Hamlet's uncle had called him "unmanly", and I believe Hamlet receives this critique as being told to remain silent and not speak his mind. His gender, social position, and social environment all seem to be contributing to his depression.

That he considers the world so foul is another sign that he has no one to confide in. In my experience, the most pessimistic individuals are those who do not have a safe haven, and in Hamlet's world of espionage and treachery, there is no such thing as a safe haven. The pressures of Hamlet's life, though he is said to be in his thirties, seem to be reflective of teen angst, as there are many issues that are addressed by Hamlet that have counterparts in such. Hamlet's view of the world is so limited, narrow-minded, and self-centered that he cannot step back and accept the factual occurrences of the world.

He raises his father up on a pedestal, and makes a martyr of him. He seems to consider himself the only one that feels pain, and since no others seem to be experiencing it, he feels as though he must compensate to show his father how much he was loved in life, and how much he is missed in death. The flip side of the matter is that he condemns his mother and uncle for marrying soon after. Hamlet, of course, does not dare speak his mind on such matters, however neither does he seem to question the reasons for such hasty marriage. His naivete speaks of youth and self-importance.

Suffering in Gilgamesh & Job

In Gilgamesh suffering comes to the ones who abuse power. Both Gilgamesh and Enkidu have no mercy on others around them. Once killing Humbaba unjustly, they disrespect him even more, by taking his head on the raft. As punishment, Enkidu is forced into suffering until he dies. Just as the many have suffered with his carelessness for others.

In Job suffering comes to him to test his loyalty. God sees how much Job owns, and tests the loyalty he will uphold to God by taking away everything he has. Job suffers very much, but only to show that  God is more powerful, and staying true to God through suffering will always pay.

Both Job and Gilgamesh undergo suffering because they are in power. In Gilgamesh Enkidu suffers death because he abused the power he had, and made others suffer also. In Job, although devote, had an incredible amount of material things he owned. Both in Job and Gilgamesh the ones suffering were in high points of power, and had to learn what it is like to lose it all. 

Hamlet Soliloquoy

Spoken in Act 1, Scene 2

O, that this too too solid flesh would melt
Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!
Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d
His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! O God! God!
How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable,
Seem to me all the uses of this world!
Fie on’t! ah fie! ’tis an unweeded garden,
That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature
Possess it merely. That it should come to this!
But two months dead: nay, not so much, not two:
So excellent a king; that was, to this,
Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother
That he might not beteem the winds of heaven
Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth!
Must I remember? why, she would hang on him,
As if increase of appetite had grown
By what it fed on: and yet, within a month–
Let me not think on’t–Frailty, thy name is woman!–
A little month, or ere those shoes were old
With which she follow’d my poor father’s body,
Like Niobe, all tears:–why she, even she–
O, God! a beast, that wants discourse of reason,
Would have mourn’d longer–married with my uncle,
My father’s brother, but no more like my father
Than I to Hercules: within a month:
Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears
Had left the flushing in her galled eyes,
She married. O, most wicked speed, to post
With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!
It is not nor it cannot come to good:
But break, my heart; for I must hold my tongue.

In this soliloquy, Hamlet laments the loss of his father, and the rapid remarriage of his mother. It is also in this soliloquy where we first see Hamlet discuss the prospect of suicide, although ultimately abandoning the idea due to divine condemnation. Hamlet seems to lose interest in the world, and blames his mother for many of his problems. This soliloquy also serves as the beginning of Hamlet's descent into states of madness and misogyny. Hamlet transfers each of his problems with what he terms as his mother's incestuous relationship to all women, leading to the quote "Frailty, thy name is woman!" Later, these problems are transferred to Ophelia, to her distress.

In addition to the burgeoning misogyny portrayed in the passage, Hamlet begins to lose his grip on sanity. While he briefly considers suicide here, the topic becomes increasingly prevalent later on in the play. Although Hamlet may be more sane than he lets on, it is clear through passages like this that Hamlets views and sanity have been altered by these two events.

Hamlet in the beginning

O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt,
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew, 
Or that the Everlasting had not fixed
His canon 'gainst [self-slaughter!] O God, God,
How [weary,] stale, flat, and unprofitable 
Seem to me all the uses of this world! 
Fie on 't, ah fie! 'Tis an unweeded garden 
That grows to seed. Things rank and gross in nature
Possess it merely. That it should come [to this:]
But two months dead---nay, not so much, not two. 
So excellent a king, that was to my mother 
That he might not beteem the winds of heaven
Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth, 
Must I remember? Why, she [would] hang on him 
As if increase of appetite had grown 
by what it fed on. And yet, within a month
(Let me not think on 't; frailty, thy name is women!),
A little month, or ere those shoes were old 
With which she followed my poor father's body,
Like Niobe, all tears---why she, [even she]
[O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason 
Would have mourned longer!], married with my uncle, 
My father's brother, but no more like my father 
Than I to Hercules. Within a month,
Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears
Had left the flushing  in her galled eyes,
She married. O, most wicked speed, to post
With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!
It is not, nor it cannot come to good. 
But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue. 

In this soliloquy Hamlet is discussing his distaste for his mother's actions. After his father's death Hamlet's mother remarries. This time marrying the late king's brother. Hamlet is far from pleased by this action, finding fault with his mother's lack of mourning.

Sullied in the first line means stained and defiled. Hamlet is referring to his distaste with his one body and his will to stop living. He wants to "thaw, and resolve itself into a dew". He is so upset that all he wants to do is disappear into the dew. In the next couple lines suicide is mentioned, or more specifically the law against suicide, Hamlet is contemplating suicide this early in the play. He is in such a state of despair that he wants to be rid of his earthly body. The word choice of 'unprofitable' is especially intriguing as it gives a glimpse of just how useless he feels. The next part includes a garden reference. Gardens have a special meaning in this case the destruction or decline of the garden represents the way hamlet feels about his life and what has happened to him. Next he discussed how he never imagined that this is what would happen after his father died. It has only been two months and his mother is already remarrying. Hamlet mentions how amazing his father was and how in love he thought they were. He uses food and hunger to describe his mother's love of his father. The use of food is typical in that the need for food is often compared to the want for love. He is then amazed by how quickly his mother moves on. He makes a comment about the frailty of women. This feeling towards women is echoed through the play. Hamlet's distrust of women seems to stem from his mother's actions. He also talks of his mother's "incestuous sheets". This crude talk regarding his mother's sexual life further emphasizes his dislike of her actions. As well as the very last like about holding his tongue. Despite his displeasure with her actions he will not say anything.

This soliloquy is important is that it sets up the mental and emotional standings of Hamlet in the beginning. Plays are particularly intriguing in the way they must choose language carefully in order to communicate the concepts. The use of food to describe love as well as the garden to describe the destruction of what is right helps to precisely what Hamlet is feeling. Also the language regarding his mother, especially the crude comments about her bed sheets express his opinions of her marriage and what he thinks caused her marriage. Finally the comment about women and frailty give a glimpse into his issues with women. This one portion of the play takes on a huge role in explaining to the audience Hamlet's story. The beginning of the story is important especially in tracking Hamlet's mental and emotional changes through the story especially in regards to his madness.

Hamlet's Soliloquy: Act III, Scene III

During this speech, Hamlet ponders whether he should wait to kill Claudius, or if he should just do it. He watches as Claudius prays and feels a strong desire to strike him down there and then, but then Hamlet considers that if Claudius were to die in worship, he would most probably wind up in heaven, a place into which he should never be allowed entry. Hamlet is determined to make Claudius pay for the death of his father, and considers the fact that he is ultimately responsible for his uncle's fate.

Hamlet then reasons that he should wait to kill Claudius until the King is engaged in an act "That has no relish of salvation in it..." If Claudius dies then, he is much less likely to end up in heaven, and therefore much more likely to suffer for what he did to his brother.

Hamlet's reasoning in this soliloquy is quite intriguing to me. While I myself am not a strong believer in heaven and hell, I still am familiar with the basic teachings of the more prominent religions in regards to them, and I cannot say that I have ever heard that the deed one is doing upon death defines one's location after. It is, of course, important to consider the fact that Hamlet is a bit of an oddball, and he seems to take fragments of several belief systems to build up his own. It can also often be a challenge to interpret exactly what the meanings of many of Hamlet's words are in the first place, as he has a very dry delivery, yet tends to use sarcasm on occasion. It can be hard to take him literally. That being said, I think it's safe to say after this speech that his one overbearing desire is to make Claudius suffer.

Job v Gilgamesh: It's in the Reactions Where They Differ.

As with most biblical suffering, God is involved in some way. Actually, and I quote, "(God answers) 'You incited me to ruin him without cause, but he still holds fast to his integrity.' " (Bible) it seems that God is directly involved in the suffering that Job has to go through. Suffering from a divine source is definitely a common theme throughout the Bible and other ancient and prehistory stories. It will prove to be an important connection between the suffering of Gilgamesh and Job. As you all should know by now, the story goes as such: Job is one of the most pious in the land. The Devil approaches God and announces that he bets Job would turn away from God if his life took a turn for the worse. God agrees to torment Job per the Devil's request. It begins with the destruction of all that Job holds dear. In my interpretation, this is the worst part. Job has to stand by in perfect health as his family, livelihood, and possessions are torn away from him. All that he loves has been ripped from his helpless clutches. Job's servants, one arriving immediately after the other, report tragic news of his afflictions. This type of suffering is the worse of all. No matter what he does, he cannot save anything. He is utterly helpless against the wraith of the Devil. He has to persevere while he watches his family die around him. Gilgamesh has a similar experience of helplessness. The gods decide that they must kill his best friend and brother, Enkidu. There is nothing that Gilgamesh can do to stop the gods acting on their intentions. Gilgamesh is heart-broken and decides to rebel against human mortality. This is where Gilgamesh and Job differ. Their sufferings are quite similar, the common theme being helplessness and being unable to save those whom you love, but their reactions are opposite. Job resigns himself to God's will. He accepts this depressing fate whereas Gilgamesh rebels against it.
 Through all of this darkness, Job's faith ends up being the only source of hope he has left. But, the Devil announces that it is not enough. He decides he must harm Job physically. He swiftly inflicts him with sores and other ailments. The reason why Job is able to hang onto life and virtue is through his devout faith in God. Gilgamesh does not have the same type of faith in the gods, therefore his reaction is different because his theology is so different from Judaism's, Job's religion. As it seems, the theology of Gilgamesh warrants a connection to gods that validates questioning and supports a person's role in controlling their own fate. Judaism warrants complete faith in God and a hope that God is loving and will not do us wrong. Gilgamesh quests to set things right while Job waits out the suffering on his belief that God will come through in the end.
There suffering is much the same. Their inner beliefs yield very different reactions to the troubles that are forced upon them.

To be or not to be

Possibly one of the most famous speeches in the English language, Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy explains the unknown afterlife and the idea of suicide.  Hamlet ponders on the pros and cons of taking his own life, and weighing the unknown repercussions that comes with that final choice.  

   He starts by asking himself if she should commit suicide or not.  At first he glamorizes it by comparing it to sleeping. Hamlet then realizes that it is so unknown.  He does not know what happens after life, and that peaceful slumber now turns into a sleep without a dreamying.  This is not nearly as appealing to Hamlet and states that it must give us pause.  When talking about all the miseries of life he wonders why no one takes the easy road out and just kills themself.  He realizes why, however, when he says that "conscience does make cowards of us all" (line 91).  Humans do not take the route of suicide because of the uncertainty that resides from a such certain action.  When the thought arises our conscience stops us because of its need to self-preserve.

   This soliloquy certainly does not disappoint.  It deals with important aspects of the book such as death and suicide in a very eloquent way.  It deals with human nature and self preservation, showing that our conscience will do what it is has to in order to keep us alive.  It makes the reader think about life in a very deep way and search for understanding, and I believe that is why it is such a famous speech.

Hamlet's First Soliloquy

   Upon meeting Hamlet for the first time, we, the readers are made very aware of his mental condition through his opening up to all.

O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt,

Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,

Or that the Everlasting had not fixed

His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God, God,

How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable

Seem to me all the uses of this world!

Fie on 't, ah fie! 'Tis an unweeded garden

That grows to seed. Things rank and gross in nature

Possess it merely. That is should come to this

But two months dead nay, not so much, not two.

So excellent a king, that was to this

Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother

That he might not beteem the winds of heaven

Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth,

Must I remember? Why, she would hang on him

As if increase of appetite had grown

By what it fed on. And yet, within a month

(Let me not think on 't; frailty, thy name is woman!)

A little month, or ere those shoes were old

With which she followed my poor father's body,

Like Niobe, all tears ñ why she, even she

(O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason

Would have mourned longer!), married with my uncle,

My father's brother, but no more like my father

Than I to Hercules. Within a month,

Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears

Had left the flushing in her gallËd eyes,

She married. O, most wicked speed, to post

With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!

It is not, nor it cannot come to good.

But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue.

   Hamlet is clearly in pain, but about what? Is he simply mourning the loss of his father, the king? At first, it would seem that, yes, it was only the death which plunged him into despair, but later it is evident that this death has brought up some repressed emotions about the state of the world which he is a part of. The beginning lines have Hamlet asking why God had made suicide taboo among society. The concept of suicide becomes a recurring theme as he contemplates suicide again later in the story within another soliloquy.
   He then discusses his tremendous disgust with his mother's inappropriate actions regarding her over-hasty marriage to Hamlet's uncle, Claudius. It has been less than two months since his father died and already his mother has been married for about a month. He curses her for appearing to be so incredibly in love with the old King, yet almost immediately fall so deeply in love with his brother. This soliloquy is also the first place we hear the term "incestuous sheets" in regards to his mother and his uncle's marriage.

Hamlet's 6th Soliloquy

Hamlet's 6th Soliloquy (Act 3 Scene 3):

Now might I do it pat now he is praying,
And now I'll do it, and so he goes to heaven.
And so am I revenged, that would be scanned.
A villain kills my father; and for that,
I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven.
O, this is hire and salary, not revenge.
He took my father grossly, full of bread - 
With all his crimes broad blown, as flush as May.
And how his audit stands, who knows save heaven?
But in our circumstance and course of thought,
'Tis heavy with him, and am I, then, revenged;
To take him in the purging of his soul,
When he is fit and seasoned for his passage?
No.
Up, sword, and know thou a more horrid hent:
When he is drunk asleep or in his rage;
Or in the incestuous pleasure of his bed;
At gaming, swearing or about some act
That has no relish of salvation in it.
Then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven,
And that his soul may be as damned and black
As hell, whereto it goes. My mother stays,
This physic but prolongs thy sickly days.

During this Soliloquy, Hamlet is deciding whether to kill King Claudius now, or wait for another, better chance. When Hamlet sees the King alone, he's at the chapel praying. But, if Hamlet kills him while he's praying, he thinks that he will be sent to heaven because he died praying to God. In Hamlet's eyes, the king is a villain who took his father away from him, and so it's Hamlet's duty to right the wrong that has been done. But if he kills the King while praying, and he goes to heaven, what kind of revenge would that be? So he decides to wait for a better moment, when Hamlet catches the king in some kind of sin, where he cannot be salvaged and will not be allowed in heaven and will be forced into hell.

I think Hamlet's reasoning for choosing not to kill his uncle in that moment is very interesting, I don't think it would've made a difference what he was doing, he already committed a sin by killing another human. Hamlet's hatred for his father's murderer is very apparent in this soliloquy, because he wants to make sure he kills the king to ensure he's punished for all eternity for his crimes. Hamlet wants King Claudius to suffer.

Soliloquy: Act 1. Sc.5 99-119

In response to his late, ghostly father's implications and demands-

As far as I can tell, there are three distinct sections to this soliloquy. As we know, young Hamlet is not accustom to the deceit of the world outside of his books and studies, being reserved and of the studious nature. After news of his Uncle's treachery, one can only imagine that Hamlet is overwhelmed and bewildered by Claudius' calm and temperate countenance. He feels weak. He shouts out words of encouragement to himself while cursing both heaven and earth (I'll refrain from quoting. Instead I'll write the line numbers) 99-102. He calls upon the strength inside himself and the strength lent by the wrong done to his father. He was beginning to falter, but now we see him in a more determined state. He is mustering all of his strength in order to avenge his father. 

Hamlet then makes a vow. Emboldened by the memory of his father and outraged by the inherent injustice of the world, he swears to dedicate himself to the task his ghostly father has laid down before him. He promises to replace everything he has learned in order to dedicate himself wholly to the enactment of his revenge. He promises and promises that any matter not pertinent to his demanding task will be allowed no effort and expense on his part. His revenge must be as swift and thorough as his Uncle's early wedding, so to speak. (103-111)

In his exasperation, he begins to curse. He curses his mother for her perniciousness. He curses the very villains that have made this injustice possible. He cannot seem to fathom how someone can be so false. He is so encumbered by his bewilderment that he cannot help but curse out onto the heavens and to the people who are deserving of his wraith. Finally, he puts his oath down in writing. He has sworn to remember his father by avenging his death (112-119). 

Hamlet's Conflictions

From Act 2, Scene 2:

"O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!
Is it not monstrous that this player here,
But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,
Could force his soul so to his own conceit
That from her working all his visage wann’d,
Tears in his eyes, distraction in’s aspect,
A broken voice, and his whole function suiting
With forms to his conceit? and all for nothing!
For Hecuba!
What’s Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba,
That he should weep for her? What would he do,
Had he the motive and the cue for passion
That I have? He would drown the stage with tears
And cleave the general ear with horrid speech,
Make mad the guilty and appal the free,
Confound the ignorant, and amaze indeed
The very faculties of eyes and ears. Yet I,
A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak,
Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause,
And can say nothing; no, not for a king,
Upon whose property and most dear life
A damn’d defeat was made. Am I a coward?
Who calls me villain? breaks my pate across?
Plucks off my beard, and blows it in my face?
Tweaks me by the nose? gives me the lie i’ the throat,
As deep as to the lungs? who does me this?
Ha!
‘Swounds, I should take it: for it cannot be
But I am pigeon-liver’d and lack gall
To make oppression bitter, or ere this
I should have fatted all the region kites
With this slave’s offal: bloody, bawdy villain!
Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain!
O, vengeance!
Why, what an ass am I! This is most brave,
That I, the son of a dear father murder’d,
Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell,
Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words,
And fall a-cursing, like a very drab,
A scullion!
Fie upon’t! foh! About, my brain! I have heard
That guilty creatures sitting at a play
Have by the very cunning of the scene
Been struck so to the soul that presently
They have proclaim’d their malefactions;
For murder, though it have no tongue, will speak
With most miraculous organ. I’ll have these players
Play something like the murder of my father
Before mine uncle: I’ll observe his looks;
I’ll tent him to the quick: if he but blench,
I know my course. The spirit that I have seen
May be the devil: and the devil hath power
To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps
Out of my weakness and my melancholy,
As he is very potent with such spirits,
Abuses me to damn me: I’ll have grounds
More relative than this: the play ‘s the thing
Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king."

      This soliloquy is the beginning of Hamlet's master plan to condemn Claudius for his involvement in his father's death. This particular piece is spoken right after Hamlet meets with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and welcomes a troupe of actors to Elsinore. Hamlet questions one of the actor's emotion when portraying grief and equates it to his own experience. He pokes fun at the insincerity of it, but then he chastises himself for being a coward - for being given the duty to avenge his father's death, but not being able to follow through with it. This is one of many examples of the conflictions that is within Hamlet as the play goes on. He is caught between two or more sides in every situation, condemning himself or praising his motives. I think that this is a perfect example of how grief over his father has changed him and changed how he views life, and humanity as a whole. His view of both is distorted and drastically different than before the death of his father.

    This soliloquy is also the beginnings of what will be Hamlet's plan to avenge his father's death. By putting on a play, as he describes in the last few lines, it will (hopefully) catch Claudius's guilt and allow Hamlet to confirm that it was indeed, his uncle's doing (in killing King Hamlet). It is an especially interesting that he decides to use this plan to fulfill his duty as it does show a bit of cowardice on his part. He could have very well gone up to Claudius and simply take up the matter like that, but he decides to be, in a way, manipulative, and catch him while he's most vulnerable. This definitely is a hint at Hamlet's true character, and the conflictions that define him.

Hamlet-Anger and Betrayal

Hamlet Soliloquy: Act 3. Scene 2.

'Tis now the very witching time of night,

When churchyards yawn and hell itself (breaths)

   out

Contagion to this world. Now could I drink hot

   blood

And do such (bitter) business as the day

Would quake to look on. Soft, now to my mother.

O heart, lose not they nature; let not ever

The soul of Nero enter this firm bosom.

Let me cruel, not unnatural.

I will speak (daggers) to her, but use none.

My tongue and soul in this be hypocrites:

How in my words somever she be shent,

To give them seals never, my soul, consent.

 

In this moment, Hamlet has to face a very harsh reality.  While he has known for a long time the true cause of his father's death, it hasn't been confirmed until this moment, and now he has to confront his mother about her lies and her participation in the death of his father.  For Hamlet, the fact that the time of night this is occurring in is felt to be cursed, is only magnified by the horrible knowledge he has about his father's murder. 

The knowledge of what his mother did to his father, and how cold and fake she was led Hamlet to distrust all women; and destroy his relationship with Ophelia.  Yet, despite how hurt and angry he feels, Hamlet is prevented from killing his mother because of the promise he made to the ghost, as well as his own conscious.  His desire for revenge is even more directed at his mother than at Claudius, because his mother is the one he trusted and loved most, making the betrayal all the more painful.  This disconnect between what he feels, and what he knows he can't actually do, cause him great psychological distress and cause him to feel like he is being fake and untrue to what he really feels.  In many ways, it is at this witching hour where Hamlet is forced to enter the adult world where actions can almost never reflect one's true feelings, and justice is almost never achieved.

The Witching Hour

Act 3. sc. 2:

Hamlet

‘Tis now the very witching time of night,

2 When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out
Contagion to this world. Now could I drink hot blood

4 And do such bitter business as the day

Would quake to look on. Soft, now to my mother.

6 O heart, lose not thy nature; let not ever

The soul of Nero enter this firm bosom.

8 Let me be cruel, not unnatural.

I will speak daggers to her, but use none.

10 My tongue and soul in this be hypocrites:

How in my words somever she be shent,

12 To give them seals never, my soul, consent.

This short monologue takes place right after the court watches Hamlet’s deceptive play. In it, he compares the wickedness of the hour with his task at hand: going to talk with his mother. He describes the “witching time” as a supernatural, hellish time (1). He uses the word contagion to describe this time (3). My interpretation of this is that he believes that many bad things happen during that time, and that it essentially sickens the world. I think that this reference and the following “now could I drink hot blood” allude to murder (3). The wickedness of the hour is tied to Hamlet’s emotional status of feeling angry and revengeful. He fears that he will do actions so terrible that “the day would quake to look on” (4-5).

He is so fearful that his actions will be rash that he prays that he will not harm his mother. He asks that his heart not “lose its nature” and that his bosom not become like Nero, the heartless roman emperor who watched his city burn (6-7). Hamlet desperately wants to confront his mother, but as his father’s ghost directed, he does not want to harm her. He clearly expresses this in line 9 when he says he will not use daggers on his mother, although he will “speak daggers to her.” Hamlet wishes that his mother be shamed but not harmed (as expressed in line 11), but seems to doubt his own mental state. He expresses these feelings to convey to the audience that he isn’t completely sane and that he may do something terrible. In  one paragraph he is able to inform the viewer/reader of the coming plot as well as describe his mental state.

A Mourning Son

Analyzing Hamlet’s “O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt” soliloquy, Act I, Scene II:

O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt,

Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,

Or that the Everlasting had not fixed

His canon ‘gainst <self-slaughter!> O God, God,

How <weary,> stale, flat, and unprofitable

Seem to me all the uses of this world!

Fie on ‘t, ah fie! ‘Tis an unweeded garden

That grows to seed. Things rank and gross in nature

Possess it merely. That it should come <to this:>

But two months dead--nay, not so much, not two.

So excellent a king, that was to this

Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother

That he might not beteem the winds of heaven

Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth,

Must I remember? Why, she <would> hand on him

As if increase of appetite had grown

By what it fed on. And yet, within a month

(Let me not think on ‘t; frailty, thy name is woman!),

A little month, or ere those shoes were old

With which she followed my poor father’s body,

Like Niobe, all tears--why she, <even she>

(O God, a beat that wants discourse of reason

Would have mourned longer!), married with my

uncle,

My father’s brother, but no more like my father

Than I to Hercules. Within a month,

Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears

Had left the flushing of her gallèd eyes,

She married. O, most wicked speed, to post

With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!

It is no, nor it cannot come to good.

But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue.

Upon reading the first line, Hamlet is debating life and death, something he continues to do throughout the play. He is not wishing to just merely drop dead, but however, is well aware of human decay and turning into soil and therefore the dew on the tips of grass in the morning. We can also consider the time period of Hamlet, as its setting is about the 13th and 14th century, knowing that this was an era of religious entity, for the lack of a better term, Hamlet very openly acknowledges the presence of God, when he first mentions him as “Everlasting.” He goes on to ponder and mentions further that in God’s law, suicide is a great sin, as it is a means of murder. Hamlet also goes on to ponder, with the notion of God’s “canon” being acknowledged, that the fun and activities and sights in the world he inhabits are dull and no more of an interest to him. Hamlet, as acknowledged by the new King (his uncle)  and his mother, the Queen, is experiencing grief as well as depression.

Hamlet is grieved over the loss of his father, King Hamlet and angered at his mother’s undoubtedly quick marriage to his uncle. He goes on to remembering that his mother used to adore his father, always loyal and always ready for his instruction and affection; always wanting more. He just about curses her for her emotions, and that idea of her frailness and complexion, being able to deem no strength like men, showing respect -- as well as the fact that she seemed to have betrayed his father by marrying his uncle, now stepfather, so quickly, and in doing so, just about curses women-kind. Hamlet has a strong dislike towards women, one that could be deemed as psychologically concerning, as his frustration and hatred could transfer and grow into something more than mere words of hate muttered under his breath. Hamlet points out the time frame of his father’s death and to his mother’s marriage. He notes that it was just less than a month and she’s already buried his father’s shoes, so to speak, or stopped feeling a sense of connection and loyalty, or even love, and that love could have run out before he even died, despite the possible facade she may have sported.

Hamlet displays an honest disliking towards his uncle in the later lines, as he compares his uncle to his father, who, his uncle he sees as an ordinary man, to that of Hercules, a man of great strength and godlike powers, of a gentle mind and great morals. His hatred for his mother and her marriage to his uncle is seen as “incestuous,” even though, technically speaking it’s not incest, it’s seen by Hamlet as family marrying into close family, something only done out of greed and insanctity, and unholy, in the terms of Christian rules and morals. He remarks on her “dexterity,” or so flexibility and ableness, almost eagerness, in marrying his uncle. Although, however morally or just plainly, conflicted he is, he expresses in the last line that he will not say a thing to his mother, or anyone.