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.
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.
Will,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your thorough thoughts. You clearly have a rich understanding of the text. I would like to point out a couple things, the first of them being that I can hardly read the text... change it now. I think that we're in full agreement that Hamlet is going through a complete mental break right now. He's losing touch with reality on a deeply fundamental level. You have more background in psychology than I do, so I was wondering if you could share your thoughts about Hamlet's current mental state. What mental disorder does he have?
I agree that this soliloquy shows Hamlet descending into a state of madness. The loss of his father and remarriage of his mother puts him into a state of depression, which revenge and misogyny eventually arise from. He ponders suicide, as he will later as well, but does not bring himself to it. I agree with Evan that it would be interesting to give Hamler a diagnosis.
ReplyDeleteThe idea that you go to hell after committing suicide hurts more than helps, it is meant to deter people from committing suicide, but I also believe it hurts the family more when someone does make that decision. It is harder for the family to live with the loss, especially when they believe their loved one has been damned to hell. I can see Hamlet's distaste in his mother's decison, but I do feel he is overly obsessed with it, especially for being 30 years old. In many ways, we do blame our parents as Hamlet did for our actions and behaviors, but regardless of what kind of parents we had we can still make conscious choices to not make, or do the same as them.
ReplyDelete