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.
Gabe,
ReplyDeleteThis is a well-written analysis of one of Hamlet's most famous and popular soliloquies. I think you did a wonderful job pinpointing the key points of the soliloquy. I found it quite interesting that you mentioned how Hamlet's hesitation of committing suicide was due to the conscience's innate desire for self-preservation. In other words, he did not kill himself because his mind fought to keep him alive, thus altering his actions/thoughts. I think that that was one possible reason for his hesitation, but I lean more toward the idea that he is really, underneath it all, afraid of death and the unknown in general. I think it is famous, like you said, because it causes people to think about life, death, and morality in a very real and emotional way. I feel like a lot of people can connect with Hamlet in regards to feeling like death would rid oneself of one's problems, yet death also is so unknown that it is not worth it. I also believe that this is an example of the conflictions that Hamlet feels and what he does - his soul and mind seem to be at a constant battle. Good post.
Gabe,
ReplyDeleteWe chose the same soliloquy, and we both made similar points in our analysis. I definitely agree that the main two points of this soliloquy are the unknown of the afterlife and the idea of suicide. I also agree with how humans don't usually choose suicide, mainly because of the uncertainty of the afterlife. I love how you mentioned how the soliloquy relates to human nature because our entire class is basically on what it means to be human, so that was an important connection to make.