Importance of Hamlet’s

Soliloquies in Shakespeare’s
Hamlet
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S
hakespeare often has his characters speak in soliloquies
during the course of his plays. Soliloquies are essential to the
presentation of a story through the medium of a play because
they provide the opportunity the chance to tell the audience specific
pieces of information which cannot be disclosed through normal con-
versation. In his work, Hamlet, Shakespeare’s title character is shown
to speak in seven soliloquies. Each soliloquy advances the plot,
reveals Hamlet’s inner thoughts to the audience and helps to create
an atmosphere in the play.

The first soliloquy which Hamlet delivers gives the audience their
first glimpse of him as a character. Hamlet is reflective and depicts
the way he views his own position; he tells of his father’s death and
then his mother’s quick remarriage. He says, “It is not, nor it cannot
come to good” (I, ii, 163), when referring to the marriage of his
mother. This gives the audience a hint of foreshadowing because it is
the first time when Hamlet mentions the future. This speech also
reveals his thoughts further when he says that his mother is frail
because she is a woman, while he also admits that he knows he must
hold his tongue. During the course of this speech Hamlet makes seve-
ral allusions to historical figures and this demonstrates to the
audience that he is an intelligent young man. One of these allusions is
when he compares the love his late father had for his mother to Hype-
rion to Satyr; this is a reference to the sun god and his affections.
This clearly shows the audience that his heart is breaking not only for
the loss of affections towards his mother but the fact that she does
not seem to care about this loss. A second allusion made during the
course of this soliloquy is a reference to Niobe, a figure in Greek
mythology who was so grief stricken she could not stop crying and
turned to stone. Hamlet compares his mother to this figure and says
Gertrude should be as grief stricken as Niobe. He also compares him-
self to Hercules saying that his uncle is as similar to his father as he
is to Hercules. All of this information put together gives the audience
a very strong first impression of Hamlet as a character.

The second time which the audience sees Hamlet speak in a soliloquy
is in scene 5 of act 1 when Hamlet has just met the ghost of his father
and has received some disturbing news. His father has just revealed
that he was murdered by his own brother, this news deeply upsets
Hamlet. This soliloquy reveals Hamlet’s thoughts when he says he is
going to wipe away all trivial knowledge from his brain and live by
thy commandments. When he says, “Now to my word … I have sworn
it” (I, v, 116-119), he is letting the audience know that he will avenge
his father’s death therefore creating anticipation as the audience
wonders how he will achieve retribution. While speaking, Hamlet
creates an atmosphere because he repeats the last words the ghost
has told him, “Adieu, adieu, remember me” (I, v, 118). This line is
important because the ghost does not want to be forgotten and Ham-
let does not want to forget him. The repetition makes the audience
realize the significance of this line because the ghost wants his true
story to be told and he wishes to be remembered as a hero and
someone who was wronged. There is also contrast present when
Hamlet talks about smiling and being a villain. This shows that Ham-
let is now aware that people may not always be as they seem and one
must be careful. His attitude has changed because now Hamlet has
even more of a reason to despise his uncle and the audience is now
caught up in the moment of surprise and suspense.

The next time the audience sees Hamlet alone, more information has
been gathered about his character, because although a lot can be lear-
ned for what Hamlet says about himself, information can also be lear-
ned by what others says about him and the actions that Hamlet does.
It is now known that Hamlet is mad, although he has revealed to Guil-
denstern and Rosencrantz that he is only pretending. He further
explains the plan to foil his uncle in this soliloquy, saying he will
watch closely the way his uncle reacts to a play that is very similar in
plot line to the actions Claudius has taken to become King. Hamlet
reveals that he feels he has taken a cowardly approach to making sure
that the ghost was telling the truth and that his uncle really is the
murderer but he also discloses that he is worried the ghost may have
been the devil. This soliloquy also creates atmosphere because of the
way Hamlet talks about himself; he uses harsh language and calls
himself names such as rogue, peasant slave, ass, and whore. This lan-
guage makes the audience sympathize with Hamlet because he has a
lot to worry about with his mother marrying to soon and his uncle
possibly having married his mother. It gives Hamlet a reason to be
acting so mad because there is a lot to deal with in his life, his charac-
ter becomes relatable to the audience because he is overwhelmed the-
refore allowing there to be some justification of his actions.

Hamlet is seen again in act 3, speaking directly to the audience during

his famous to be or not to be speech. This soliloquy is especially
important to the play because it is written with masterful language
and reveals a new side of Hamlet. This soliloquy shows Hamlet’s sof-
ter emotional side when he speaks of suffering and lists multiple
opposing things, showing once again the inner turmoil that Hamlet is
facing. The big question that Hamlet is trying to answer for himself
during the course of this soliloquy is whether or not it is noble to take
up arms and die defending what you believe is right. He compares
dying to sleeping because it is peaceful and may lead to dreams. By
discussing mortality Hamlet again allows the audience to relate to
him because he reveals he is afraid of dying. The soliloquy ends on a
strong note giving the audience pause to consider his actions he says,
“be all my sins remembered” (III, i, 98). This quote tells the audience
that Hamlet has decided that seeking revenge is in fact a noble deed
and justifiable. The last few lines also mention Ophelia, and as the
audience knows Ophelia refuses to see him now and Hamlet is acting
mad towards her. This shows that Hamlet continues to act mad and
seek revenge and he is aware that he will lose Ophelia during the
course of these events. This creates atmosphere for the audience and
prepares them for the actions that Hamlet will take in the near
future.

The next soliloquy in which the audience sees Hamlet is at the end of
scene 3 act 2, in which he has just watched the play which he orche-
strated to get a reaction out of Claudius to see if he is guilty or not.
During the course of the play Hamlet makes bawdy comments to
Ophelia and Claudius has rushed out of the play. Gertrude is furious
with Hamlet and wants to see him immediately. The audience can see
how Hamlet really feels about these events during the course of his
soliloquy; his feelings are apparent within the first line where he says
it is the witching time of night. Hamlet is aware that it is time to take
action because he has figured out the truth about what his uncle has
done. Hamlet goes on to reveal his feelings about his mother when he
says, “I will speak daggers to her, but use none” (III, ii, 429). This
metaphor creates atmosphere because although Hamlet says he will
speak daggers and not use them it tells the audience his train of
thought is leading him close to daggers and using daggers. During the
course of this soliloquy Hamlet reveals that he does not want his
heart to lose her nature and he wishes for the soul of Nero to enter
his bosom. Nero was an infamous roman emperor who performed
numerous executions including that of his mother. By wishing to have
a soul such as Nero’s enter his bosom it is clear that Hamlet is revea-
ling to the audience how his intentions may not be as pure as he por-
trays them.
When Hamlet presents his next soliloquy he is not alone on stage but
there with his uncle who cannot hear him. Hamlet walks in on his
uncle who he believes to be kneeling in prayer, Hamlet at first thinks
this will be the perfect opportunity to murder his uncle and gain his
revenge but his soliloquy quickly reveal that his thoughts have brou-
ght him somewhere else. Hamlet decides that he cannot kill his uncle
while he is in prayer because then his soul will go to Heaven and this
will not be just punishment for the acts which he has committed.
“And that his soul will be as damned and black as hell” (III, iii,
99-100) this metaphor adds atmosphere because Hamlet compares
his uncle’s soul to blackness and hell. Hamlet then decides that he
will kill his uncle at a more appropriate time such as when he is drin-
king or when he is in his incestuous bed filled with pleasures. That
way, Hamlet reveals his uncle’s soul will go to hell and not to heaven.
By not wanting his uncle to go to Heaven the audience learns a new
side of Hamlet in which his thoughts are becoming increasingly rash
and angry now that he is convinced that his uncle did in fact murder
his father. Because Hamlet is waiting for what he considers a better
opportunity to kill his uncle this creates anticipation for the audience
as they will be wondering when and how Hamlet will achieve his ulti-
mate revenge.

The final soliloquy that Hamlet presents to the audience is one of the
last times Hamlet appears on stage. It is at the end of scene 4 act 4
and takes place after Hamlet has encountered Fortinbras’ army and
talked with Fortinbras himself. Hamlet reveals to the audience that
he feels that if a man has no purpose he is no better than a beast so
he must use his encounter with Fortinbras to spur his revenge. He
believes that God has created humans in his image to achieve great
things and he also tells the audience that he doesn’t just want to sit
there anymore while his father is not avenged and his mother is stai-
ned by the actions she has taken to be with his uncle. He is inspired
by Fortinbras and his army of twenty thousand men who walk
towards certain death and yet they do it with noble hearts and cou-
rage because their honor is at stake. Hamlet also contemplates on the
meaning of mortality and how death can come so quickly. This reveals
to the audience that Hamlet does not feel as though he is invulnerable
and that he is scared of dying. At the end of his soliloquy Hamlet
vows, “O, from this time forth/My thoughts be bloody or be nothing
worth!” (IV, iv, 68-69) These lines show that Hamlet has gained new
resolve and will try to kill his uncle no matter what to avenge his
father’s death and Hamlet is convinced that all of his actions are justi-
fiable. This closing line gives the audience a chance to connect with
Hamlet because it is easy for one to understand feelings of being
wronged and wanting to get revenge.

Before Hamlet’s death, he kills his uncle and avenges his father and
this allows the audience to breathe a sigh of relief towards Hamlet
because he has achieved the purpose which he often alludes to during
his soliloquies. Each of the seven soliloquies allows the audience a
deeper perspective into who Hamlet is as a character as he reveals his
thoughts, advances the plot and adds atmosphere. When Hamlet
speaks in these soliloquies he is always his true self; never pretending
to be mad or taking on a superficial way of talking as he did at times
in dialogue with others. These soliloquies, therefore, adds much to
the overall content of the play Hamlet and allows Shakespeare’s
audience a much better understanding of the plot.