Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Soliloquies of Shakespeares Hamlet - The To be or not to be Soliloqu
Hamlet -- the ââ¬Å"To be or not to beâ⬠Soliloquyà à à à à à In William Shakespeareââ¬â¢s dramatic tragedy Hamlet the fourth of the seven soliloquies by the hero is generally considered exceptional and more famous than the others. This essay will examine and analyze this soliloquy, and explore the reasons for its fame. à This famous soliloquy manifests the expression of very deep and conflicting emotions. Ruth Nevo in ââ¬Å"Acts III and IV: Problems of Text and Stagingâ⬠explains the basic conflict within the heroââ¬â¢s most famous ââ¬Å"To be or not to beâ⬠soliloquy: à Since we know what Hamletââ¬â¢s obligatory task is, we cannot but register the possibility that the taking of arms and the ââ¬Å"enterprises of great pitch and momentâ⬠refer to the killing of Claudius, though the logic of the syntax makes them refer to the self-slaughter which is the subject of the whole disquisition. And conversely, because self-slaughter is the ostensible subject of the whole disquisition, we cannot read the speech simply as a case of conscience in the matter of revenge ââ¬â Christian revenge and the secular sanctions and motivations of honor. (46) à Is the fourth soliloquy addressing only the princeââ¬â¢s specific situation? Or is it applicable universally to humankind? Lawrence Danson in the essay ââ¬Å"Tragic Alphabetâ⬠discusses the most famous of soliloquies as involving an ââ¬Å"eternal dilemmaâ⬠: à à The problem of timeââ¬â¢s discrediting effects upon human actions and intentions is what makes Hamletââ¬â¢s ââ¬Å"To be, or not to beâ⬠soliloquy eternal dilemma rather than fulfilled dialectic. Faced withà the uncertainty of any action, an uncertainty that extends even to the afterlife, Hamlet, too, finds the ââ¬Å"wick or snuffâ⬠of which Claudius speaks: ââ¬Å"Thus conscienceâ⬠ââ¬â by... ...ons: Hamlet. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. Rpt. from The Motives of Eloquence: Literary Rhetoric in the Renaissance. N.p.: Yale University Press, 1976. à Levin, Harry. ââ¬Å"An Explication of the Playerââ¬â¢s Speech.â⬠Modern Critical Interpretations: Hamlet. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. Rpt. from The Question of Hamlet. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1959. à Nevo, Ruth. ââ¬Å"Acts III and IV: Problems of Text and Staging.â⬠Modern Critical Interpretations: Hamlet. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. Rpt. from Tragic Form in Shakespeare. N.p.: Princeton University Press, 1972. à Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html No line nos. à à à Ã
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