Hamlet Soliloquy Analysis

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Watching the blurred, low quality security camera footage of Hamlet speaking of his major conflict about his mother’s marriage with Claudius, the audience sneaks into his private life and eavesdrops on his first soliloquy. Yet, Hamlet soon begins to reach out to the audience and acknowledges their presence as he communicates directly with them. Seeming both ignorant and secretive towards others in this soliloquy, it is odd that Hamlet would quickly open up to the masses as he contemplates his issue with morals. Initially sharing his feelings towards his mother’s marriage through unclear, linguistic signs indirectly, Hamlet’s presence and absence seems to write a text that can be interpreted in infinite ways by readers. The vagueness of text…show more content…
As the camera creeps closer to Hamlet, he begins to acknowledge the audience’s presence and turns to face them to continue his soliloquy. Looking directly at the camera, Hamlet often pauses in between each thought to allow the audience to process his distraught opinions of his mother’s marriage (Doran 15:23-16:51). Bridging a connection between his listeners and himself, Hamlet now becomes a present member of the interaction and forms a social system of communication. Through this system, new information can be shared between the two and “the individual human beings in the room are somehow ‘unified’ to make a larger whole” (Wellberry 298). With this system and connection established, Hamlet attempts to gain his audience’s support through his clear expressions of pain. Throughout the second half of the first soliloquy, Hamlet’s wrinkled face and clenched fists portray his anger towards his mother and frustration towards his crumbling life (Doran 13:20-16:51). Furthermore, his choice of sharp sounding, harsh words in this speech, such as “dexterity to incestuous sheets” (Shakespeare 1.2.157), exaggerates the issue with his mother and develops an angry mood as Hamlet discusses the betrayal he feels. Together, these communication tactics encourages Hamlet’s listeners to…show more content…
Throughout the play, the prince feels a severe isolation from others as he deals with his mother’s betrayal to the family by marrying her husband’s murderer. While others resumed their lives, Hamlet still dresses in black as he struggles to deal with the depression after his father’s death. Hamlet’s speech tends to be dark using words such as “solemn” and “woe” (Shakespeare 1.2.77-86) which portray the difficulty he has in dealing with his issues alone. However, when Hamlet is with Horatio, one of his few remaining friends who provide support, his tone completely changes. His countenance when speaking with Claudius switches from defensive and weak (Doran 12:56-13:04) to one that is more relaxed and friendly when with Horatio (Doran 17:32-18:30). Feeling both free and comfortable sharing his issues with Horatio, Hamlet seems to be in need of more people who have not betrayed him like his close family members. Through the creation of a social system of communication, Hamlet establishes a connection with a mass of listeners who provides him with the support he desires. However, Derrida states that speech cannot exist without writing prior; the oscillation between writing and speech is key as writing sets up proper and effective words to be spoken (Derrida 130). Engaging in self-reflection provided by writing, Hamlet has a chance to analyze the situation
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