In my English class today, we went to the drama department to assess various
teaching methods. Using the "to be, or not to be" soliloquy in 'Hamlet
as the object of the lesson, we watched a film clip, had some notable lines
from the soliloquy projected onto three different screens, used our phones to
send answers to the drama teacher's computer, and did some group work. It was
an unusual lesson, but it was fun. Since the drama teacher taught the soliloquy
as literature without the language analysis, my English teacher asked us to do
the analysis for homework. I decided to make my short essay response into a
blog post. If you're unfamiliar with 'Hamlet', here's a link to the passage I'm
analysing: http://www.monologuearchive.com/s/shakespeare_001.html
The soliloquy is essentially a verbal representation of Hamlet's internal
debate over whether or not to commit suicide. The prominent line "to be,
or not to be" literally asks whether Hamlet should live or die. His
longing for death is due to his father's murder and his mother's remarriage, as
well as his difficulty in avenging his father.
Much of Hamlet's desire for death seems to be due to an overwhelming feeling
of helplessness. He describes himself using the metaphor "to take arms
against a sea of troubles"; by using the sea as a representation of his
problems, he is setting up his troubles as unconquerable, as the sea cannot be
beaten by one man with a sword. Similarly, the line "the heart-ache...that
flesh is heir to" equates suffering to his birth right and his being
royalty, suggesting that his pain was unavoidable. This feeling of hopelessness
is reinforced by the symbol of a "mortal coil", demonstrating how
Hamlet feels trapped by his life and perhaps by his duty to avenge his father.
In this very same scene, Hamlet passes up an opportunity to kill Claudius,
which suggests that he is not committed to his revenge.
Death is presented in two different ways. The first is in a comparison to
sleep; however, the repetition of "to die, to sleep" implies that
Hamlet is not confident in the ideal of a peaceful death (especially having
seen the wretched ghost of his father) and so he is actually urging himself
towards death. The second representation of death is that of a "country
from whose bourn no traveller returns"; from this, it can be inferred that
Hamlet isdoubting his desire for death and is focusing on its finality. He
certainly feels some fear for death, and cannot even speak of it in reference
to himself, as he uses very few personal pronouns and those that are used are
always plural ("we" and "us"). There is a clear distinction
between Hamlet's theoretical pondering of death and actually intending to die;
his detachment from what he is saying defines this soliloquy as mostly
hypothetical without real intent.
Life is perceived in an equally negative way. The semantic field of pain and
suffering, including the lexis "weary", "despised", and "spurns",
is used with reference to the burdens of life, and the metaphor "to suffer
the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" illustrates a further example
of how life and suffering are unalterably linked in Hamlet's mind. In contrast
with the usual idea of time being a healer, Shakespeare describes
"bear[ing] the whips and scorns of time", again supporting Hamlet's
hopeless belief that life will forever correlate with suffering.
Beyond expressing Hamlet's ideas on death and life, Shakespeare uses this
soliloquy to show Hamlet's creeping madness. The audience is aware that Hamlet
is pretending to be mad, but in soliloquies, Hamlet should be perfectly sane;
the vengeance he seeks and the unending pretention of madness seem to be
driving him truly mad, as is shown by his long, rambling sentences and his use
of interrogatives to show indecision. There is certainly bitterness and anger
within this soliloquy; Shakespeare's use of fricatives (such as
"flesh" and "fly") and sibilance (such as
"suffer", "sea", and "sleep") illustrate Hamlet's
underlying hatred for Claudius, his fury at his mother, and his dismay at the
position of avenger he has found himself in.
This was better the first time I wrote it but
my laptop shut itself down and this didn't save.
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