A consideration of the extent to which, in Hamlet's soliloquies, Hamlet is presented by Shakespeare as thinking

... Ashleigh MacDonald A consideration of the extent to which, in Hamlet's soliloquies, Hamlet is presented by Shakespeare as thinking "too precisely on th' event." A university student, whose studies are interrupted by the death of his father, Hamlet is extremely introspective and philosophical. Faced with evidence that his uncle murdered his father, Hamlet becomes obsessed with confirming his uncle's guilt before seeking the vengeance he swore he would attain. Shattered by his mother's "o'er hasty marriage" to Hamlet's uncle, Claudius, Hamlet becomes extremely cynical, perhaps even neurotic, about women in general. As a result, he repudiates Ophelia, a woman he once claimed to love, in the harshest of terms. Left alone, Hamlet is plagued by questions about his own mortality, the wisdom of suicide, and the afterlife; questions which cannot be answered with any great certainty. Despite Hamlet's extensive reflection, he is capable of acting impetuously; it is ironic that when taking action,

want to read more? →