What is the point of Hamlets long speech?

Answer 1

Hamlet is debating with himself throughout all of his soliloquies. Avenging his father is his purpose in life, but not killing Claudius when he could shows that he has a conscience. It shows that he is a tragic hero. These debates with himself humanize him and demonstrate that even though he eventually turns truly mad, there is still that great man inside him.

Answer 2

To be or not to be- that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles

And, by opposing, end them. To die, to sleep

No more - and by a sleep to say we end

The heartache and the thousand natural shocks

That flesh is heir to - 'tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep

To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub,

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,

Must give us pause. There's the respect

That makes calamity of so long life.

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,

Th' oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,

The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,

The insolence of office, and the spurns

That patient merit of th' unworthy takes,

When he himself might his quietus make

With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,

To grunt and sweat under a weary life,

But that the dread of something after death,

The undiscovered country from whose bourn

No traveler returns, puzzles the will

And makes us rather bear those ills we have

Than fly to others that we know not of?

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,

And thus the native hue of resolution

Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,

And enterprises of great pitch and moment

With this regard their currents turn awry,

And lose the name of action.-Soft you now!

The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons

Be all my sins remembered.[1

hamlet discusses whether it is better to be alive or dead. He points out many reasons why being dead would be much more pleasing. His main point is that death would relieve you from the burdens of earth. He also points out that death is like a sleep you never wake up from, the only possible thing to be frightened about would be about having a "bad dream". He also points out how easy it really is to commit suicide, he the sees ophelia coming

Answer 3

Hamlet has five soliloquys:

The first, "O that this too too solid flesh would melt" is in Act 1, Scene 2 and is all about how disgusted he is with the world generally and with his mother's remarriage particularly.

The second, in Act 2 Scene 2, starts "O what a rogue and peasant slave am I" and is about why he is not more emotional about his situation, followed by some self-criticism and a plan to be sure that the Ghost was telling him the truth.

The third, and most famous, is in Act 3 Scene 1 and starts out "To be or not to be, that is the question." In it Hamlet wonders why people don't commit suicide more often since life is so miserable.

The fourth, and shortest, is "'Tis now the very witching time of night" in which he plans his interview with his mother (the Closet scene). It's in Act 3 Scene 2.

The fifth and last is in Act 4, Scene 4 after Hamlet sees Fortinbras's army and reflects on the nature of courage. It begins "How all occasions do inform against me", which, interestingly enough, did not appear in the Folio text of the play at all. If your edition of the play is based on the Folio text, you may not be able to find this soliloquy in 4,4.

Answer 4

"O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, thaw and resolve itself into a dew" is the first line of this soliloquy. The first line clearly means that Hamlet wishes he were dead and insubstantial. He then regrets that he cannot kill himself because it is taboo (It is important to note that he has already considered and rejected the idea of suicide at this stage). Hamlet then tries to explain to us why he is feeling so depressed but, and this is what makes the speech so great, he interrupts himself with emotional outbursts no less than four times in the course of getting it out. What it boils down to is that his father has recently died and his mother has since remarried to Hamlet's uncle who he doesn't like, and did not, in Hamlet's opinion, leave a sufficient time to mourn his father. But it does not come out smoothly like that, because Hamlet is having a hard time getting his thinking straight.

Consider this: "That it should come to this: but two months dead--no! not so much! not two!" This is a really incoherent utterance. Clearly he is trying to say that someone has died but he doesn't say who is dead, only how long he has been dead, and then interrupts himself to disagree with himself.

Answer 5

The subject of Hamlet's soliloquies is mostly life, death, revenge and his search for the truth.

Answer 6

Hamlet makes a number of long speeches. There is a different point to each one. You must specify which speech you mean.