You need not tell us what Lord Hamlet said Hamlet finishes, then sees Ophelia, they have a big argument, and he gets crazy with the nunnery bit.Įxit Hamlet enter back in Claudius and Polonius, talking about how mad Hamlet seemed because they absolutely heard him and Hamlet knew this. So, is the speech an aside that no one else hears? No, because at least one other person hears it, if not three. There is no “Ophelia exits”, nor is there “Ophelia re-enters, so she’s there the whole time while Hamlet talks about killing himself. They exit, and Hamlet enters, talking all morbid.īut Ophelia is still on-stage. “let’s store ourselves”? “Let’s stow ourselves?” Yes! They’re saying, “Let’s go hide”, which they then do. The “archaic” meaning of bestow is “to stow, deposit, store”. He’s telling Ophelia, Hamlet’s Girlfriend, to hang out here. Just before Hamlet comes on stage to give this speech, Claudius and Polonius, the murderous King and his Crony are talking with Ophelia, Polonius’ daughter, and Queen Gertrude. It goes on, but we can see it’s basically a suicide note of sorts, or at least a contemplation on the part of Hamlet. When we have shuffled off this mortal coilĪnd if it’s all just a long sleep, what’s on that other side? It’s supposed to be so wonderful that’s why we endure all the crap in this world. Ay, there’s the rub,įor in that sleep of death what dreams may come That flesh is heir to – ‘tis a consummationīut if I’m dead, no more pain, no more suffering, no more guilt, and all the problems I have now just go away. The heartache and the thousand natural shocks Which is better? Just take my wealth and position, keeping my mouth shut, but be racked with guilt over it, or to actually stand up for what I believe in, even though it would destroy and kill me and my family? Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, “Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer So, this speech is about whether or not Hamlet should kill himself, which isn’t totally out of the blue at the beginning of the play, the first time Hamlet is onstage alone, he contemplates it there as well. Okay, he’s openly questioning if he should live or die. To exist or not to exist, to live or not to live. In other words, they do say what they mean, unless there is evidence to support otherwise.īe” as in “existing”. The things other people say, or what that character says before or after the incident in question. It is, for the most part, difficult to lie in Shakespearean speech, without a stage direction saying, “He or She is lying.” There are exceptions, but they just have to be supported by the text. If he’s talking about killing someone, he’s angry and really wants to kill them. If he’s talking about Love, he’s in love. When Shakespeare writes dialog, they “say what they mean”. A Monologue is a speech that is spoken to someone else, or at least another character on the stage hears it.Ī Soliloquy, is a speech spoken to nobody, and only the audience hears it, not any other character in the play.
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