Hamlet's Soliloquy Quotes

Hamlet's 3rd soliloquy: Act 2, Scene 2

Hamlet regards himself as a ''Dull and muddy-metalled rascal'' who has, so far, done nothing to avenge his father’s murder. He vents his anger on his uncle by referring to him as “a bloody, bawdy villain; remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindles villain”

“The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King.” - He then resolves to devise a trap for Claudius, forcing the king to watch a play whose plot closely resembles the murder of Hamlet’s father, as was told by the Ghost. Hamlet arranges the actors to perform a play on “THE MURDER OF GONZAGO”, the following night. That play will closely resemble the scene of Hamlet father’s murder and will include a speech written by Hamlet himself. According to Hamlet’s plan, he will closely observe the feeling of guilt in Claudius, if he murdered his father.

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“To be or not to be – That is the question” - In this soliloquy, Hamlet enters toying with the idea of suicide. He thinks of the two alternatives as which one is more appropriate; whether to silently suffer the cruelties of fate or to put up a fight against the misfortunes of life. Hamlet thinks for a while that death may end all the troubles and problems of life.

"No traveller returns, puzzles the will/ And make us rather bear those ills we have''
Hamlet, using the word 'We’, reflects the thoughts of all those people who once in their lifetime thinks about committing the suicide, but finally drops the idea because of several considerations including those specifically mentioned by Hamlet. This soliloquy partly explains the dilemma of Hamlet’s mind and the reason of the delay in executing the revenge of the Ghost.
He was not able to make a decision whether to execute the ghost's revenge or to live in these sufferings as he is doing right now.

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At this moment, Hamlet is so to be say, in a mood in which he could “drink hot blood, and do such bitter business as the day would quake to look on.”In this mood he could even kill his mother, but he would not do so:“Let me be cruel, not unnatural.”

This short soliloquy focuses on the upcoming conversation between Hamlet and his mother, Queen Gertrude, and its preparation in Hamlet’s mind. Hamlet decides his course of action for the conversation with his mother. He vows to treat her harshly, but to refrain from harming her, saying, “I will speak daggers to her, but use none.”

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He comes with such intentions but restrains himself when the thought arises in his mind that by killing the murderer King, while he is in the act of praying and seeking forgiveness for his sins, will send him directly to Heaven and this, according to Hamlet, will not be revenge. Hamlet’s thinks that as he is the sole son of his dead father, and his aim is to seek revenge and fulfill the promise of his father’s murder. He says that it will be unfair if he himself sends the murderer of his father straight to heaven and that will be no revenge at all.
He tells himself to wait for an opportunity and kill the King when he is “drunk, asleep, or in his rage, or in the incestuous pleasure of his bed, at gaming, swearing or about some act that has no relish of salvation in it.” In this way, when the King Claudius will be killed, he will have to pay for his sins and misdeeds, and will be totally accountable for his crimes and that will justify the act of revenge and the promise the Prince Hamlet made to his beloved, dead father.

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“hath in it no profit, but the name.” -
The information given to Hamlet by the captain stimulates his thoughts of revenge and makes him scold himself for his inaction. He thinks that thousands of soldiers are ready for dying for a piece of land which indeed worth nothing, but on the other hand, Hamlet is equipped with a reasonable motive of revenge for his father’s death, but he is still unable to execute it. Hamlet says, by scolding himself:

“How all occasions do inform against me/ And spur my dull revenge.”

“Oh, from this time forth/ My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!” - This soliloquy puts light on the fact that Hamlet is urging himself to take a revenge, but a natural deficiency in him always thwarts his purpose. His generalizing and universalizing tendency, seen in his other soliloquies, is, once more, evident here also.

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