In the play, Hamlet is victimized by both external and internal forces. This leads him to talk by himself or indulge in deep thought. There are several scenes in which Hamlets involves in such a situation. The circumstances that lead Hamlet to soliloquy are discussed in the following essay.
After the death of his father, Hamlet exclaims himself that he wished to die or end to exist or thinks whether he could evaporate when Claudius asks him to stay back and not to go back to school. Hamlet also wonders why God has defined suicide as a sin. Out of his anger, he worries about the death of his father and the hasty marriage of his mother to his uncle. This soliloquy is partly due to the act of Claudius and partly due to the sorrow of Hamlet which keeps him worrying (Act I, scene II).
Hamlet speaks to himself again when the ghost of King Hamlet reveals how he was killed by his brother Claudius. Hamlet exclaims by saying, o my prophetic soul. Hamlet also thinks about his responsibility to carry out the vengeance. This soliloquy is initiated by external factors like the King’s ghost and the though the news that Claudius murdered his father (Act I, scene v–Act II, scene I).
Hamlet spells out the words, plays the thing when he orders the players to play a murder similar to the murder of his father by pouring poison into the King’s ears and allowing the widowed queen to marry the murderer, to prick the conscience of Claudius to find out whether he is guilty of murdering his father. The play was written by Hamlet to find out the authenticity of the ghost’s statement. This is a soliloquy that arises from internal forces since Hamlet plans the plot to hold Claudius liable out of his knowledge that his father was murdered (Act II, scene II).
Hamlet laments to himself again while walking through the corridors by worrying whether he should end his life to take away the internal pain of his mind. He also thinks about life after death and also worries that others cannot solve his problems. These worries arise from his self when he indulges in deep thought (Act III, scene I).
After finding out that Claudius is guilty of murdering his father, Hamlet slips into the room of Claudius to kill him. However, on seeing Claudius pray, he thinks to himself that if he killed Claudius when he is in prayer he would go to heaven and gain forgiveness. His father did not have the time to ask forgiveness from God before he was killed. Therefore Hamlet decided not to kill when Claudius is in prayer, but he should be killed when he is in a sinning condition so that he cannot go to heaven (Act III, scene III).
On his way to England with Guildenstern and Rosencrantz, Hamlet realizes that bloody battles are waged even for insignificant purposes. Therefore he decides that he will act in a bloody manner until he carried out his revenge on Claudius (Act IV, scene IV).
Hamlet immerses himself in thought on seeing gravediggers who dig out skulls to make room for Ophelia’s burial. On finding that out that it was Yorick’s skull, he again thinks about death and how the human body will be equal to dust after death (Act V, scene I).
The soliloquies of Hamlet are caused both by external and internal victimization throughout the play.
Works Cited
Act I, scene II. 2009. Web.
Act I, scene v–Act II, scene I. 2009. Web.
Act II, scene II. 2009. Web.
Act III, scene III. 2009. Web.
Act III, scene I. 2009. Web.
Act IV, scene IV. 2009. Web.
Act V, scene I. 2009. Web.