Example research essay topic: Twenty Thousand Men Act I Scene Ii - 1,842 words

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In Shakespearean literature, soliloquies are important dramatic devices. They allow the reader to understand a character better as a play unfolds. In Hamlet, the soliloquies performed by the title character help reveal his innermost thoughts and feelings aloud. Hamlets soliloquies are the keys to his internal struggles, which are hidden under a mask. From Hamlets soliloquies in Act I, II, III, and IV, one learns of his feelings towards the new marriage between his mother and his uncle, his indecisiveness towards the revenge for his fathers death, and his overwhelming feelings of depression and thoughts of suicide. The soliloquies performed by Hamlet help reveal this.

Hamlets soliloquies about the new marriage occur before he sees the ghost of his father. His feelings on the marriage are more accurate beforehand due to the fact that his thoughts are un-influenced by the means of his fathers death. Through Hamlets soliloquy in act I scene II, it is evident that Hamlet struggles with the idea of the new marriage, his mothers mourning, and how he should not reveal his true feelings. Hamlet seems confused as to why his mother would remarry only two months after his fathers death.

But two months dead nay, not so much, not two. So excellent a king, that was to this Hyperion to a satyr, so loving to my mother That he might not between the winds of heaven Visit her face too roughly. (I. ii. 138 - 142) Hamlet compares his father and Claudius to Hyperion, a Greek Titan, and a satyr, a mythological woodland creature depicted as having the pointed ears, legs, and short horns of a goat and a fondness for unrestrained revelry. Hamlet also describes how loving his father was to his mother.

Traditionally, in the eighteenth century, mourning of a loved one would continue for a long time as a sign of respect to the deceased. Another aspect which bothers Hamlet about the marriage is the fact that his mother had only mourned for one month, until she started to become interested in Claudius. Why, she would hang on him As if increase of appetite had grown By what it fed on, and yet within a month Let me not think ont; frailty, thy name is woman! A little month, or ere those shoes were old With which she followed my poor fathers body, Like Niobe, all tears, why she, even she O God, a beast, that wants discourse of reason, Would have mourned longer Married with my uncle, My fathers brother, bu no more like my father Than I to Hercules. Within a month, Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears Had left the flushing in her galled eyes, She married. (I. ii. 143 - 155) It is obvious to the reader that Hamlet is angry at his mother, and moreso that she only grieved for one month.

Hamlet feels that his mother impulsively marries Claudius. He compares his mother to Niobe, the daughter of Tantalus who turned to stone while mourning over the loss of her children, and cried continuously. Hamlet says, finally, that even a beast would have mourned longer, showing that he truly feels that her grievance was too short. This soliloquy reveals to the reader, Hamlets feelings about the marriage. Since Hamlet still has great love for his mother, he will not reveal his true feelings to her or anyone else. O, most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!

It is not, nor it cannot come to good. But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue. (I. ii. 156 - 159) In Shakespearean times, the marriage of a man like Claudius to his deceased brothers wife was considered incestuous. Hamlet feels that this marriage is not good, and nothing good will evolve from this marriage. Even though this new relationship is very painful to Hamlet, he must hold his tongue for the good of his mother.

From Hamlets first soliloquy in Act I scene II, one would learn of his internal struggle over the new marriage. The overwhelming impression which is left on the reader is that Hamlet is extremely frustrated about this union, which is an understatement. After Hamlets visit by the spirit of his dead father, he swears to avenge his death. [writing] So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word: It is Adieu, adieu! Remember me. I have sworn t. (I.

v. 111 - 113) His fathers memorable words, Remember me. move Hamlet, and he swears to avenge his death. Throughout the play, Hamlet procrastinates over the killing of Claudius for two main reasons. The first being, indecision, the second, Hamlet sometimes does not seem to have the right timing.

Hamlet, later in the play, seems to need a good push to get his plans into action. Throughout the play, Hamlet denounces himself for the inaction he takes on the revenge for his fathers death. Now, wether it be Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple Of thinking too precisely on th event At thought which, quartered, hath but one part wisdom And ever three parts coward (IV. iv. 40 - 44) Hamlet is flustered by his inability to enact the revenge, and his ability to only anticipate the action of revenge. Hamlet finally gets an opportunity to enact revenge on Claudius. He is praying in a chapel, and Hamlet draws his dagger, then withdraws.

Now might I do it pat, now a is a-praying; And now Ill dot. And so a Goes to heaven, And so am I revenged. That would be scanned: A villain kills my father, and for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send To heaven. (III. iii. 73 - 78) When he is drunk, asleep, or in his rage, Or in th incestuous pleasure of his bed, At game a-swearing, or about some act That has no relish of salvation in t Then trip him, that his heals may kick at heaven, And that his soul may be as damned and black As hell, whereto it goes. (III. iii. 89 - 95) From lines 73 to 78, Hamlet is prepared to kill Claudius, yet he ponders his future actions, and decides to postpone his revenge. He does so due to the fact that by killing him while he is praying, Claudius will in turn go to heaven.

This is not what Hamlet wants, nor what anyone would want. From lines 89 to 95, Hamlet decides he will enact his revenge during the time in which Claudius engages himself in a sinful act, from which has no chance for salvation, whereby he will go to hell upon death. During Hamlets soliloquy in Act IV, Hamlet hears of the actions of Fortinbras. When honours at the stake. How stand I then, That have a father killed, a mother stained, Excitements of my reason and my blood, And let all sleep, while to my shame I see The immanent death of twenty thousand men That for a fantasy and trick of fame Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause, Which is not tomb enough and continent To hide the slain? O, from this time forth My thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth! (IV.

iv. 57 - 67) Hamlet sees how Fortinbras is willing to sacrifice twenty thousand men for his own fantasy and fame. This seems to push Hamlet, he sees how cowardly he must have been acting, and decides to take his revenge more seriously. It seems now that Hamlet will finally take his revenge. Through Hamlets soliloquies in Act II, III, and IV, one is able to see the internal struggle which Hamlet faces regarding the revenge of his fathers death, and the epiphany he has when he learns of the plans of Fortinbras to invade Denmark, on a whim. From Hamlets soliloquies in Act I and III, one learns of Hamlets internal struggle with depression, suicide and the fear of the unknown. These feelings are more than overwhelming to Hamlet.

The depression becomes a common theme, and in turn Hamlet often thinks about taking his own life. In Hamlets first soliloquy in Act I, he addresses his feelings on the new marriage, and also reveals his thoughts on self-slaughter. O, that this too too sullied flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew! Or that the Everlasting had not fixed His canon gains self-slaughter! (I. ii. 129 - 132) Hamlet feels that living is not profitable anymore, and that he would kill himself if self-slaughter was not a violation of canon law. Also, in the same soliloquy, Hamlet states, Heaven and Earth, must I remember? (I.

ii. 142 - 143) This shows that Hamlet is truly torn between his father in heaven and his mother on Earth. Hamlets famous To be, or not to be speech is one of the most quoted lines in all of literature. This also reveals to the reader the seriousness of his depression, where he virtually contemplates life and death. 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 morgan by a sleep to say we end The heartache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to. (III. i. 57 - 64) Hamlet wonders if it is better to respond passively to the trials and tribulations of life, or to confront them, or to give up and commit suicide. After Hamlets To be, or not to be speech, he finds reason not to commit suicide. This internal struggle is fear.

But that the dread of something after death, The undiscovered country whose born No traveller returns, puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of? (III. i. 79 - 83) Hamlet fears the oblivion after death. This is something he is not willing to deal with. He fears that once a body is deceased, the soul goes to a place where it knows no others, and will not return in flesh and form from where it came.

Through Hamlets soliloquies in Act I and III, one is able to see the internal struggles with the feelings of depression and suicide this man deals with. Hamlets feelings of suicide are strong, yet his feelings of the fear of the oblivion are strong enough to keep him from taking his own life. Soliloquies are important dramatic devices used to better understand a character. These soliloquies are done through the discussion of thoughts and feelings to ones self. The character Hamlet goes through a wide range of internal struggles which have a severe impact on his attitude and on his personality. From revealing these numerous struggles throughout the play in his soliloquies, one is able to understand the true difficulties he has with life, and with others. 330

Research essay sample on Twenty Thousand Men Act I Scene Ii