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Much has been said about whether or not Hamlet is insane, but I believe that there is more to Hamlet’s strange behavior than simply insanity. He struggles to kill Claudius because there is an internal conflict of personality where part of him wants to obey his father to the fullest, and part of him is hesitant because he does not feel that he has the guts to commit murder, especially when the proof he has of his father’s death is contestible.

When Hamlet hears of the sighting of his father’s ghost, he is eager to meet his father because he loves him very much. He begs the guards to take him to the ghost, and when they do, Hamlet insists on going to talk with him despite warnings by the guards. Hamlet’s eagerness to follow his father shows his respect and love for him, and indicates that Hamlet is willing to take risks to succumb to his father’s demands.

When the ghost tells Hamlet to murder Claudius, he shows no signs of hesitation. He proclaims that “I, with wings as swift as meditation or the thoughts of love, may sweep to my revenge” (Act I, Scene IV, line 51).

However, had Hamlet been able to keep his promise of swift revenge, the play would have been over with by the second act. Instead, Hamlet spends the rest of the play hesitating and procrastinating on his duty. He hesitates because he is uncertain of whether he is physically capable of committing murder, and he also questions the validity of the ghost’s testimony. How can he be sure that what he saw was really his father’s ghost? How can he be sure that the ghost was even telling the truth? He struggles throughout the play to prove these things to himself. Read more…

“The purpose of a soliloquy is to reveal to the audience what is going on in the mind and heart of the speaker. Sometimes soliloquies tell us about the speaker’s motivation of plans. What does Juliet’s soliloquy at the beginning of this scene reveal about her feelings and state of mind?”

Juliet’s passionate soliloquy in this scene expresses her love for Romeo and their need to conceal their love from the outside world. The beginning of this scene reveals feelings of anxiety for the coming of darkness and it also shows how desperate she is for Romeo to appear in the night. Juliet’s desire for the night when Romeo will come is evident here. Juliet is confessing in her long speech that she is quite out of control and needs the darkness of the night to calm her till she can settle into love’s course. Through her loving words for Romeo, Juliet shows how much she wants to be with Romeo.

The love between Romeo and Juliet is deeply expressed in her speech, and the want to see him is clearly evident here. As the constant feud between the Capulet and Montague family continues, Juliet and Romeo try to conceal their love from the public by secretly seeing each other during the night. Juliet says, “When Romeo shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars, and he will make the face of heaven so fine, that all the world will be in love with night.” This means that Romeo is the love and light in the night, and night conceals him. “And pay no worship to the garish sun,” proposes the idea that in daylight, everything is visible and secrets are revealed. Juliet “pays no worship to the garish sun” because the sun would make their secluded love known. Read more…