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Home » , » Discuss the third soliloquy of Hamlet

We meet a series of soliloquies in the world-famous tragedy,  Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Hamlet makes several of them. Among them, his second soliloquy is not less significant than his first and second ones.

In this third soliloquy, Hamlet bitterly scolds himself for having failed to execute his revenge so far. He calls himself ''a dull and muddy-mettled rascal '' for his failure, accusing himself of being 'pigeon-livered '', an ass who,  'like a whore '' can only ''unpack '' his heart with words and ''fall a cursing like a very drab''. He refers to his uncle as ''a bloody,  a bawdy villain; remorseless, treacherous,  lecherous, kindles villain ''. Then he dwells upon his plan to stage a play by saying -

''The play's the thing 

Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King.''

In other words, Hamlet now seeks confirmation of the Ghost's charge against Claudius. This is rather strange; because it has taken him long to doubt the authenticity of the Ghost's version. It is obvious that Hamlet is more of a philosopher and less of a man of action. 

This soliloquy of Hamlet undoubtedly throws a flood of light on his character and personality. This shows Hamlet to be a scholar, a philosopher, and a poet.



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