Analysis of Hamlet’s first Soliloquy using Critical Discourse Analysis
Soliloquy is the talk of a character to himself. It is a kind of loud thinking that is used to express the thoughts of a character.
We will analyze Hamlet’s soliloquy using the critical discourse analysis method.
Coherence
The first soliloquy of Hamlet is coherent as it conveys the idea of dejection, and so are the words used in the soliloquy; it clearly expresses the idea of sadness and sorrow.
It is understandable from the reading of the soliloquy that the character is sad.
The use of words like weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable seems to me all the uses of this world show the sad feelings of Hamlet.
References
Oh that this too solid flesh…
And resolve itself into a dew
Itself is an anaphoric reference because it is referring back to the solid flesh.
…Everlasting had not fix’d his Canon…
This is an anaphoric reference because his refers back to Everlasting, which means God.
…’tis an unweeded garden,
It is an anaphoric reference because it refers back to the world.
So excellent a king; that was to this
That refers back to the king who is dead, and this refers to the king Claudius, who is not mentioned in the immediate text, but the knowledge is shared among the readers that this refers to the existing king, so it can be a homophoric reference.
That he might not…
He refers back to the king, so it is an anaphoric reference.
…so loving to my mother,
So loving could be an anaphoric reference because it tells about the trait of the king, who is mentioned earlier.
Visit her face…
Her refers back to queen, so it is an anaphoric reference.
…Why, she would hang on him
She and him both are anaphoric references because she refers back to Hamlet’s mother and him refers back to his father.
…Frailty, thy name is woman!
It is a cataphoric reference because it refers forward to the woman who is mentioned later in the text.
…Those shoes were old
With which followed
This is an anaphoric reference because which refers back to those shoes.
…Why she, even she
She is an anaphoric reference because she refers back to Hamlet’s mother.
…in her galled eyes,
Her refers back to the queen, so it is an anaphoric reference.
She married….
She refers back to his mother, so it is an anaphoric reference.
It is not, nor it cannot come to good;
It could be an anaphoric reference or a homophoric reference. In the case of anaphoric reference, it refers back to the marriage, so it is an anaphoric reference, and in the case of a homophoric reference, the marriage is not mentioned in the immediate text, so the knowledge is shared among the readers that it is talking about his mother’s marriage, so it could be a homophoric reference.
Repetition
…O God! O God!
Fie on’t! O fie!…
But two months dead!_nay, not so much, not two:
The words here show repetition. Repetition is used to show emphasis here. Hamlet is emphasizing different things; he shows his sadness by wishing to commit suicide, and he uses the word “oh God! Oh God!” to show a strong emotion of sadness.
“Fie on’t! O fie!…” shows disapproval of the world because he is so sad about the remarriage of his mother so soon after his father’s death.
By using the words
“nay, not so much, not two”
shows his emphasis on his mother’s early remarriage.
Contextual meaning
“Or that the everlasting had not fixed
His Cannon ‘gainst self-slaughter…”
If you dive deep into the text looking for contextual meaning, you will find many things. The words above exhibit Hamlet’s religious side; despite sadness, he is not committing suicide because it is something forbidden by religion.
Symbolism
…’tis an unweeded garden,
From the term unweeded garden, we can extract several meanings.
Shakespeare has left us the word for which we can imagine so many meanings.
“Unweeded garden” could be a reference to the monarchical government, which Hamlet considers bad because his uncle is going to be the king whom he compared to Satyr.
It could also mean that people are killing for power and desires, and there is no rule and law.
As if increase in appetite had grown
The words increase and grown used with appetite are showing the excessiveness of love for power, lust, and desires.
Though these words are used by Hamlet for his mother’s hasty marriage. Shakespeare in his plays uses emotions which is a universal phenomenon and can be observed even today, not only when he was writing so we can see this love for power growing and increasing day by day.
…these shoes were old
The above words show the socially and religiously constructed ideas that it is considered bad and disloyalty to get married soon after the death of their husband and in some religions, a period is defined after which a woman can remarry after the death of her husband
Mythological references
1:Hyperion to a Satyr
2:Like Niobe…
3:Then I to Hercules
The use of Greek mythology in the soliloquy shows love for Greek literature, as the Renaissance is the period of the revival of Greek literature. Greek literature shows its influence in the work of the Renaissance.
In the first comparison, Hamlet compares his father to Hyperion (God of light) and uncle to Satyr (half man, half Goat creature) to show his disapproval of his uncle.
Niobe is compared to his mother, and he says that she even mourned for more days than her mother did.
Then “I to Hercule” states that there is no comparison between me and Hercules because he is so powerful; in the same way, there is no comparison between my father and my uncle.
Frailty thy name is woman.
The line indicates Hamlet’s anger at swift remarriage of his mother, he called all the women weak.
Soliloquy portrays the emotional weakness of women. His mother is shown weak as she gets married too soon, even though she was very much loved by her former husband. It could be an emotional weakness in the sense that her son also needs her the most during this time, but she married too quickly.
Unrighteous tears
Wicked Speed
Dexterity to incestuous sheets
The above words show his strong feelings of anger, and he further says
that it is not good nor comes to good, it’s because he was dejected by his mother’s act of remarrying soon, which broke him emotionally.
It cannot come to good might indicate that he was planning to take revenge or to leave them forever to snatch the peace of mind of his mother like his’ was snatched.
Overall, the main theme of the play is revenge, as it is a revenge tragedy. Shakespeare describes the emotions of a person, and by using this universal theme of emotions, even people today can relate to the play of Hamlet.
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