Important Soliloquies in Hamlet

 Topic: Important Soliloquies in Hamlet

Paper-1: The Renaissance Literature

Name: Yashpalsinh Baldevsinh Gohil

Class: M.A. Sem-1

Roll no.: 24

                         Submitted To: Prof. Dilip Barad

                                      (Head of English Department,

                                      Maharaja Krushnakumarsinhji 

                                             Bhavnagar University)

                                                            

Important Soliloquies in Hamlet

o   The Role of Soliloquy in a Drama :-

The soliloquy is generally used as a means of revealing the inner working of the mind of character. It is a device by employing which the dramatist can communicate to the audience or the readers the secret thoughts of a character while at the same time preserving the secrecy of those thoughts viv-a-vis the other characters in the drama. By thus communicating to the audience or the readers the secret working of a characters mind, the dramatist throws additional light on the mental make-up of that character as also the mental progress or deterioration if any, of that character. A soliloquy is thus a means of character-revelation. Besides unfolding the inner life of the speaker, a soliloquy may also throw some light on another character or other character by disclosing to us what the speaker thinks of that other character or those characters.

o   Hamlet’s First Soliloquy:-

The first soliloquy of Hamlet occurs (act 1, scene 2, lines 12-9) after the king and the queen have urged Hamlet in the own court to cast off the deep melancholy which, as they think, has taken possession of him as a consequence of his father’s death. In this soliloquy, gimlet reveals the grief that has been gnawing at his mind. He wishes that religion did not forbid suicide.  So that he cod kill himself and be rid of this grief. Hamlet feels disillusioned with the world:

How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable,

Seem to me all the uses of this world!

                                                                   (Act 1, Scene 2)

He compares the world to an “unwedded garden” in which rank and gross things grow in great abundance. He deplores the fact that his mother has remarried barely two months after the death of her first husband and she has now married a man much inferior to the husband she has lost. That his mother should have so soon forgotten the husband who used to dote upon her and whom she also loved fondly makes him believe that women are weak creatures. “Frailty, thy name is woman”, he says. Even a best would have mourned for a longer time. Hamlet considers this marriage of his mother to nature of Hamlet and prepares us for the prolonged delay in his mother to his uncle to be and incestuous affair. This soliloquy shows the meditative nature of Hamlet and prepares us for the prolonged delay in his executing the command of the Ghost for revenge. This soliloquy also throws some light on the character of Hamlet’s dead father who was an excellent king and a loving husband Hamlet’s mother and his uncle fall in our estimation as a result of this soliloquy. We are made aware of the indecent haste of Hamlet’s mother in getting remarried and her not observing even the ritual of morning for a respectable period of time. This soliloquy also shows Hamlet’s filial attachment to his dead father. Hamlet’s reference to Hyperion, Niobe, and Hercules show him to be well-versed in classical literature. In this soliloquy, we also see Hamlet’s tendency to generalize, a tendency which appears again and again in his soliloquies.

o   Hamlet’s Second Soliloquy:-

Hamlet’s second soliloquy (act 1, scene 5, lines 92-112) comes just after the Ghost leaves Hamlet, having charged him with the duty of taking revenge upon the murderer of his father. Hamlet has been stunned by the revelation and echoes the Ghost’s words asking him to remember it. Hamlet resolves to wipe up everything else from his memory and to preserve in it the Ghost’s commandment only. The manner in which Hamlet here speaks of never permitting him to forget the Ghost’s words make us think that Hamlet will soon plunge into action and carry out the behest of the Ghost. But we are much deceived in thinking so. Hamlet now refers to his mother as a “most pernicious woman” and to his uncle as a “villain” a “smiling damned villain”. We see Hamlet’s tendency to generalization when he says: “That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.”

o    Hamlet’s Third Soliloquy:-

           Hamlet’s third soliloquy (Act 2, Scene 2, Lines 543-601) occurs after he has had a talk with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and with the players. In this soliloquy Hamlet bitterly scolds himself for his continuing failure to execute his revenge. The player’s shedding tears while reciting a speech descriptive of Hecuba’s grief over the death of their husband stings Hamlet to the quick and makes him scold himself for his inaction. Hecuba is nothing to the player, and yet the player wept over their fate. What would the player do if he had the motive or passion which Hamlet has? The player, in Hamlet’s place, would drown the stage with tears and “make mad the guilty and appeal the free…” Hamlet regards himself as a dull and muddy-metalled rascal who has so far done nothing to avenge the murder of his father. He feels ashamed of being a coward who can only “unpack” his heart with words and “fall a cursing like a very drab.” He vents his anger upon his uncle by referring to him as “a bloody, bawdy villain; remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindles villain”. He then dwells upon his plan to stage a play by means of which he would be able to make sure whether or not his uncle is a murderer. “The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.” This soliloquy clearly reveals Hamlet’s incapacity for any vigorous king of action, especially for any premeditated bloody deed. It is hard to believe that Hamlet could not have found an opportunity for killing the king. If it were for a lack of opportunity that he has not acted so far, he would have mentioned the fact in this soliloquy. It is clear to us, as it is to him, that what has prevented him from doing anything is a natural want, or a natural deficiency. It is this natural want that makes him ask: “Am I a coward?” He realizes that it is his own lack of “gall to make oppression bitter” that has stood in the way of his executing the command of the Ghost. If he had not been lacking in “gall” he should have “fatted all the region kites with this stave’s offal”, that is, fed the kites with the flesh of the king. Hamlet condemns himself in round terms for his inaction and for merely indulging in worlds and curses “like a whore”. This soliloquy thus makes it clear that we are dealing with a philosopher, and not with a man of action. He now seeks a confirmation of the Ghosts charge against Claudius. This is rather strange; because it has taken him long to doubt the authenticity of the Ghost’s charge. His entertaining a doubt regarding the truthfulness of the Ghost so long after the revelation was made by the Ghost seems merely a pretext for a father which he has seen might have been the devil who appeared to him in the melancholy. The players have come to Elsinore just by chance. We naturally ask what Hamlet would have done if the players had not come and thus provided him with the opportunity of seeking a confirmation of the Ghost’s charge against Claudius.

o   His Fourth Soliloquy:-

Hamlet’s fourth soliloquy (Act 3, Scene 1, Lines 56-88) is the most famous and the most celebrated because it is the most philosophical of all. In this soliloquy we have a mental debate. Hamlet finds himself on the horns of a dilemma:

“To be or not to be - that is the question”.

                                                                            (Act 3, Scene 1)

He asks which of the dilemma to alternatives is nobler whether silently to suffer the cruelties of fate or to put up a fight against the misfortunes of life. It would be better perhaps to commit suicide if death were to mean a kind of total sleep and total unconsciousness. But the reason that prevents a man from committing suicide is that he does not know what is in store for him after death. It is the fear of what may happen to us after death that makes us endure the ills and fear of what may injustices of life. And it is for this reason that a man’s resolution or power of determination is weakened and a man finds himself unable to execute great enterprises. This soliloquy, more than by any other, reveals the speculative temperament of Hamlet, his irresolute and wavering mind, and his incapacity for any premeditated action of a momentous nature. This soliloquy, again, shows Hamlet’s generalizing habit of thought. The lines in which he gives a catalogue of the misfortunes of life are a neat summing-up of the painful features of human existence the oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely, the pangs of disprized love, the laws delay, the insolence of office, etc. the whole of this soliloquy has universal appeal because Hamlet is speaking for all human beings. There are occasions in every mans life when he feels a strong desire to put and end to his life but is prevented from doing so by several considerations including those specifically mentioned by Hamlet’s delay in carrying out his purpose and to show at the same time the mental torture that Hamlet has been undergoing because of his failure to have carried out that purpose.

Thank You.

A Critique on Gulliver’s Travels

Topic: A Critique on Gulliver’s Travels

Paper 2: The Neo-Classical Literature

Name: Yashpalsinh Baldevsinh Gohil

Class: M.A. Sem-1

Roll no.: 24

                      Submitted To: Ms. Heenaba Zala

                                             (English Department,

                                    Maharaja Krushnakumarsinhji

                                           Bhavnagar University)

Gulliver’s Travels a Satire, a Parody and a Comic Masterpiece:-

The book called Gulliver’s Travels is a satire on four aspects of man the physical, the political the intellectual, and the moral. The book is also a brilliant parody of travel literature and it is at once science fiction and a witty parody of science fiction. It expresses savage indignation at the follies vices and stupidities of men and it shows and unawareness of man’s tragic insufficiency. At the same time it is a great comic masterpiece a fact which of solemn temperaments often fails to recognize.

Such Occasions which make us laugh when we read Gulliver’s Travels:-

There are many such incidents in the book which make us laugh frequently when we read it. All of them are very humorous. We laugh and were meant to laugh at the toy kingdom of the Lilliputians at the acrobatic skill of the politicians and the courtiers; at the absurd jealousy of the diminutive minister who suspects and adulterer relationship between his wife and the giant Gulliver. We laugh at the plight of Gulliver in Brodbingnag one of the lords of creation, frightened by puppy, rendered ludicrous by the tricks of a mischievous monkey, and in awe of a dwarf embarrassed the lascivious antics of the maids of honour and at last content to be tended like a baby by his girl nurse. We laugh at the abstractness of the philosophers of Laputa, and at the mad experimenters of Balnibarbi. And we are right in at least smiling at the preposterous horses, the Houyhnhnms, so limited and so positive in their knowledge and opinions, so skilled in such improbable tasks as threading needles a carrying so complacent in their belief that they are “the perfection of nature”. Much of the pleasure that we feel in this book is due to this gay, comic, fanciful inventiveness. However, we should also deep in mind the fact that beyond the mirth and liveliness of the book are gravity, anger anxiety and frustration, and swift intended that we should experience these also in full measure.

The Events which established the Tones of the Four Voyages:-

The title of the book tells us that it is and account of Gulliver’s Travels into several remote nations of the world. The four voyages of Gulliver are so arranged in the book as to show an intensification of tone as we travel through increasing darkness into the black heart of humanity. But the forward movement of the book is interrupted by the third voyage which is a grim comment on science, politics, and economics as practiced by madmen. The tone of each voyage is established by the nature of the event that brings about the adventure. In the first voyage, it is accident or the carelessness of the look-out, which accounts for the shipwreck in the second Gulliver, is left alone in a strange land through the cowardice of his shipmates. In the third he is captured and later abandoned by pirates. In the fourth, his crew of cutthroat revolts, seizes the ship and leaves him to starve on a nearby island.

The Enlightened and Benevolent Brobdingnagians:-

In Gulliver’s Travels we can see that in Brobdingnag we meet creatures ten or twelve times the size of Europeans, and we share Gulliver’s anxiety lest their moral natures be as brutish as their a violent shift of simple tone and point of view Gulliver, who seemed to be lovable and humane among the Lilliputians, appears disgraceful and morally insensitive in contrast to the enlightened and benevolent people of this land. Since Gulliver represents us (all human beings), his shame and ludicrousness are ours. When the peasants of Brobdingnag discover Gulliver, they feel both curiosity and dislike. The farmer picks him up with the caution of one who tries to catch a small dangerous animal in such a way that it shall not be able to scratch or bite him. Gulliver fears that his captor may dush him to the ground.

The Comic Obsessions of the People of Laputa:-

The people of Laputa or the flying island visited by Gulliver in the course of his third voyage are obsessed with only two branches of knowledge namely- mathematics and music. These obsessions render these people awkward and clumsy so far as the common actions and behavior of life are concerned they are very bad reasoners and imagination, fancy, and invention are alien to them. The tailor who is ordered to make a suit of clothes for Gulliver first takes Gulliver’s altitude with a quadrant’ and them with rule and campuses, sketches the dimensions and gut lines of Gulliver’s whole body on a sheet of paper. After six days, the tailor brings a suit of clothes which is very badly made and which is quite out of shape because he had made a mistake in his calculation. The obsession with music makes these people think that they can hear the music of the spheres. Besides, these people are in a state of constant fear because of the changes which they think would take place in the heavenly bodies. They apprehend the earth would, in course of time, be swallowed up by the sun or that the face of the sun would by degrees become dark and therefore give no more light to the world. The astronomers and this island have been able to make discoveries beyond those made by European astronomers. The astronomers here have made a catalogue of ten thousand fixed stars they have discovered two satellites revolving about mars and they have observed ninety three different comets. All this is intended to be a satire on the scientific experiments of the time because swift was no believer in science.

The Portrayal of the Houyhnhnms:-

Swift does not recommend that Gulliver (who represents us also) should try to become a Houyhnhnms. We find that every sense Houyhnhnms land is a rationalistic paradise. The Houyhnhnms are the embodiment of pure reason. They know neither love nor grief nor lust nor ambition. They cannot lie, and they do not understand the meaning of opinion. Their society is an aristocracy based upon the slave labour of the Yahoos and the work of a specially bred servant class. They face the processes of life, such as marriage, child birth, accident and death with a stoical calm. Their society is a planned society that has achieved the mild anarchy which many utopian dreamers have aspired to. They practice eugenics and they control the size of their population children are educated by the state. The agrarian economy is supervised by a democratic council. The government is conducted entirely by periodic assembles. The Houyhnhnms feel natural human affection for one another but they love everyone equally. This picture is all very admirable, but it is remote from the possibilities of human.

Thank You.

Six Parts of Tragedy

Topic: Aristotle’s Poetics: Six Parts of Tragedy

Paper-3: Literary Theory and Criticism

Name: Yashpalsinh Baldevsinh Gohil

Class: M.A. Sem-1

Roll no.: 24

                 Submitted To: Prof. Dilip Barad

                               (Head of English Department,

                               Maharaja Krushnakumarsinhji

                                      Bhavnagar University)

Aristotle’s Poetics:

Six Parts of Tragedy

Aristotle asserts that any tragedy can be divided into six component parts, and that every tragedy is made up of these six parts with nothing else besides. There is (a) the spectacle (opsis), which is the overall visual appearance of the stage and the actors. The means of imitation can be divided into (b) melody/songs (Melos) and (c) diction (lexis), which has to do with the composition of the verses/ versification of dialogues. The agents of the action can be understood in terms of (d) character and (e) thought. Thought (dianoia) seems to denote the intellectual qualities of an agent while character seems to denote the moral qualities (ethics) of an agent. Finally, there is (f) the plot, or mythos, which is the harmonious combination/ arrangements of incidents and actions in the story. Aristotle argues that, among these six, the plot is the most important. To the question whether plot makes a tragedy or character. Aristotle argues that without action there cannot be tragedy at the same time characters are required to do action. The characters serve to advance the action of the story, not vice versa. The ends we pursue in life, our happiness and our misery, all take the form of action tragedy is written not eerily to imitate man but to imitate man in action. That is, according to Aristotle, happiness consists in a certain kind of activity rather than in a certain quality of character.

Plot:-

Plots Will Have the Following Qualities

(1) The plot must be “a whole”, with a beginning, middle, and end. The beginning, called by modern critics the incentive moment, must start the cause and effect chain but not be dependent on anything outside the compass of the play. The end, or resolution, must be caused by the preceding events but not lead to other incidents outside the compass of the play, the end should therefore solve or resolve the problem created during the incentive moment. Aristotle calls the cause and effect chain leading from the incentive moment to the climax “the tying up” (desis), in modern terminology the complication. He therefore terms the more rapid cause and effect chain from the climax to the resolution the “unraveling”, in modern terminology the denouement.

(2) The plot must be “complete”, having “unity of action”. By this Aristotle means that the plot must be structurally self-contained, with the incidents bound together by internal necessity, each action leading inevitably to the next with no outside intervention, no dues ex machina.

(3) The plot must be “of a certain magnitude”, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Aristotle argues that plots should not be too brief; the more incidents and themes that the playwright can bring together in an organic unity, the greater the artistic value and richness of the play.

(4) The plot may be either simple or complex, although complex is better.

(5) Aristotle goes to the extent of saying that ‘without action there cannot be a tragedy; there may be without character.’

(6) Aristotle argues that if you put together group of speeches will not make a tragedy though the reading and performing may be entertaining.

(7) Greek plays- man doomed before his birth- character is not destiny.

(8) Play without good plot is a play without action- nothing happens- there would be no drama at all.

Character:-

Character has the second place in importance. In a perfect tragedy, character will support plot, i.e., personal motivations will be intricately connected parts of the cause- and –effect chain of action producing pity and fear in the audience. Characters in tragedy should have the following qualities.

(1)  “good or fine”. Aristotle relates this quality to moral purpose and says it is relative to class: “Even a woman may be god, and also a slave, though the woman may be said to be an inferior being, and the slave quite worthless.”

(2) “fitness of character”- appropriate- e.g. valor is appropriate for a warrior but not for a woman. 

(3) “true to life”- true to human nature(realistic).

(4) “consistency”. Once a character’s personality and motivations are established, these should continue throughout the play.

(5) “necessary or probable.” Characters must be logically constructed according to “the law of probability or necessity” that governs the actions of the play.

(6) “true to life and yet more beautiful.”(idealized, ennobled)

Thought:-

Thought is third in importance, and is found “where something is proved to be or not to be, or a general maxim is enunciated”. Aristotle says little about thought and most of what he has to say is associated with how speeches should reveal character. However, we may assume that this category would also include what we call the themes of a play.

Diction:-

Diction is fourth, and is the expression of the meaning in words which are proper and appropriate to the plot, characters, and end of the tragedy. It is also the choice of words to embellish language with beautiful ornaments.

Song or Melody:-

Song, or melody, is fifth, and is the musical element of the chorus.

Aristotle argues that the chorus should be fully integrated into the play like an actor; choral odes/songs/ melodious lyrical dialogues should not be “mere interludes”, but should contribute to the unity of the plot. It is, in a sense, a part of diction itself because its purpose is also that of evoking and sometimes intensifying the emotional pitch of the spectators.

Choral odes/songs/melodious lyrical dialogues were singular feature of the Greek tragedy. In fact, they were a necessity too in the Greek technique of presentation and in the Greek open air theatre. The Greeks did not have painted scenery, or any other means of developing and maintaining the grip of interest over the spectators.

Spectacle:-

Spectacle is last, for it is least connected with literature; “the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet.”

It is the technique of presentation in drama. It means that the medium of tragedy is dramatic action; it is not narration. Tragedy is a matter of stage performance not of mere closet reading

Although Aristotle recognizes the emotional attraction of spectacle, he argues that superior poets rely on the inner structure of the play rather than spectacle to arouse pity and fear; those who rely heavily on spectacle “create a sense, not of the terrible, but only of the monstrous”.

Thank You.