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You're thinking of his soliloquy "How all occasions do inform against me" in act 4. In the soliloquy he ponders the behaviour of Fortinbras and his army and asks himself why he is still twiddling his thumbs. It contains the line which might well sum up the entire play, "I do not know why yet I live to say 'This thing's to do' sith have cause and will and strength and means to do't."

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11y ago
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11y ago

Hamlet's soliloquy in act 4, "How all occasions do inform against me and spur my dull revenge" is basically him asking himself what is keeping him from killing his uncle. The key line (which pretty much sums up the play) is "I do not know why yet I live to say 'This thing's to do' sith I have cause, and means, and strength and will to do't." If Fortinbras's army can march off and get themselves killed for something really really stupid, then why should he worry that he will die trying to kill his uncle, when he has such a powerful motive?

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Oh, what a rogue and peasant slave he is! Is it not monstrous that the player can imitate all the emotions one ought to have, and Hamlet sits there peaking like John a Dreams and can say nothing? Well, Hamlet thinks so. He works himself up into a proper frenzy, screaming at that villain, that bloody, bawdy villain, remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain, Claudius. O vengeance!

Well, what a fool he is. Cursing like a very drab, what good does that do? He must put his brains into action and voila! He has heard that guilty creatures at a play have given the show away if the plot reminds them of their crime. He'll have the players play something like the murder of his father; he'll tempt him to the quick; if he so much as blenches, Hamlet will know his course. After all, the ghost might be a devil and the devil has ways to tempt people in order to damn them. No, Hamlet will make sure. He'll have grounds more relative than this. The play's the thing wherein he'll catch the conscience of the king.

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7y ago

As well as revealing Hamlet's plot to catch the king in his guilt, Hamlet's second soliloquy uncovers the basic nature of Hamlet's true conflict. He is committed to seeking revenge for his father, yet he cannot act on behalf of his father because of his revulsion toward extracting that cold and calculating revenge.

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Q: What does hamlet basicly say in his soliloquy Act 2?
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How does Hamlet think he is different from the actor?

You are probably alluding to Hamlet's soliloquy "Oh, what a rogue and peasant slave am I" in which Hamlet saysIs it not monstrous that this player here,But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,Could force his soul so to his own conceitThat from her working all his visage wann'd,Tears in his eyes, distraction in's aspect,A broken voice, and his whole function suitingWith forms to his conceit?He then goes on to say,What would he do,Had he the motive and the cue for passionThat I have? He would drown the stage with tears . . .Hamlet is thinking about the actor's ability to express himself, to act in a way which shows his emotions, even though they are fictitious emotions. Hamlet thinks he cannot do this, that he is a "dull and muddy-mettled rascal" who can "say nothing". This is, of course, ridiculous, because Hamlet does nothing but talk. He talks more than any other Shakespearean character. Ironically in this soliloquy in which he says he can say nothing, he goes on and on. In the next scene he will tell Horatio, "give me that man who is not passion's slave" and will admire him for the exact opposite qualities than those he finds in the player.


What in Hamlet's speech signals his unconscious thought that it is his mother's fault for being the object of male desires?

Hamlet does not blame his mother for being the object of male desires; he blames her for giving in to her own desires. Hamlet feels that as a widow her interest in men should cease. "You cannot call it love for at your age the hectic in the blood is tame", and "to live in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed, stewed in corruption, honeying and making love over the nasty sty" is disgusting to Hamlet. In Act III Scene 4 Hamlet pleads with his mother to stop her sex life. Claudius may be interested, but Gertrude can say no at any time, and that is exactly what Hamlet wants her to do. "But go not to mine uncle's bed; assume a virtue, if you have it not." The same theme is present in his soliloquy in Act 1 Scene 2: "O, most wicked speed to post with such dexterity to incestuous sheets."


Are there any soliloquies in The Taming of the Shrew?

There is a soliloquy spoken by Petruchio in act II, scene i, l. 165-179. He is talking to himself about what he will say to Kate if she does something negative.


What have the watchmen seen just before the following excerpt from Act you scene you of Hamlet?

The curtain went up, or the house lights went down. Anyway, something happened to tell the audience that the play had started. And of course Francisco has to be seen by Bernardo before Bernardo can say the opening line of the play.


Why does Hamlet say 'words words words'?

Polonius has just asked Hamlet what he is reading. Of course what he wants Hamlet to say is the name of the book. But just to be irritating Hamlet responds "Words, words, words."

Related questions

Why did Shakespeare say to be or not to be?

The line appears in "Hamlet". In the play, Hamlet's father had been murdered, and his brother had usurped the throne. The ghost of Hamlet's father demands that Hamlet take revenge on his terrible murder. Torn between his word for vengeance and his conscience, he ponders wether or not he should go on living, hence, the "To Be Or Not To Be" soliloquy.


Who is educated and brooding?

Hamlet, Marcellus and Horatio say so in Act 1


What is to be or not to be?

It is the opening line of a famous Shakespearean soliloquy from the play Hamlet, Act 3 Scene 1. Some people think that in this speech Hamlet debates whether it is better to kill himself, or go on living in misery. Others think that he is talking about whether to risk death by pursuing his revenge. Still more would say that it is not about Hamlet specifically at all, but rather about the human tendency to hang on to life no matter how awful it is (You will note that, unlike all his other soliloquys, Hamlet never uses the words "I" or "me" in this one).


Why is the quote to be or not to be?

Because that is what Shakespeare wrote for Hamlet to say early in Act 3 Scene 1 of the play Hamlet. It is the beginning of a longish but extremely famous speech.


How does Hamlet think he is different from the actor?

You are probably alluding to Hamlet's soliloquy "Oh, what a rogue and peasant slave am I" in which Hamlet saysIs it not monstrous that this player here,But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,Could force his soul so to his own conceitThat from her working all his visage wann'd,Tears in his eyes, distraction in's aspect,A broken voice, and his whole function suitingWith forms to his conceit?He then goes on to say,What would he do,Had he the motive and the cue for passionThat I have? He would drown the stage with tears . . .Hamlet is thinking about the actor's ability to express himself, to act in a way which shows his emotions, even though they are fictitious emotions. Hamlet thinks he cannot do this, that he is a "dull and muddy-mettled rascal" who can "say nothing". This is, of course, ridiculous, because Hamlet does nothing but talk. He talks more than any other Shakespearean character. Ironically in this soliloquy in which he says he can say nothing, he goes on and on. In the next scene he will tell Horatio, "give me that man who is not passion's slave" and will admire him for the exact opposite qualities than those he finds in the player.


What in Hamlet's speech signals his unconscious thought that it is his mother's fault for being the object of male desires?

Hamlet does not blame his mother for being the object of male desires; he blames her for giving in to her own desires. Hamlet feels that as a widow her interest in men should cease. "You cannot call it love for at your age the hectic in the blood is tame", and "to live in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed, stewed in corruption, honeying and making love over the nasty sty" is disgusting to Hamlet. In Act III Scene 4 Hamlet pleads with his mother to stop her sex life. Claudius may be interested, but Gertrude can say no at any time, and that is exactly what Hamlet wants her to do. "But go not to mine uncle's bed; assume a virtue, if you have it not." The same theme is present in his soliloquy in Act 1 Scene 2: "O, most wicked speed to post with such dexterity to incestuous sheets."


Did Hamlet say to be or not to be?

He did indeed. It's the most famous thing he says. He says it in Act III Scene 1 of the play.


What does hamlet say he's going to do that he makes Horatio and Marcellus promise not to ay anything?

act madly, when really he is not mad.


Are there any soliloquies in The Taming of the Shrew?

There is a soliloquy spoken by Petruchio in act II, scene i, l. 165-179. He is talking to himself about what he will say to Kate if she does something negative.


What have the watchmen seen just before the following excerpt from Act you scene you of Hamlet?

The curtain went up, or the house lights went down. Anyway, something happened to tell the audience that the play had started. And of course Francisco has to be seen by Bernardo before Bernardo can say the opening line of the play.


Why does Hamlet say 'words words words'?

Polonius has just asked Hamlet what he is reading. Of course what he wants Hamlet to say is the name of the book. But just to be irritating Hamlet responds "Words, words, words."


What is comitment?

Comitment is basicly sticking to somthing you say (: