Hamlet Act 2

    In Act 2, themes such as love, madness, and deceit develop further as the play unfolds. The combination of all of these themes eventually leads up to Hamlet's second soliloquy in Act 2 Scene 2 and this is what I mainly want to focus on. However it is important to note how Shakespeare includes some of these themes in his play prior to the soliloquy in order to understand the context that surrounds Hamlet's emotions. In Act 2 Scene 1, deceit and lying are used to discover the source of Hamlet's madness. When Claudius and Gertrude question the motive for Hamlet's recent mad behavior, they ask two of Hamlet's friends to, "draw him on to pleasure, and to gather so much as from occasion you may glean, whether aught to us known afflicts him thus, that opened lies within our remedy" (2.2.15-17). Claudius and Gertrude are asking two of Hamlet's good friends to deceitfully dig into his life in order to uncover what could be driving him to this madness he is experiencing. I think this is interesting because it further shows the kind of people Claudius and Gertrude are and that they don't necessarily have the best intentions when it comes to Hamlet.

    In Hamlet's second soliloquy, his true emotions are revealed. The true reason for Hamlet's madness is due to his confusion of emotions surrounding his father's death and his insecurity of taking revenge on Claudius. After watching the players act out a scene, Hamlet is amazed with the emotion that they were able to display, and he wonders why he does not feel more upset about his own father's murder. Hamlet says to himself, "Yet I,/A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak/Like a John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause,/And can say nothing-no, not for a king,/Upon whose property and most dear life/A damned defeat was made. Am I a coward?" (2.2.518-523). Hamlet wonders why he is not more upset over his father's death and concludes that he must be a coward for not having a plan of revenge yet. Later Hamlet states, "This is most brave/That I, the son of the dear murdered/Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell,/Must unpack my heart with words" (2.2.535-538). Hamlet continues to struggle with the notion that he has this great responsibility to seek revenge, but all he can do is talk about his problems to himself. 

    I think that the second soliloquy highlights a very interesting side of Hamlet that we have not seen yet. His inability to take action and the guilt that he feels about this emphasizes the difficult situation he is in. Shakespeare's choice to reveal Hamlet's internal struggle adds more depth to his character and makes me wonder how this mindset is going to evolve and impact him in the future.