Hamlet Commentary Essay

Hamlet is a play that demonstrates a change of character within the protagonist. Act one, scene two contains the first soliloquy spoken by Hamlet. Dealing with a recent tragedy, it is the first time readers are able to discover intimate details about the grieving character. Shakespeare skillfully uses the soliloquy to illustrate essential emotions of the protagonist’s personality after the devastating passing of his father. Hamlet’s dejected state after king Hamlet’s tragic death, his strong adoration of his father, and his criticism of his mother are detailed within this segment.
After his father’s heartbreaking decease, Hamlet experiences powerful feelings of depression. Shakespeare uses descriptive imagery, where Hamlet hopes his “too-solid flesh would melt” (line 129), ending his anguished life. Exaggerating his pain, Hamlet exhibits extreme discontent in his current position. No longer satisfied with the life that god has bestowed upon him, the protagonist contemplates suicide, wishing “the Everlasting had not fix’d his cannon ‘gainst self-slaughter” (line 131-132). In Shakespeare’s time, religion is crucial to one’s existence, which places society constantly indebted to god. In many other works written by William Shakespeare, protagonists consistently assess the option of betraying their religion, which, ultimately, guides them towards evil. Strategically, the playwright uses Hamlet’s dedication to his faith to prove the character’s absolute goodness.   Living a “weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable” (line 133) life, his unhappiness is clearly portrayed in this segment. Hamlet cries out “Fie on’t” (line 135), modernly translated to ‘damn it’, expressing his potent emotions of anger towards his own existence. With the use of imagery, Shakespeare symbolizes Hamlet’s life as an “unweeded garden” (line 134) that is “gross in nature” (line 136), meaning it plays only an undesirable function. The death of Hamlet’s father triggers his evident emotional depression....