soliloquiy 2

• took place in act 1 scene 5
• Having heard the Ghost’s testimony, Hamlet becomes distressed and impassioned. He is horrified by the behaviour of Claudius and Gertrude and is convinced he must avenge his father’s murder. This speech is duplicative, contains much tautology, and is fragmented and confused. To reveal his state of shock he uses rhetorical questions, short phrases, dashes and exclamations, and jumps from subject to subject. God is invoked three times. The dichotomy between head and heart is mentioned again.
• The first part of this soliloquy reveals that Hamlet has been deeply affected by the ghost's revelation about his uncle's crime. His emotions are so intense that they have overwhelmed him.
• In the second part of the soliloquy, Hamlet begins to consider how best to respond to what he knows. He realizes that he cannot simply kill Claudius without evidence because it would be wrong to do so based on mere suspicion. Instead, he decides to test whether or not the king really did commit regicide.
• hamlet says he will remember the ghost and keep his promise of revenge; mad because his mother and claudius are evil but can smile
• "O, all you host of heaven"