soliloquy 7

• Hamlet questions why he has delayed, and the nature of man and honour. He resolves again to do the bloody deed. Once again, he is not really alone; he has told Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to move away but they are still on stage, following their orders to watch him.
• Despite exhortation and exclamation at the end, this speech excites Hamlet’s blood for no longer than the previous soliloquies. Though it seems to deprecate passive forbearance and endorse the nobility of action — by definition one cannot be great if one merely refrains — the negative diction of ‘puffed’, ‘eggshell’, ‘straw’, ‘fantasy’ and ‘trick’ work against the meaning so that it seems ridiculous of Fortinbras to be losing so much to gain so little, and neither Hamlet nor the audience can be persuaded of the alleged honour to be gained.
• Fortinbras — who is not really a ‘delicate and tender prince’ but a ruthless and militaristic one, leader of a ‘list of lawless resolutes’ (I.1.98) — seems positively irresponsible in his willingness to sacrifice 20,000 men for a tiny patch of ground and a personal reputation.
• ‘Hamlet insists on admiring Fortinbras while at the same time acknowledging the absurdity of his actions’ (p. 371). As so often when Hamlet is debating with himself and playing his own devil’s advocate, the opposite meaning seems to defeat the conscious argument he is trying to present. Lines 53 to 56 are grammatically obscure and add to the confusion. What is clear is Hamlet’s frustration with himself at the beginning of the soliloquy, which the 26 monosyllables comprising lines 43–46 powerfully convey.
• act 4 scene 4
• hamlet admires fortinbras for avenging his father when he has not yet gotten revenge; hamlet decides he must only focus on the revenge of his father from now on
• "how all occasions do inform against me..thoughts be bloody"