Hamlet's second siloquy
...fesses his disapproval with himself. This passage takes place in Act 2, scene 2. Hamlet has just witnessed the player recite the dramatic scene and asks the players to perform later on that evening using Hamlet's inserted lines. Hamlet then begins to question himself as compared to the player. The play is set in Elizabethan time and the passage is located at the end of the scene and at the end of Act 2. The second siloquy is written in unrhymed poetry. Hamlet is alone and speaking only to himself. In this siloquy we are able to get directly into Hamlet's mind and thoughts. Hamlet is displeased with himself, especially after witnessing the actor portray his emotions so well. He describes himself a "rogue" and a "peasant slave". Hamlet is fascinated by the actor and his abilities to take something unreal and actually portray such feeling. With this feeling in his words, tears in his eyes, paleness in his face, and such realness in his actions, the actor is the character. The actor never experienced the situation, nor did he know Hecuba, yet he still seemed to possess more passion than Hamlet thought he ever possessed. Hamlet wonders that if the player would have gone through his situation, would he have already taken action and confessed the truths of Claudius? Hamlet thinks he is a mere coward, dull-spirited, and without plans for revenge. He calls himself "pigeon- liver'd", mocking himself and admitting to his lack of courage. Hamlet wonders why he has not killed Claudius yet and left his remains out for the birds. He begs for his brain to start working and put an end to the evil. In the following lines which close the siloquy and Act 2, Hamlet wonders whether if the spirit he spoke to was the devil, instead of his father, luring him to sin. Hamlet realizes he needs impirical evidence to know if the spirit was right. He then decides that he must test Claudius' guilt by watching his reaction to a play in which the murder will be re-enacted. Shakespeare's diction is of course, impeccable. He uses words such as; "rogue", "peasant-slave", "a dull and muddy mettled r...