Key Passage Analysis: Hamlet 2.2.

576-617
The Passage:

HAMLET Now I am alone.

O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!
Is it not monstrous that this player here,
But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,
580 Could force his soul so to his own conceit
That from her working all his visage wanned,
Tears in his eyes, distraction in his aspect,
A broken voice, and his whole function suiting
With forms to his conceitand all for nothing!
585 For Hecuba!
Whats Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba,
That he should weep for her? What would he do
Had he the motive and the cue for passion
That I have? He would drown the stage with tears
590 And cleave the general ear with horrid speech,
Make mad the guilty and appall the free,
Confound the ignorant and amaze indeed
The very faculties of eyes and ears. Yet I,
A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak
595 Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause,
And can say nothingno, not for a king
Upon whose property and most dear life
A damned defeat was made. Am I a coward?
Who calls me villain? breaks my pate across?
600 Plucks off my beard and blows it in my face?
Tweaks me by the nose? Gives me the lie i ththroat
As deep as to the lungs? Who does me this?
Ha! Swounds, I should take it. For it cannot be
But I am pigeon-livered and lack gall
605 To make oppression bitter, or ere this
I should have fatted all the region kites
With this slaves offal. Bloody, bawdy villain!
Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless
villain!
610 O, vengeance!
Why, what an ass am I! This is most brave,
That I, the son of a dear father murdered,
Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell,
Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words
615 And fall a-cursing like a very drab,
A scullion! Fie upon t! Foh!
About, my brains!
 Hamlet 2.2.576-617 Passage and Analysis 2

Explication and Commentary

Context: In Act 2, scene 2, a troupe of traveling players visits Elsinore, and Hamlet convinces one of
them to deliver a speech about the death of Priam, king of Troy, who was killed by Pyrrhus when seeking
revenge for his father Achilles death.1 (Online, click View and then Footnotes to see this footnote).
After the actors performance, Hamlet asks the players to stage for the court the next day a play called
The Murder of Gonzago, into which Hamlet plans to insert a short speech (which he calls The
Moustrap). Hamlet then delivers this soliloquy in which he chastises himself for displaying far less
emotion and far less resolve to avenge his fathers death than a mere actor who is only playing a part, not
living the events themselves as Hamlet is. At the end of this soliloquy (in a portion not included here),
Hamlet plans to watch Claudius during the performance the next day in order to ascertain his guilt. The
plays the thing, he says, wherein Ill catch the conscience of the king.

The Soliloquy as a Whole:

Sydney Bolt argues that the soliloquies in Hamlet can be read as involving at least three speakers
(1) a passionate avenger, (2) an ironic critic, and (3) an actor considering his part. He argues
that the ironic critic comprises two conventional roles: the Fool, whose role is to expose
pretensions, and the Malcontent, who is outraged by what he sees about him and is given to
vehement denunciations. Certainly, this scheme can be applied to this soliloquy.

Another way of reading Hamlets soliloquy is as a series of positions from which Hamlet
discourses on what he has done, or failed to do, so far. One reading of the different positions
offered in the soliloquy:
a self-judgment of baseness and utter worthlessness (577; also 611)
a comparison between the players response to a revenge with his own response (578-
593)
a criticism of his lack of action (593-598)
a questioning of the reasons for his lack of action (598-602)
a debate on a self-accusation of cowardice (603-607)
a vehement verbal condemnation of Claudius (607-609)
a contemptuous reflection on his wordiness (611-617)
a resolution to put on a play (617- 627; 633-634)
an expression of doubt about the status of the Ghost (627-632)
His emotions range from guilt, to self-deprecation, to regret, to condemnation, to resolution, to
motivation.

This soliloquy is also a discourse on acting and the theatre.

It follows the Priam/Hecuba speech delivered by one of the players, and at the end of
the soliloquy, Hamlet hatches his idea about drawing out Claudiuss guilt through the
device of a play mimicking his actions.
References to acting, the stage, playing a role, etc. abound in the soliloquy (play,
player, stage, scene).
Even the accusations Hamlet hurls at himself are roles that an actor might play:
villain, rogue, rascal, coward, etc.
1
The background for the Players speech on Hecuba can be found in Book II of Virgils Aeneid, where the epic hero
Aeneas tells Dido, the Queen of Carthage, the story of the fall of Troy. Aeneas recounts how Pyrrhus, the son of the
Greek hero Achilles, savagely killed old King Priam during the Greek sack of the city, while Queen Hecuba, Priams
wife, watched helplessly. (Priams son Paris had killed Achiles.) Within the world of the play, Pyrrhus is
symbolically like Claudius in that he is the ruthless murderer of a father; at the same time, he is like Hamlet, a son
who feels bound to avenge the death of a father.
 Hamlet 2.2.576-617 Passage and Analysis 3

The soliloquy proceeds through stages like acts in a play. In Act 1, Hamlet is the
actor jealous of another who plays his role better than he himself does; in Act 2,
Hamlet plays the role of questioner, doubter; in Act 3, Hamlet is the self-flagellator;
and in Act 4, Hamlet becomes the playwright.
Hamlet is an actor throughout the play. He pretends loyalty to Claudius, acts as if he
hates Ophelia, feigns madness.
Claudius, condemned in this soliloquy, is also an actor who plays a role that is not
rightfully his to play: King of Denmark/husband to Gertrude/father to Hamlet.
Hamlet even considers whether the ghost might be an actor of sorts, wondering
whether the spirit might be playing the role of devil in the pleasing shape of an
actor.

Line by Line:

line 576: Shakespeare establishes that Hamlet is now alone onstage. Thats our signal that a
soliloquy is coming. Any time that a character soliloquizes, he or she reveals honest and
significant reflection. In a play that is so filled with pretense and stratagems, this honesty is
refreshing and incredibly useful for characterization. (However, refer back to the theory of the
soliloquy section in the analysis of 1.2.133-164.) Also, metaphysically, Hamlet is alone. He
alone is charged with exacting revenge on Claudius.

line 577: Hamlets self-accusation is indicative of his state of mind. He sees himself as criminal
or unprincipled (rogue) and as lowly and submissive/subordinate (peasant slave). We must ask to
what or to whom Hamlet fancies himself submissive. Perhaps he means that he is a slave to his
own tragic tendency to contemplate rather than act. He will later wonder if he is a slave to his
own cowardice. Perhaps the use of the word rogue as ironic here, since Hamlet hasnt done
anything yet. Ironically, his inaction isnt worthy of being labeled roguish.

lines 578-79:
He compares himself to the actor who has just enacted part of Book II of Virgils
Aeneid. He notes that this actor has merely been enacting a fiction, . . . a dream of
passion. The theme of pretense emerges hereappearance vs. reality. The
players imagination is more powerful in its effect than the effect of reality on
Hamlet. A play is merely an entertaining lie.
Also, please note the meaning of passion here: it means suffering.
The word monstrous connotes unnatural.

line 580: Conceit: (1) imaginative thought; (2) elaborate metaphor used in poetry. This is a
reference to the affected delivery of speech and the portrayal of emotion on the part of a capable
actor. The double meaning here hinges on the assumption that the fiction is presented in metrical
verse (as is Hamlet). The more likely meaning here, however, is the former.

line 581:
Her is most likely a reference to the actors soul. It is interesting that he chooses to
describe the soul with a feminine pronoun, because the delicacy and emotion that
characterize the soul have traditionally been thought of as feminine.
Visage: face; facial expression.
To Wan: to grow pale. (The power of the actors imaginationor the power of his
soulhas caused him to grow pale in his portrayal of grief and sorrow.)
 Hamlet 2.2.576-617 Passage and Analysis 4

line 582: He is crying, and he looks preoccupied. Where are the tears in Gertrudes eyes?

lines 583-84: He speaks as though he is weeping. His entire appearance becomes a slave to his
imagination. This sounds almost like method acting, but that approach to dramatic portrayals and
the term itself comes about much later with the rise of legendary drama coach Stanislavski. The
method consists of the actors actually convincing him/herself that he is actually living the role
not merely mimicking feigned emotion. Still the actor gives his whole self (his whole
function) to his role; Hamlet has given nothing to his. Also, in good art, form [the medium, the
structure] follows function [purpose, meaning]. Hamlet believes that his own form (his actions,
his speech, his expressions) should follow his function (his desire, his intent, his imagination).

lines 584-87:
And all for nothingOnce again, the play is a mere fiction. The player has no
cause; Hamlet has a massive one. Again, see the footnote concerning the allusion to
Hecuba. This actor doesnt really care about Hecuba. She is nothing to him, and he is
nothing to her. Why should he cry for her? Hamlets father was everything to him,
and in the he to Hecuba reference, we see that Hamlet believes he meant a lot to his
father.
The power of pretense is overwhelming, Hamlet seems to imply. Think of the larger
thematic structure of Hamlet.
Also note the alliteration here. It hurries the line but does so gracefully. Shakespeare
strove to create a fluidity of dialogue. This sonorous quality may well more
completely capture the general ear of the audience than would less graceful
composition.

lines 587-89: If this actor had the motivation that Hamlet has, he would surely become even
more emotionally involved. We should read cue as a synonym for reason or instigation. By
using the word cue, Hamlet imagines himself as an actor on stage who fails to respond to his
cue. We might also consider that Hamlets question, What would he do? may also be turned
inward: What should I do?

line 589: The second half of this line contains hyperbole (overstatement). This is sorrow of
heroic dimensions compared to Hamlets own puny response. Drown[ing] the stage with tears
is also a sharp contrast to the puniness of Gertrudes grief; Gertrude, Hamlet tells us in 1.2.153
only appeared to be Niobe. So the parallel between this and Hamlets earlier soliloquy is in the
contrast between real and feigned tears, grief that is as opposed to grief that seems. (See
1.2.79.)

lines 590-91:
Here we should notice the inclusion of ear. The sense of the line is that the actor
would spread the word of the wrongdoing and, in so doing, drive the guilty party to
madness and horrify those innocent of the deed.
We have to recall, however, the ghosts claim that the whole ear of Denmark has
heard a false story (forgd process) of his death, which was, of course,
accomplished by poison poured in the ear, cleaving the ear so to speak.
Here, the actors words cleave the ear with horrible speech as Gertrude later
complains that Hamlets words have cleft my heart in twain (3.4.177). Claudius,
however, cleaves with action, while the actor and Hamlet cleave with words.
Painfully aware of what he should be doing, perhaps Hamlet is also aware that his
guilt at his own inaction may make him mad.
 Hamlet 2.2.576-617 Passage and Analysis 5

Appall also means to overcome with fear and anxiety. This is also a reminder of
how terrible Claudius act was; it threatens the whole of mankind (the free.)

lines 592-93: Such a display from the actor would confuse those who are dimwitted. Also, we
should note the further use of ear. Amaze here is acting as a synonym for over-stimulating.

Additionally, the reference to eyes and ears in line 593 relates to Hamlet. Hamlet isnt able to
trust the evidence his own eyes and ears give him about the ghost. He cant integrate his body
(action, senses) with his mind (thought, resolve) just as this speech itself doesnt integrate the
body but repeatedly references unintegrated body parts (eyes, ears, throat, nose, lungs,
liver, etc.)

line 594:
Mettle (in the alliterative phrase, muddy-mettled) here means stamina or
courage. To call his own mettle muddy suggests that it does not shine (as we
might expect literal metal to do); he is employing a metaphor to suggest that his will
is somehow crippled or paralyzed.
The image is of muddiness (lack of clarity, perhaps representative of Hamlets
thinking), but also of a dulled, blunted weapon. The two parts of the image support
each other: Hamlet is dull because his mind is muddy, and his metal (mettle also
means spirit) is dull because it is blunt.
Rascal is a term of self-abuse. It can either mean common scoundrel or refer to a
young deer which has not grown antlers as a mark of its adulthood.

line 595:
A John-a-dreams is one who is always lost in daydreams, whose mind is always
somewhere else. (Hamlet?)
Unpregnant of my cause suggests that the charge that the Ghost gave him has not
yet been accomplished, has not grown to ripeness or fruition. He is lacking the
immediacy of action.
Pregnant here means full. Remember the expression pregnant with meaning?

line 598: Heres another use of alliteration. More importantly, though, here Hamlet actually asks
if he is a coward. He seems confused as to the real reason that he has not yet exacted revenge.
This excessive thinking (this time, self-reflection) is certainly in character.

lines 599-602: This series of questions follows the central question here: Is he a coward?
Moreover, who accuses him of cowardice? Who calls him a scoundrel? Who knocks him in the
head (pate)? Who offers him the insult of blowing his own beard in his faceas though he is too
cowardly to retaliate? [Note: plucking off the beard emphasizes the themes of pretense and
disguise, like an actor who wears a beard in a performance.] Who dares tweak his nose as though
he is a timid weakling who will not strike back? Who makes excuses for his failure to act (giving
the lie i th throat)? The answer: HIMSELF!! Hamlet sees himself as altogether objectionable,
weak, and morally deficient.

line 603: Swounds is a contraction of His (or Gods) woundsthis, of course, is a reference to
Jesus Christ. This is a common oath; in other words, Hamlet is swearing here.

lines 604-05:
 Hamlet 2.2.576-617 Passage and Analysis 6

Pigeon-livered means gentle. Often the word pigeon is used to describe a delicate-
natured young woman. Here Hamlet is equating a gentle disposition and weakness.
Femininity, by association, then assumes a negative connotation. Misogyny?
To lack gall means to be devoid of courage.
To make oppression bitter means to take offense at a wrongdoing.

lines 605-07:
Ere means before. Hamlet means that if he really were courageous (like Fortinbras
or Laertes), he would have fed the guts of this slave (Claudius) to the kites (birds of
prey) near Elsinore. Who are these kites metaphorically? Scavenging members of
the royal court?
Offal means guts or the remnants of a butchered animal; rubbish.

line 607: Alliteration: Bloody, bawdy. Bawdy means obscene; lewd.

line 608:
Remorseless: without guilt . . . or without mercy.
Treacherous: without honor; likely to betray trusts; perfidious.
Lecherous: overly indulgent in sexual activity; sex-crazed (Hamlets off-color
comments to Ophelia later in the play and his preoccupation with Gertrudes sexual
habits may be an interesting connection here. Remembermaintain an appropriate
register.)
Kindless: inhuman; disagreeable; unsympathetic
Note that in lines 607-611a, Hamlet strips away all pretense, resorting to simple,
direct language and simple syntax to denounce Claudius. He makes no attempts at
eloquence or cleverness but yells at the top of his lungs the way any of us might,
You stupid, idiot, moronic jerk!

line 610: Excellent example of apostrophedirect address to vengeance.

line 611: Hamlets condemnation of himself as an ass has a double meaning: (1) He has made
an ass of himself; (2) He is carrying a weary burden. Also, his claim that This is brave is a
prime example of verbal irony. That is, his true meaning is completely opposite the literal
meaning of what he has said. His point is that his inaction has been most cowardly.

line 612: We have an interesting inversion here; rather than murdered father, we have father
murdered. Double meaning: son of a dear father who was murdered, but also foreshadowing
the son of a dear father who himself will be murdered.

line 613: Hamlet claims that he has been pushed or driven toward revenge by both heaven and
hell. As far as the true motivations of the Ghost (good or bad?), Hamlet seems to vacillate.
Immediately after he encounters the specter the first time, he claims that it is an honest ghost,
but from time to time thereafter, he does not seem so sure. So we can take this line to mean that
the Ghost is the one prompting him to take action. Another reading, however, might not have
anything to do with the Ghost: the tragic hero is justified in seeking revenge (authorized by
heaven)remember the dictates of the Revenge Tragedy formula. But we must also remember
that wrath is one of the seven deadly sins and, therefore, not in keeping with godly behavior.
Perhaps he means he is prompted by the struggle between heaven and hell. Or perhaps he just
wants to insist that his mandate comes from a supernatural realm.
 Hamlet 2.2.576-617 Passage and Analysis 7

line 614: The phrase, unpack my heart with words, describes how Hamlets language works.
Words are a means by which he lifts out meaning after meaning (thoughts and feelings from the
mind) as if from a bottomless trunk. Here, Hamlet also denounces himself for using words (also,
by implication, thoughts) instead of actions to enact his revenge.

lines 614-15: Here Shakespeare employs two references to whores: whore and drab.
Hamlet clearly equates prostitution with an absolute perversion of moral order; thats why he
speaks of Ophelia in such terms. In what ways is Hamlet like a whore? Because he speaks rather
than acts, he says. But do whores do that? Perhaps he takes them as an example of
powerlessness; when they are wronged, all they can do is curse, let fly with words, as Hamlet
does. Perhaps he is feeling that he, too, has sold himself, but for what?

line 616:
Scullion means lowly kitchen worker, not that big a leap from prostitute as far
as class distinction is concerned. Here, the emphasis is more on low status than on
low morality.
Fie upont, foh! is a mild oath meaning Oh, to hell with it all! To be straight with
you, fie is closest to the f--- oath we hear all too often these days.

line 617: This is Hamlets apostrophe to his brains (his spirit; resolve). This shows his frustration
with self. He is telling himself to get to work. About clearly means turn about (direct address
to himself), almost as if Hamlet is redirecting his mind as if it is a horse which he has at last
decided to control and turn around

The rest of the soliloquy (too long to include in a passage for commentary, but worth mentioning
for context) concerns Hamlets plan and his growing confidence in the step he is about to take:
staging the play within the play in order to catch the conscience of the King. Additionally, it
contains his reflection on whether the ghost he has seen is spirit or devil (either the spirit of
help or goblin damned he considers in 1.4.43-44).