Summary of “How all occasions do inform against me”

His thoughts be ‘Bloody, or be nothing worth’. This can be taken either way since his words are idle, e.g. the blood-drinking oath and our foreknowledge (knowing the play already) of Rosencratz and Guildenstern’s fate. The sight of war gives him inspiration. He calls his revenge ‘dull’ which is a sign he is aware of his reality. Philophising again on Man (first instance is II.ii) he now reasons on reasoning itself. Cowardice he probes again and so is with ‘Beast’. There are all examples of aforesaid pleonasm and tautology which have been used skillfully to provide for Hamlet’s going-nowhere march for his father’s revenge. Now, however, he thinks of the Prince and his army in front of him which is much better an inspiration than actors and Theatre and all that the man has thought up to now. “Rightly to be Great…” is his new proposition, and here comes a very curious word, one wonders where it had been all this time: ‘Honor’, as in ‘masculine’ honor, that which a Prince should think of first above all things. Nevertheless, he has indeed achieved a Herculian feat even by this, compared to what he has been doing as yet. Of note again is Shakespeare’s reminder to the audience of the brawl at the diplomatic level, subdued somewhere at the middle of the play, risen again. And there’s this parallel drawn between the fight for lands and the fight for woman (Gertrude), which I am sure is easy to expound. ‘Graves’ anticipates the grave-digger scene. However, he is too late for his star that he has not courted when it was at its zenith. ‘Rashness’ he praises when his death-hour has arrived and ‘rashly’ he dies.

Summary of “Now might I do it…”

This soliloquy after Claudius’—his words in prayer confessing his crimes—and is followed by III.iv in Gertrude’s closet (private chamber). Of not is the antithetical nature of Claudius’ words following Hamlet’s exit which makes it almost humorous even when the situation is so tensed and on tenterhooks. This is the scene where the protagonist is closest to action and where again he shirks it. The situation and the words have biblical references, for example, “And how his Audit stands who knows save Heaven?” Audit refers to the Last Judgement allusions to which occur multiple times in the play (cf. The Tempest I.i) along with allusions to Doomsday (I.i, II.ii, V.i).

This speech is in sync with the ideas of ‘To be or not to be’ soliloquy: this life, death, afterlife, Hamlet will...