Are You My Uncle or My Father ?

Passage: Like Niobe, all tears-why she, <even she>
(O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason
Would have mourned longer!), married with my       155 
uncle,                                                                       
My father's brother, but no more like my father
than I to Hercules. Within a month,
Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears
Had left the flushing in her galled eyes,                    160
She married.  O, most wicked speed, to post 
With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!
It is not, nor it cannot come to good.
But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue (Act 1. Sc. 2. 31).

The plot of Hamlet breaks out amidst a tumultuous time for the royal family.  King Hamlet has recently died and his brother, King Claudius, is to marry his widowed wife, Queen Gertrude.  As expected when one's uncle marries one's mother, young Hamlet is distraught about the matter and is struggling to except it as reality.  The passage above begins to develop Hamlet as a character in general and characterizes his feelings about the marriage.

The passage shows that Hamlet is a thoughtful and educated individual.  Hamlet compares his mother to Niobe, a character in Greek mythology.  After all fourteen of her children were killed as a result of her making fun of another goddess' two children, Niobe turned into a rock which became well-known as the Weeping Rock.  By comparing his mother to this deceitful, wicked character, Hamlet reveals his education on Greek mythology and his ability to relate it to his own life. Hamlet once again references Greek mythology when he says "my father's brother, but no more like my father than I to Hercules" in lines 157 & 158.  He shows how he knows how irrational it would be for him to be Hercules' father and makes the direct comparison to himself and his uncle, King Claudius.  His ability to understand and apply characters from Greek mythology to his life shows that he is a thoughtful and intelligent individual.

The language Hamlet uses when talking about the marriage between his mother and uncle characterizes his opinion about the marriage and shows that he is a passionate individual.  In lines 154 & 155, Hamlet says that "a beast that wants discourse of reason would have have mourned longer".   By saying that a "beast" would have mourned longer shows that he thinks that his mother and uncle did not mourn the death of his father for an appropriate amount of time.  By labeling the tears of his mother as "unrighteous", Hamlet makes a powerful statement.  He basically is saying that the tears his mother cries and wicked and not genuine.  He does not think that the tears can be genuine if she so quickly decided to marry her late husband's brother.  Line 162, "with such dexterity to incestuous sheets!", perfectly summarizes Hamlet's feelings.  The word "dexterity" shows that Hamlet is disgusted by how efficiently his mother and uncle took to bed.  By calling the sheets "incestuous", Hamlet makes that assertion that he is totally disgusted by the marriage and looks at the situation as if it is incest.  The powerfully, passionate language that Hamlet uses as he describes the marriage characterizes himself and his opinions on the recent marriage.

The passage reveals a lot about Hamlet as a character and his thought process in tricky situations. His utilization of Greek mythology shows thoughtfulness and intelligence.  The words he uses to describe the marriage between his mother and uncle reveal how he is not a big fan of calling his uncle dad. The passion he shows when describing his feelings indicate the kind of character he will be for the rest of the play.