Hamlet's First Soliloquy: Explicated

(page 29 Act 1 Scene 2 lines 134-164)

Hamlet: 

"O, that this too, too solid flesh would melt,
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,
Or that the Everlasting had not fixed
His canon 'gainst <self-slaughter!> O God, O God,
How ,weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable
Seem to me all the uses of this world!
Fie on't, ah fie! 'Tis an unweeded garden,
That grows to seed. Things rank and gross in nature
Possess it merely. That it should come <to this>
But two months dead — nay, not so much, not two.
So excellent a king, that was, to this,
Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother,
That he might not beteem the winds of heaven
Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth,
Must I remember? Why, she ,<would> hang on him
As if increase of appetite had grown
By what it fed on. And yet, within a month
(Let me not think on't; frailty, thy name is woman!)
A little month, or ere those shoes were old
With which she followed my poor father's body,
Like Niobe, all tears — why she, <even she>
(O God! a beast that wants discourse of reason
Would have mourn'd longer!), married with mine 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,
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."

To note first, this is Hamlet's first soliloquy. This is important because how a character speaks when he/she is alone shows true characterization. This soliloquy gives a reader insight to the character's mind and in this case let's one see how much Hamlet thinks and the level of activity in his mind. Once that is deduced, one must look at the subject of his thoughts and then the word choices. 

Hamlet's soliloquy is about his mother's betrayal. He emphasizes how gross it is, even calling it "incestuous". He shows how personally he took it because he thought of his father as a good man and "so loving to [his] mother". A "Hyperion" type man does not deserve what his mother did according to Hamlet. He thinks its was way too soon: "within a month... a little month". Hamlet is very displeased with the way his mother conducted herself regarding his father and her husband's death. He feels resentment to both her and his new step-father calling him a "satyr" . However dramatic, Hamlet feels very passionately about this topic and is not afraid to say it. 

Hamlet's word choices in this passage make all the difference. His mother does not just move on with speed, but instead a "wicked speed". He says that women are "frail" because his mother could not act appropriately. He purposefully chooses mythological words to highlight his points. He starts off his solo speech (or in this case thoughts, but are spoken words due to the literary play) with very negative, imagery words. "Solid flesh would melt" sets up a tone that is not pleasing. "Self-slaughter", "weary", "stale", "flat", and "unprofitable" he uses to describe the world he is in. An "unweeded garden" is not successful and since he compares the world to it, it is implied that neither is the world. His mother would "hang" on his father. This undignifying word shows Hamlet's interpretation of his mother. Lastly Hamlet says he "must hold [his] tongue", which perfectly shows the reader why this passage is a soliloquy versus a monologue.