Hamlet 1.2 | Hamlet’s Opening Soliloquy

Question 1

1.2 “Tis an unweeded garden”

Answer 1

Metaphor suggests hamlet sees the court of Denmark, which was once pure and beautiful, as inherently corrupted - shown through motif of decay and disease too

Question 2

1.2 “Hyperion to a satyr”

Answer 2

Hamlet sees father as a vast sun-god (the centre of his universe) - where Claudius is lustful and inhuman

Question 3

1.2 “Frailty, thy name is woman!”

Answer 3

Hamlet sees his mother as emotionally morally weak needing male validation (via Claudius)

Question 4

1.2 “A beast that wants discourse of reason could have mourn’d longer”

Answer 4

Hamlet sees Gertrude as inhuman and unfeeling due to her lack of grief

Question 5

1.2 “But no more like my father than I to Hercules”

Answer 5

Hamlet once again compares his father to a god (whilst also admitting his own inadequacies)