...Linwood E. Orange Copyright © 1965 by Duke University Press 1965 Hamlet s Mad Soliloquy Linwood E. Orange To the two major groups into which nearly all Hamlet critics inevitably fall, the to be soliloquy is of crucial importance.1 The Romantic critics and the enormous number of late...

...). As these passages suggest, the book is written with no golden quill, but Professor Champion handles his basically convincing theme methodically and thoroughly. And there are fringe benefits for ex­ ample, his habit of counting private lines (soliloquies and asides) and noting their distribution among...

.... Soliloquies must, according to convention, be taken at their face value. They express the honest thoughts of the speaker. (Cf. Ham­ let s soliloquy, III, ii, 406-417.) Other conventions are: asides, not heard by those on the stage ; a ghost seen by only one, when there are others present. Gertrude does...

... of Milton as a Puritan starched stiff in Biblical and classical sub­ limity. Further than that, Mr. Stein realizes the nature of Paradise Regained so clearly as to see that for Jesus the temptations of Paradise Regained are not tempting. In detail, he realizes the importance of the first soliloquy of Jesus...

.... But will it not live with the 88 The South Atlantic Quarterly living? No. Why? Detraction will not suffer it. Therefore I ll none of it. Honour is a mere scutcheon. Later, standing over the body of Sir Walter Blunt, he reiterates the same point of view. Now surely, since Falstaff s speeches are soliloquies, we may...

... fewer than 1400 lines assigned to Hamlet in the play he is certainly playing some role or other. This reckoning omits the soliloquies, which may well be included in his roles. Indeed, it looks very much as if a great deal of the actor should be infused into the part. Almost a cen­ tury ago...

...). As these passages suggest, the book is written with no golden quill, but Professor Champion handles his basically convincing theme methodically and thoroughly. And there are fringe benefits for ex­ ample, his habit of counting private lines (soliloquies and asides) and noting their distribution among...

... as to see that for Jesus the temptations of Paradise Regained are not tempting. In detail, he realizes the importance of the first soliloquy of Jesus for the whole course of the poem; for critics of the drama, such a soliloquy would be subject to scrutiny as a matter of routine, but writers on Milton have...

... To be, or not to be soliloquy which, Johnson says, bursting from a man distracted with a contrariety of desires, and overwhelmed with the magnitude of his own purpose, is connected rather in the speaker s mind, than on his tongue. He then proceeds with a careful exegesis of the passage: Johnson's Notes on Hamlet 335 Hamlet...

... woman neither (II, ii, 315). The greatest evidence of Hamlet s dehumanization is of course his callous treatment of Ophelia. Although Hamlet s twin obses­ sions with sex and death, the subject of nearly all his soliloquies and dialogues, may be justified the revulsion against sex because of his mother...

...; Orwell implies that Dickens s work con- 10 See Santayana, Dickens, in Soliloquies in England: and Later Soliloquies in England (New York, 1923). 380 The South Atlantic Quarterly tinues to have a moral impact. Orwell s essay, as it centers attention on Dickens s specific literary qualities, is a highly...

..., listed as direct interior monologue, indirect interior monologue, omniscient description, and soliloquy, along with oc­ Book Reviews 155 casional drama and verse form, are obviously not peculiar to stream-ofconsciousness literature. They become specialized when used with devices like suspension...

... as such. The techniques proper, listed as direct interior monologue, indirect interior monologue, omniscient description, and soliloquy, along with oc­ ...

... of reason and feeling that is the prerequisite to true knowledge. He can state his problem in the first line of the famous soliloquy, To be, or not to be, that is the question, and then go on in the lines following to hold thought and feeling to­ gether momentarily in a loose relationship; but he never...

... that is the prerequisite to true knowledge. He can state his problem in the first line of the famous soliloquy, To be, or not to be, that is the question, and then go on in the lines following to hold thought and feeling to­ gether momentarily in a loose relationship; but he never succeeds in effectively fusing the two...

..., or spoken in soliloquy. This applies in a similar manner to any and every utterance—a sea-change in special circumstances. Language in such circumstances is in special ways—intelli- gibly—used not seriously, but in ways parasitic upon its normal use—ways which fall under the doctrine...

... they often are. It is a common occurrence for readers to agree on the meaning of a particular passage but subsequently to disagree as to its psychological disposition. Consider, for example, the line that concludes the troubled king s insomnia soliloquy in part 2 of Henry IV: Uneasy lies the head that wears...

... of a soliloquy or an awkward scene break to bridge the inter­ val before the court can reasonably assemble, Hamlet calls in Horatio, ever within earshot, and we have this speech of some twenty lines which might have come almost anywhere in the play, or not at all. It is curious that Hamlet has just been warning...

... wine take, p. 100; To liken Thee and me dare I not presume, p. 35; For only him / Go I from home, p. 159). In general, Jessup fares better translating the lyrical inserts ( Song of the Flea, as it is called, King in Thule, Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel, and Gretchen s prayerful soliloquy...

... motivations are presented in bold strokes. To claim that we fully perceive Malvolio s social ambitions and thus wrongly tend to respond more negatively to him than to his superiors only because he has the misfortune to be the only character overheard in soliloquy (139) is flagrantly to disregard how...