O, What a Rogue and Peasant Slave am I!

With the simple, melancholy, yet profound words of “Now I am alone” (Shakespeare 2.2.500), Shakespeare conveys the poignant yet tortured inner struggle that Hamlet is experiencing over the death of his father, and his ghosts’ request to avenge his murder. In the third soliloquy – a mere 60 lines – Hamlet’s angst, cowardice, procrastination, melancholy, resistance, intelligence, reason, and even some bravery are superbly articulated.

Hamlet’s father is dead. The ghost of his father visited him, told him he was murdered by Claudius, and asked that Hamlet avenge his murder. Hamlet begins, as already stated, with the simple words of “Now I am alone” (2.2.500), showing a melancholy and reflective mood, and an awareness that he alone must not only make the decision to avenge the murder of his father, but also implement the revenge. He is, in essence, judge, jury and executioner. As it would anyone faced with such an upsetting situation – such a tough decision – he is not just upset about it, but quite tortured about it. He quickly moves from melancholy self-awareness of his isolation, to self-effacement and self-pity. “O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!” (2.2.501) shows that he views himself as a scoundrel, disreputable and perhaps even dishonorable, but at the same time, someone who ultimately is a slave and like a slave, has no choice in what he must do. He must do as his father’s ghost as asked of him – as his own and society’s honor would demand of him to do – and revenge his father’s murder.

But he doubts that he has the courage to do what he must: revenge his father’s death. He refers to himself as “dull and muddy-mettled rascal…” (2.2.519), like poor-quality metal, which is brittle and weak, that doesn’t shine well. That unlike the story of Hecuba, where there was the courage to revenge an unjust murder, he himself doubts he has the courage. He fears and admits that he does not have the courage, that he is “pigeon-livered and lack(s) gall” (2.2.529), that he is moping and procrastinating about what he must inevitably do. In fact, he refers to himself as an ass, which most would consider a slow-witted animal, and that “like a whore” he is wasting time by “unpack(ing) my heart with words” (2.2.538). He realizes that by sitting there, mulling over what has happened and what he must do, he is just delaying the inevitable.

At the same time, he is a man of intelligence and reason. In his heart, he knows what the ghost told him is true: that his father has been murdered and that he must avenge this murder. Still, being a man of intelligence and reason, he must confirm what he has been told and erase all doubt from his mind that the ghost’s words are accurate. After expressing self-doubt about his own courage, bemoaning the circumstances that have put him in this situation, criticizing his own lack of action to date and inability to make a decision, in Act II Scene 2 lines 542-546 he finally comes up with a plan of action:

“… I have heard that guilty creatures, sitting at a play,

have by the very cunning of the scene

been struck so to the soul that presently

they have proclaimed their malefactions.

He decides to have the actors perform a play, in which the plot includes a scene where the king is murdered by poison being poured in his ear. He correctly surmises that if indeed Claudius is guilty, he will act in a guilty manner. Having made a decision finally, he shakes off his indecision, angst, and self-doubt, and walks off stage with renewed purpose.

Shakespeare, through the character of Hamlet, beautifully expresses the internal struggle that just about any human would go through when faced with having to do an unpleasant but necessary task. From reflective self-doubt to decisive decision making, the mental processes that just about anyone would experience when faced with such a daunting decision are movingly and almost disturbingly portrayed. The first line is in many ways truly the last line… we come into this world alone, must make all of our decisions and choices alone, and ultimately we die alone. As it begins, so does it end.

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. “Hamlet.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature: Beginnings to A.D. 100. 2^nd ed. Vol. C. Eds. Lawall, Sarah, and Maynard Mack. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2002. 6 vols.

Written for Professor Stephenson's Masterpieces of Literature I class at Pikes Peak Community College, 10th December 2003