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Hamlet Cause and Effect Essay Act 4 Soliloquy

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In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the war between Norway and Poland becomes a turning point for the main character: Hamlet. There are many instances in Act IV, Scene IV, that provide insight into the characters for the audience. At the end of this scene after Hamlet speaks to Fortinbras and the Captain of the army, Hamlet makes a speech about how these events have affected how he now perceives this dilemma. Hamlet is affected by the coming war because he realizes that the actions of others are more honourable than his own, and this causes him to change his way of thinking to help the audience to understand his role more clearly.

Firstly, after speaking with Fortinbras and the Captain, Hamlet observed that they were going to war for something without worth to them. Hamlet asks about the troops and what they are fighting for, the Captain says: “Truly to speak, and with no addition, We go to gain a little patch of ground That hath in it no profit but the name. To pay five ducats, five, I would not farm it. Nor will it yield to Norway or the Pole A ranker rate, should it be sold in fee” (Shakespeare 4.4.16-21). Winning this war would give them a worthless piece of land, but they are fighting anyways. Hamlet concludes that the troops are fighting for honour. He realizes that the troops do not want to gain anything physical from this war, but also do not want to lose the title of honour. If the troops were not to fight, then they would be called weak and cowards, and a man’s honour in Elizabethan times is worth everything. Another cause that Hamlet understands the troops actions by thinking of their ambition. He says: “Witness this army of such mass and charge Led by a delicate and tender prince, Whose spirit with divine ambition puffed Makes mouths at the invisible event, Exposing what is mortal and unsure To all that fortune, death, and danger dare, Even for an eggshell.

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