Question

HAMLET: [steps out alone on stage and shares these thoughts] To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles And by opposing end them. To die—to sleep, No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to: 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there's the rub: For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause—there's the respect That makes calamity of so long life. Hamlet reveals his feelings of confusion solo, on the stage, with no characters present. What was MOST LIKELY Shakespeare's motivation for choosing to deliver Hamlet's speech in this method? Question 6 options: Hamlet's monologue allows him to share with all the people in the kingdom that he is struggling with questions about his mortality. Hamlet's dialogue with Claudius allows him to share that he wants to do to him for killing his father. Hamlet's soliloquy allows him to reveal his innermost feelings of angst and confusion with the audience without the other characters knowing. Hamlet's aside shows that he talks to imaginary fairies and is completely unreliable.

Answer 1

Hamlet's soliloquy allows him to reveal his innermost feelings of angst and confusion with the audience without the other characters knowing.

In these lines Hamlet is not speaking to anyone. This allows him to share his internal thoughts with the audience so that they know his state of mind and internal conflict. The first answer choice is wrong because he is not making a speech to the people in the kingdon. The last choice is also not acceptable becuase it is not an aside and he is not really talking to imaginary fairies. Also, he is not talking to Claudius, so that option is also not correct.