Question

Look at hamlet's soliloquy in act iv scene iv. to what realization does hamlet come as he mulls over the actions of fortinbras? what does this soliloquy reveal about hamlet's character and his ideas on avenging his father's murder?

Answer 1

When we take a look at Hamlet's soliloquy in Act IV, Scene IV ("How all occasions do inform against me..."), we can see that this is a crucial point for Hamlet. This is the moment when he decides what he is going to do about his life and his revenge against his father's murderer. He is thinking about Fortinbras and his soldiers who rush to battle blindly, in order to win a country which won't even be big enough to bury all those people who died during the battle. He realizes that he needs to do something as well, to fight for the right cause, and to avenge his father.

We can see in this soliloquy that Hamlet has finally made up his mind and that he decided to go through with his revenge. He will focus on revenge only because he wants justice and he wants his father's murderer to die. He believes that he should be the one to do it, given that the murderer is his own uncle, and he commits himself to that one cause, which he ultimately brought to life at the end of the play.