This “internalization of the self” represents one of Shakespeare’s greatest contributions, and provides the basis for an understanding of the fundamental idea of the play (Bloom 408-9). Nineteenthcentury critic Coleridge singles out Hamlet as “representative of modern tragedy because unlike Greek tragedies, Hamlet is driven not by an external agent or principle, but by his own inner prompting, his prophetic soul” (De Grazia 5). Hepeppers his speech with contempt, because that which he speaks is dead to him, yet filled with meaning, resulting in many interesting conversations, especially with the adults, Claudius, Gertrude, and Polonius. Nietzsche offers an explanation for Hamlet’s tendency toward internal contemplation: “That which we can find words for is something already dead in our hearts there is always a kind of contempt in the act of speaking.” This statement gives a reason both for Hamlet’s constant inaction (in thought) and his biting wit. The theory is that if the character is portrayed “thinking aloud early on and then again and again and again… realize that thinking with him is an ongoing process” (De Grazia 1). Hamlet expresses his thoughts primarily through his soliloquies, Shakespeare’s vehicle to present inaction and delay in essence, to act Hamlet’s thoughts.
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