Too too solid flesh would melt

[Alam10kkfs]

"O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, thaw and resolve itself into a dew"

I found this 'interesting' quote on line 129 where Hamlet sounds so miserable, depressed, that his life is over. I'm wondering why Hamlet wish his "too too solid flesh would melt"? And whats the cause of this? Hmm..

I think that he feels betrayed by his mother for re-marrying so soon after the death of his father. The man that he imagines as half man and half goat is about to marry his mother. well, I think we all know how it feels like. Hamlet thinks that Claudius doesn't deserve his mother because he compares Claudius to satyr, and he compares his father to Hyperion, which is a god.

[jessicak016]

The quote emphasizes how much Hamlet wants to end his life or does not want to exist in a world, where he experiences injustice and the world has changed so quickly around him. The fact that he has to see his mother quickly getting married to his uncle, and later finding out that his uncle killed his father, makes him wish that he had never existed. Therefore, he wants his own body to "melt, thaw and resolve itself into a dew."

[cathysjun]

I agree with both of you guys. I also think that the quote emphazies how much Hamlet is frustrated with situation. He is frustrated about how his mother is remarrying so quickly and how mad he is.

[sageda]

Not only is he upset about his father's death and his mother's marriage, but also the fact that he is forced to stay with his mom and Claudius. He wants to leave but he's trapped in the city with them. He also has to act like everything is fine because everyone is forcing him to suppress his emotions. He's probably going through a lot of inner turmoil because he wants to take his own life but his religion is stopping him.

[ginayang]

Oh, Julie and I analyzed this soliloquy in English class. In the modern version it said "Ah, I wish my dirty flesh could melt away into a vapor." So I thought this meant that Hamlet felt filthy to have a mother who sort of committed adultery by immediately marrying his uncle after his father died. Thus, Hamlet did not want to be part of a family that was incredibly messed up.

[michellelee]

I think the quote expresses Hamlet's frustration very clearly. He is shocked by the fact that his mother remarried his uncle shortly after his father's death. So he wants his flesh to melt which indicates that he doesn't want to live anymore.

[sujeonggg]

I agree with Gina. I also read the modern version of this quote, and I thought Hamlet now wants to committ a suicide. During this soliloquy, Hamlet talks about all the causes of his pain, especially about his strong disgust at his mother’s marriage to Claudius. Plus, his mom and Claudius even forced him to stay with them and not to go back to his school. So based on these terrible situations that worn out him, he finally wants to just abandon himself.

[franicaza95]

i think this means how he just wishes to "dissapear" and not have to go through all this pain of his father's death alone and also his mother's remarriage to a man who is only interested in whats best for himself and not for the society.

[joannekim]

I also agree the quote is related with his mother who married her husband's brother one month after her husband died. After that quote, most of things he says is about his mother, corruption in the palace (unweeded garden), and women's weak nature. Hamlet condemns this hasty marriage as incest that he wants to die; he does not want to be a son of incestuous mother. I also think there are other factors contributing to his depression, like his father's suspicious death and uncle who is an inferior king than previous one.

[jessicashim2013]

I believe that this quote expresses Hamlet's frustration. I think he wants to commit suicide because of all the things going around him. His father's death and his mother's marriage with his uncle. For him, this is unacceptable. I would also want to die if I was in this situation. But Claudius and his mother tells him to stay with them which would even makes him feel worse.

[edward08]

As we saw the whole plot of the story and some reviews p, his mother ,plus his surrounding friends turned back to him. Ofcourse with nobody beside him except his ghost father, he would feel extremely betrayed

[juliekim]

He's really struggling inside because he has to watch his mother get married to his uncle and the person that he loved and respected the most is gone. I wouldn't want to kill myself, but I would definitely feel really awkward and out-of-place if I were Hamlet. The first line of his soliloquy just shows how much he wanted to get out of this painful situation. Most of us can relate to that because we often wish to get out of a situation that makes us feel really sad and depressed.

[sang]

If we were to translate this into modern English, this would be a teenager, a spoiled and a rich one saying something like "Life sucks" or "My parents don't understand me" and etc.." Because as we analyzed this in class, we learned that this practice of remarrying relatives in-laws' wasn't so deviant at that time so it's not completely his mother's fault. So, from a wider perspective, it could be that he's being more of a selfish kid rather than being suicidal.

[RegXD]

I totally agree with u guys because first he just lost his dad and his mom just got married to his uncle right away and he is still grieving for his lost dad. which to him is totally unacceptable and all he thinks about is suicide. So i think he doesn't have a developed brain to think properly and act properly.

[sarahlee4]

This quote alone means he wanted to commit suicide. I mean, how much agony do you have to b in to want to commit suicide? I personally feel tat I have face a whole bunch of vey terrifying situations in my life. And going through all of that, Ive never hd the intentions to kill myslf. This quote really made me pity him more.