How Is Hamlet’s Character Presented in the Act 2, Scene 2 Soliloquy?

How is Hamlet’s character presented in the Act 2, Scene 2 soliloquy?

Sent by Gertrude and Claudius to find out about Hamlet’s lunacy, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enter. Hamlet is happy to see his old friends and welcomes them with warmth. Hamlet asks why they have come and is told that they’ve come to visit until Hamlet angrily demands the truth and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern admit that his mother and uncle have sent them. Rosencrantz mentions that a troupe of players will arrive and Hamlet is happy again. Polonius enters with the players whom Hamlet welcomes with warmth. He asks the first player to re-enact a speech of Hecuba finding out about her husbands death. The player does this with great feeling and moves himself into tears. Hamlet asks the first player to perform the ‘Murder of Gonzago’ on the following night with some extra lines. The first player agrees. Hamlet is now alone.

Hamlet begins by calling himself a ‘rogue and peasant slave’, which shows his hatred towards himself. The word ‘slave’ in particularly stands out because he feels like he’s incapable of doing anything to avenge for his father’s murder, just like an inferior ‘slave’ in his position wouldn’t be able to do. This also contrasts with Hamlet’s role as a prince; it suggests how low he thinks of himself as he transcends from being a prince to a slave. He continues his self-hating speech by calling himself a ‘dull and muddy-mettled rascal’. Muddy-mettled is a soft alliteration meaning ‘dull-spirited’, which is how Hamlet sees himself because he has yet to do anything to avenge for his father’s murder.

He asks himself ‘Am I a coward?’ which justifies his sense of worthlessness. This short statement is like a sudden realisation or an epiphany; everything he’s been saying supports the idea of him being a coward. Hamlet resumes by saying he’s ‘pigeon-livered and lack gall’, suggesting that he’s a timid and frightened man, further proving that he’s a coward. ‘Pigeon-livered’ is a...