Gautam Gupta Period 2 AP Lit Hamlet Act 4 Journal Response In the first half of Hamlets soliloquy, he is lamenting his

inaction against Claudiushe reminds himself to get on with it. He notes that humans are nothing if their only purpose be but to sleep and feedthey are a beast, no more. He questions whether his inaction is a matter of cowardliness or simply mindless hesitation. He asks himself, Why I yet live to say This things to do when he knows it should be a matter of the past at this point; the act should already be complete. The line, "Rightly to be great/Is not to stir without great argument/But greatly to find quarrel in a straw/When honor's at the stake refers to Hamlets assertion that in order to be great, one must fight for honor, not necessarily for great argument. His other line, "O from this time forth/My thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth" shows Hamlets determination to carry out his fathers plan of revenge on Claudius. He decides that any thoughts not of blood, not of murderous revenge, are worthless. He is essentially, with this line, saying that this will become his singular goal and that he needs nothing else. This speech shows decisiveness in Hamlet for once. He is no longer questioning existencewhether or not he should exist, and more importantly, whether or not he should thrive or just survive. This resolution shows a significant change in Hamlet, as this new attitude could almost be described do or die. It would not, however, be correct to suggest that Hamlet has found how to live a meaningful life. At best, he has figured out how to bring meaning to his fathers tarnished life. If he truly did find meaning in his own life, this play would not truly be a tragedy as Hamlets inaction/inability to find meaning is the tragedy.