Hamlet Solved #9

In Hamlet's very first soliloquy, look carefully at how Shakespeare uses the word "too" twice:

HAMLET

Oh, that this too, too solid flesh would melt,

Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,

Or that the Everlasting had not fixed

His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! O God, God!

This can be translated as:

Oh, if only my excessively solid body would melt and thaw, and become a dew--or if only God had not forbidden suicide.

So, is Hamlet saying that his flesh is not just too solid, but too too solid--meaning excessively solid, or solid to an usual degree?

Or is there another way of reading this line?

What if Hamlet is saying:

Oh, I wish that I, too, would melt and thaw, and become a dew--or if only God had not forbidden suicide.

This would mean that Hamlet is saying that he wishes that his very solid body would also melt.

He is saying that his body would not be the only body that would melt and become a dew.

This is consistent with what I wrote about in Hamlet Solved #8--about how Hamlet is calling on God to destroy everyone in the world.

In his rage, Hamlet is not calling for the deaths of everyone else--while he is spared such a death.

No. He wants everyone to die, and he knows that he should die as well.

I have seen Hamlet performed on stage and screen many times. If my memory serves me well, every single actor has delivered the line to mean that Hamlet's body is too too solid--meaning excessively solid.

Why does Hamlet believe that he deserves the same fate?

Because of his too solid flesh.

What does "too solid flesh" mean?

I explored this in my posts, Hamlet Solved #6 and #7.

But there is even more to consider.

In the Bible, there are many verses referring to the hardening and stiffening of skin and body parts.

"Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness."

Psalm 95:8 KJV

"Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck."

Psalm 75:5 KJV

"But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments."

Nehemiah 9:16 KJV

In the Bible, the opposite of a stiff neck, or a hardened heart, is a flesh that is soft and receptive.

"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh."

Ezekiel 36:26 KJV

In the Bible, a heart that is broken is a heart that is humble, contrite, and open the kind of renewal that only God can offer.

"The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit."

Psalm 34:18 KJV

So, when Hamlet speaks of a flesh that is too solid, he is saying that he is more stiff-necked and hard-hearted than he would want to be. This makes him so angry and ashamed, that he calls for the end of the world.

In fact, since Hamlet does not ask God to save him, and renew him, it is likely that Hamlet believes that he is beyond salvation. That is how Hamlet sees himself, at the very beginning of the play.

Even as the play begins, he has already reached his lowest of low points.

Little does he know that it is going to get far worse, as the play continues.

A stiff neck and a hard heart symbolize the sin of pride--which is the root from which all other sins emerge.

So, when Hamlet speaks of "too solid flesh"--he is saying that he is too proud.

Or, he is saying that as a human being, that he is as sinful as everyone else in the world.

This is important, since at the very moment when he is asking for the end of history, and the death of everyone in the world--he is also humbly confessing his own sinful humanness.

As proud as he knows himself to be, he is clearly trying to be humble. This is a sign that he is broken-hearted.

As princely and as powerful and as wealthy as he may appear, on the outside, he is deeply ashamed of himself, and all-too-human.

He is actually quite wounded, in ways that are only visible to him.

With the words "too solid flesh" Shakespeare may have even been trying to make us think of something called "proud flesh"--which are wounds that become overgrown and turn red or pink, especially on horses.

So, Hamlet might be comparing himself to a horse that has been wounded, the wounds are not healing properly, and they look something like plague sores.

It is possible that where other people see a young and handsome prince of Denmark--he only sees how wounded he is.

This is the first scene that Hamlet is on stage. This is the first time that the audience sees and hears Hamlet.

The language that Shakespeare chose for this moment is meant to draw us closer to him, to make us feel sympathy for him.

Shakespeare wants us to see Hamlet as he sees himself, as a victim.

Cheers,