hamlet
In Hamlet’s second soliloquy the tones of worthlessness and inadequacy are prevalent and serve to emphasize the dissatisfaction he feels with his actions, or lack of action. ... At the beginning of his soliloquy Hamlet has witnessed a player acting a scene engorged with emotion; the scene reminds Hamlet of his own lack of dedication to his cause. ... Hamlet is amazed but also suffers from a feeling of pitiful inadequacy because he sees that this player, acting out a speech about a fictional woman who is no more than a character on paper, has put much more emotion and passion into his speech than Hamlet has into avenging his own father’s death. Hamlet loved his father and still continues to mourn for him long after anyone else, and while he should be putting as much emotion as the player into killing his father’s murderer he is not. ... “Not [even] for a king/ upon whose property and most dear life/ A damned defeat was made” (596, 597, 598) does Hamlet act.