Sad Boy Soliloquy

Instructions

A ‘soliloquy’ is a speech in a play delivered by a character alone on stage.

In Hamlet, the title character speaks seven famous soliloquies that reveal his private emotions, desires, and plots against his treacherous uncle. Can you create one more sad soliloquy for our moody prince?

Below you will find some well-known lines spoken by Hamlet throughout the show. Choose four to six of your favorites and arrange them in different orders to see what you can create!

1. It is not, nor it cannot, come to good
2. But break my heart for I must hold my tongue
3. O what a rogue and peasant slave am I
4. O that this too, too solid flesh would melt
5. Man delights not me, no, nor woman neither
6. I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth
7. O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!
8. There is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so
9. Thus conscience does make cowards of us all
10. What should such fellows as I do, crawling between earth and heaven?
11. What should a man do but be merry?
12. Do you think I am to be played on easier than a pipe?
13. I must be cruel, only to be kind
14. I could accuse me of such things as it were better my mother had not borne me
15. What is the reason that you use me thus?
16. If it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all
17. O all you host of heaven, O earth! What else?
18. I hold it fit that we shake hands and part
19. I do not set my life in a pin’s fee
20. But I have that within which passeth show
21. But break my heart for I must hold my tongue
22. How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world!

Example

O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!
What is the reason that you use me thus?
Do you think I am to be played on easier than a pipe?
I hold it fit that we shake hands and part.
Man delights not me, no, nor woman neither.
How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world!

About the Show

“So…once more… tell me about this Ghost.”

That’s how the legendary story begins. But ghosts are tricky things. Especially in a world of madness, murder, and mayhem. A rich entitled Prince goes on a ferocious rampage that will lead to a massacre in the living room. Is he a tragic hero as we’ve often been told? Or a royal blooded serial killer? In this new adaptation we will step into a Shakespearian noir through a forensic investigation of the ultimate crimes of passion.

As you watch the show

As you watch the show, you’ll notice that director Robert O’Hara has found a way to show us this story from a new perspective. How does his interpretation change what you’ve been taught about the story of Hamlet? 

Details

This companion activity can be done before or after seeing the production and utilizes materials you probably have in your home or classroom. We invite families, educators, and other audience members to use or adapt these activities, which were created for Center Theatre Group by Resident Teaching Artists Christine Breihan and Estela Garcia. You can find a companion activity on the show pages for all productions in our 2024/2025 season.