By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Hamlet’s first soliloquy in Shakespeare’s play, the speech beginning ‘O, that this too too solid flesh would melt’ (in some editions, ‘O, that this too too sullied flesh would melt’ while, in some others, ‘O, that this too too sallied flesh would melt’) is one of the most famous speeches in the play, and as with all of Hamlet’s soliloquies, the language requires some unpacking.