A Short Analysis of Lady Macbeth’s ‘The Raven Himself is Hoarse’ Speech

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘The raven himself is hoarse / That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan’: so begins Lady Macbeth’s first great soliloquy or monologue in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The speech comes in Act 1 Scene 5, immediately after Lady Macbeth has received news from a messenger that Duncan, the King, will be arriving at the castle that night, accompanied by Lady Macbeth’s own husband, Macbeth, who has just been made Thane of Cawdor by Duncan.

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A Short Analysis of Macbeth’s ‘Is this a dagger which I see before me’ Soliloquy

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘Is this a dagger which I see before me, / The handle toward my hand?’ So begins one of the most famous soliloquies in Shakespeare’s Macbeth – indeed, perhaps in all of Shakespeare. Before we offer an analysis of this scene – and summarise the meaning of the soliloquy – here is a reminder of the famous speech. (If you would like an overview of the whole of Macbeth, we have analysed the play here.)

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A Short Analysis of Hamlet’s ‘O, what rogue and peasant slave am I’ Soliloquy

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!’: so exclaims Hamlet in one of his more despairing soliloquies in Shakespeare’s play. But what prompts him to exclaim ‘O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!’ and what does he say in this important speech in the play?

Hamlet’s soliloquy comes in act 2 scene 2 of Hamlet, shortly after he has spoken with the players or actors, and just before he hatches his fiendish plan to try to determine the guilt of his uncle (which he comes up with towards the end of the soliloquy).

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Seven of the Best Speeches from Shakespeare Plays

Selected by Dr Oliver Tearle

The plays of William Shakespeare are crammed full of memorable lines, influential phrases, and striking images. There are dozens of classic speeches, soliloquies, addresses and the like. In this post, we’ve aimed to pick the seven greatest speeches from Shakespeare’s plays, although there were many we had to leave out. What’s your favourite bit from a Shakespeare play? Is it a soliloquy, a formal address, an exchange between multiple characters?

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