Past a point words seamlessly transcend paper and become action. Hamlet's speech throughout the play is action in itself; it stirs him and other characters into taking further action and frames their next movements. His soliloquies alone give the reader or viewer of the play a sense of Hamlet's own "self-overhearing." The way human beings speak of things- or think of them- affects the actions we take next. The very concept of memory is a reflection upon past events, and speech often keeps these events alive.
Hamlet's melodramatic "To be or not to be..." soliloquy transports the viewer of the play inside of his mind, a feat that is difficult to visualize. It changes the viewers' expectations of Hamlet, and of his following actions. Hamlet is very passionate and clearly upset in this soliloquy. It is equivalent to action in that it shows the viewer the emotional turmoil he is enduring. It often takes action for one to understand something like that, so the fact that speech is capable of the same is usually overlooked or ignored.
The plot of "Hamlet" relies upon this concept. Were speech incapable of constituting action, Hamlet's supremely famous "To be or not to be..." would not exist, or at the very least would not be appreciated. There are many occurrences in which speech changes the reality around it in the play. For example, when Hamlet verbally goes on the attack against his mother, his tirade is changing the characters' actions. Hamlet's mother feels the words like "daggers"; she is physically moved by his violent language.
As an individual, self-overhearing plays a part in everyday life for me as well. At the end of the day, as I review the choices I have made, I change the choices I will make the next day to at least a small degree. I have constantly changing expectations- a constantly changing view of the human race as a whole. This type of "self-overhearing" is what goes through Hamlet's mind. It is at times a form of self-analysis and at others a simple self-observance. Ultimately, speech is more than what we consider dialogue. It is its own form of action; a force that creates a measurable push.
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