How
Hamlet Hides: Hamlet’s changing speech patterns obscure his plan for revenge
In
Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, Shakespeare masterfully defines his
characters through their own dialogue, using their words to show their thought
processes. Shakespeare presents his tragic hero Hamlet as a man stuck in a
dilemma: he must not let himself get in the way of his own revenge when he is
in private, and must change the way he appears to others in order to distract them
from discovering his plot. Hamlet does removes the obstacles to his revenge by
appearing mad to Claudius, Gertrude, and Polonius and angry toward Ophelia.
When Hamlet is in private, he uses complex poetics to explain his decisions --
although they are bad ones leading to inaction -- and uses the same confusing
metaphors to appear insane, but uses violent and direct prose to appear angry.
Hamlet uses simple and direct speech to appear angry and to make decisions, but
uses complex poetics to appear mad and to explain his decisions.
Next:
Shakespeare uses speech patterns in Hamlet
to distinguish his characters and guide the actors who play them. For Hamlet,
Shakespeare uses two unique styles of speech, one to illustrate when Hamlet is
in public acting mad and another for when he is acting like himself. In this
way, Shakespeare creates two different characters within one character, and
thus creates a very whole, 3-dimensional character, which provides an abundance
of material for an actor to use to interpret the character. However, although Shakespeare
provides so much insight into Hamlet’s thought and emotional life, his use of
manic puns, equivocation, and split personalities can make it confusing for an
actor to sift through and find Shakespeare’s intent.
next:
Whose Kingdom is it After All? : A Comparative Analysis
of the Language of Hamlet and Claudius in their initial Power Struggles
The
relationship between those in power and those without power is often
accompanied by feelings of uncertainty and hopelessness within those involved. Hopelessness
is often found within the powerless, and yet uncertainty is not uncommon in the
shaky confidence of those newly in power. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet
Claudius, the newly established king beings to assert his claim to power,
Hamlet realizing he has been usurped is placed in a newly powerless position
believing himself incapable of action. Claudius’s disposition is largely
uncertain and shaken, still recuperating from his brothers own shameless murder
and yet finding himself needing to assert his position in marriage and power.
Hamlet, just recently having returned from his studies abroad finds the
situation of power unbalanced, having been usurped Hamlet believes himself
powerless against the newly asserted power of Claudius. Shakespeare reveals the dispositions of Hamlet
and Claudius through their respective use of insults and contradictions,
juxtaposing Hamlet’s powerless and passive nature to the now powerful and imperious
Claudius.
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