Hamlet - Bellahouston Academy

269 Pages·2011·0.98 MB·English

Hamlet
by William Shakespeare
Copyright Notice
©2011 eNotes.com Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means
graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, Web distribution or information
storage retrieval systems without the written permission of the publisher.
All or part of the content in these eNotes comes from MAXnotes® for Hamlet, and is copyrighted by
Research and Education Association (REA). No part of this content may be reproduced in any form without
the permission of REA.
©1998-2002; ©2002 by Gale Cengage. Gale is a division of Cengage Learning. Gale and Gale Cengage are
trademarks used herein under license.
For complete copyright information on these eNotes please visit:
http://www.enotes.com/hamlet/copyright
eNotes: Table of Contents
1. Hamlet: Introduction
2. Hamlet: William Shakespeare Biography
3. Hamlet: Summary
4. Hamlet: Reading Shakespeare
5. Hamlet: List of Characters
6. Hamlet: Historical Background
7. Hamlet: Summary and Analysis
¤ Act I, Scene 1 Summary and Analysis
¤ Act I, Scene 2 Summary and Analysis
¤ Act I, Scene 3 Summary and Analysis
¤ Act I, Scene 4 Summary and Analysis
¤ Act I, Scene 5 Summary and Analysis
¤ Act II, Scene 1 Summary and Analysis
¤ Act II, Scene 2 Summary and Analysis
¤ Act III, Scene 1 Summary and Analysis
¤ Act III, Scene 2 Summary and Analysis
¤ Act III, Scene 3 Summary and Analysis
¤ Act III, Scene 4 Summary and Analysis
¤ Act IV, Scene 1 Summary and Analysis
¤ Act IV, Scene 2 Summary and Analysis
¤ Act IV, Scene 3 Summary and Analysis
¤ Act IV, Scene 4 Summary and Analysis
¤ Act IV, Scene 5 Summary and Analysis
Hamlet 1
¤ Act IV, Scene 6 Summary and Analysis
¤ Act IV, Scene 7 Summary and Analysis
¤ Act V, Scene 1 Summary and Analysis
¤ Act V, Scene 2 Summary and Analysis
8. Hamlet: Critical Commentary
¤ Preface to the Critical Commentary
¤ Act I Commentary
¤ Act II Commentary
¤ Act III Commentary
¤ Act IV Commentary
¤ Act V Commentary
9. Hamlet: Quizzes
¤ Act I Questions and Answers
¤ Act II Questions and Answers
¤ Act III Questions and Answers
¤ Act IV Questions and Answers
¤ Act V Questions and Answers
10. Hamlet: Essential Facts
11. Hamlet: Essential Passages
¤ Essential Passage by Character: Hamlet
¤ Essential Passage by Character: Gertrude
¤ Essential Passage by Character: The Ghost
¤ Essential Passage by Theme: Revenge
¤ Essential Passage by Theme: Redemption
12. Hamlet: Themes
13. Hamlet: Character Analysis
¤ Other Characters (Descriptions)
¤ Hamlet (Character Analysis)
¤ Claudius (Character Analysis)
¤ Gertrude (Character Analysis)
¤ Ghost (Character Analysis)
¤ Horatio (Character Analysis)
¤ Laertes (Character Analysis)
¤ Ophelia (Character Analysis)
14. Hamlet: Principal Topics
15. Hamlet: Essays
¤ Hamlet's Delay
¤ Exploring Hamlet's Hesitation
¤ Is Hamlet Sane?
¤ The Ghost: Is He Really Hamlet's Father?
¤ The Character of Ophelia: Why Does She Go Mad?
¤ To Thine Own Self Be True: An Analysis
¤ Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
¤ Minor Characters and the Number Three
¤ To See or Not to See: Fortinbras in Two Film Productions of Hamlet
¤ Hamlet and Macbeth: A Comparison
¤ The Theme of Pretense in Shakespeare's Hamlet
¤ Analysis of Act Five of Shakespeare's Hamlet
¤ Character Analysis of Horatio
¤ Comment on Hamlet's "To Be or Not to Be" Soliloquy
¤ Staging for Shakespeare's Hamlet: Act II, Scene ii, Lines 85-221
eNotes: Table of Contents 2
¤ The Nature of Hamlet's Character
¤ Hamlet's Delay: An Objective and Subjective Analysis Compared
¤ Analysis of Three Critical Works on Hamlet
¤ Hamlet: History, Religion, and Myth
16. Hamlet: Criticism
¤ An Approach to Hamlet
¤ Hamlet and Revenge
¤ Overviews of Hamlet
¤ Delay in Hamlet
¤ Revenge in Hamlet
¤ Melancholy and Grief in Hamlet
¤ Imagery in Hamlet
¤ Hamlet
¤ The Ghost
¤ Claudius
¤ Gertrude
¤ Ophelia
17. Hamlet: Selected Quotes
18. Hamlet: Suggested Essay Topics
19. Hamlet: Sample Essay Outlines
20. Hamlet: Modern Connections
21. Hamlet: Media Adaptations
22. Hamlet: FAQs
¤ Why does Shakespeare choose Denmark as the setting for Hamlet?
¤ What is the mood at the opening of Hamlet?
¤ Does Hamlet really hate his mother?
¤ Who is Yorick?
¤ What is Osric's function?
¤ Why is Hamlet given a military funeral?
23. Hamlet: Bibliography and Further Reading
24. Hamlet: Pictures
25. Copyright
Hamlet: Introduction
Hamlet is without question the most famous play in the English language. Probably written in 1601 or 1602,
the tragedy is a milestone in Shakespeare’s dramatic development; the playwright achieved artistic maturity
in this work through his brilliant depiction of the hero’s struggle with two opposing forces: moral integrity
and the need to avenge his father’s murder.
Shakespeare’s focus on this conflict was a revolutionary departure from contemporary revenge tragedies,
which tended to graphically dramatize violent acts on stage, in that it emphasized the hero’s dilemma rather
than the depiction of bloody deeds. The dramatist’s genius is also evident in his transformation of the play’s
literary sources—especially the contemporaneous Ur-Hamlet—into an exceptional tragedy. The Ur-Hamlet, or
“original Hamlet,” is a lost play that scholars believe was written mere decades before Shakespeare’s
Hamlet, providing much of the dramatic context for the later tragedy. Numerous sixteenth-century records
attest to the existence of the Ur-Hamlet, with some references linking its composition to Thomas Kyd, the
author of The Spanish Tragedy. Other principal sources available to Shakespeare were Saxo Grammaticus’s
Historiae Danicae (circa 1200), which features a popular legend with a plot similar to Hamlet, and François
de Belleforest’s Histoires Tragiques, Extraicts des Oeuvres Italiennes de Bandel (7 Vols.; 1559-80), which
Hamlet: Introduction 3
provides an expanded account of the story recorded in the Historiae Danicae. From these sources Shakespeare
created Hamlet, a supremely rich and complex literary work that continues to delight both readers and
audiences with its myriad meanings and interpretations.
In the words of Ernest Johnson, “the dilemma of Hamlet the Prince and Man” is “to disentangle himself from
the temptation to wreak justice for the wrong reasons and in evil passion, and to do what he must do at last for
the pure sake of justice.… From that dilemma of wrong feelings and right actions, he ultimately emerges,
solving the problem by attaining a proper state of mind.” Hamlet endures as the object of universal
identification because his central moral dilemma transcends the Elizabethan period, making him a man for all
ages. In his difficult struggle to somehow act within a corrupt world and yet maintain his moral integrity,
Hamlet ultimately reflects the fate of all human beings.
Hamlet: William Shakespeare Biography
Details about William Shakespeare’s life are sketchy, mostly mere surmise based upon court or other clerical
records. His parents, John and Mary (Arden), were married about 1557; she was of the landed gentry, he a
yeoman—a glover and commodities merchant. By 1568, John had risen through the ranks of town government
and held the position of high bailiff, similar to mayor. William, the eldest son, was born in 1564, probably on
April 23, several days before his baptism on April 26, 1564. That Shakespeare also died on April 23, 52 years
later, may have resulted in the adoption of this birthdate.
William no doubt attended the local grammar school in Stratford where his parents lived, and would have
studied primarily Latin rhetoric, logic, and literature [Barnet, viii]. At age 18 (1582), William married Anne
Hathaway, a local farmer’s daughter eight years his senior. Their first daughter (Susanna) was born six
months later (1583), and twins Judith and Hamnet were born in 1585.
Shakespeare’s life can be divided into three periods: the first 20 years in Stratford, which include his
schooling, early marriage, and fatherhood; the next 25 years as an actor and playwright in London; and the
last 5 in retirement back in Stratford where he enjoyed moderate wealth gained from his theatrical successes.
The years linking the first two periods are marked by a lack of information about Shakespeare, and are often
referred to as the “dark years”; the transition from active work into retirement was gradual and cannot be
precisely dated [Boyce, 587].
John Shakespeare had suffered financial reverses from William’s teen years until well into the height of the
playwright’s popularity and success. In 1596, John Shakespeare was granted a coat of arms, almost certainly
purchased by William, who the next year bought a sizable house in Stratford. By the time of his death,
William had substantial properties, both professional and personal, which he bestowed on his theatrical
associates and his family (primarily his daughter Susanna, having rewritten his will one month before his
death to protect his assets from Judith’s new husband, Thomas Quiney, who ran afoul of church doctrine and
public esteem before and after the marriage) [Boyce, 529].
Shakespeare probably left school at 15, which was the norm, and took some sort of job, especially since this
was the period of his father’s financial difficulty. Numerous references in his plays suggest that William may
have in fact worked for his father, thereby gaining specialized knowledge [Boyce, 587].
At some point during the “dark years,” Shakespeare began his career with a London theatrical
company—perhaps in 1589—for he was already an actor and playwright of some note in 1592. Shakespeare
apparently wrote and acted for Pembroke’s Men, as well as numerous others, in particular Strange’s Men,
which later became the Chamberlain’s Men, with whom he remained for the rest of his career.
Hamlet: William Shakespeare Biography 4
When, in 1592, the Plague closed the theaters for about two years, Shakespeare turned to writing book-length
narrative poetry. Most notable were “Venus and Adonis” and “The Rape of Lucrece,” both of which were
dedicated to the Earl of Southampton, whom scholars accept as Shakespeare’s friend and benefactor despite a
lack of documentation. During this same period, Shakespeare was writing his sonnets, which are more likely
signs of the time’s fashion rather than actual love poems detailing any particular relationship. He returned to
playwriting when theaters reopened in 1594, and published no more poetry. His sonnets were published
without his consent in 1609, shortly before his retirement.
Amid all of his success, Shakespeare suffered the loss of his only son, Hamnet, who died in 1596 at the age of
11. But Shakespeare’s career continued unabated, and in London in 1599, he became one of the partners in
the new Globe Theater [Boyce, 589], built by the Chamberlain’s Men. This group was a remarkable
assemblage of “excellent actors who were also business partners and close personal friends … [including]
Richard Burbage … [who] all worked together as equals … ” [Chute, 131].
When Queen Elizabeth died in 1603 and was succeeded by her cousin King James of Scotland, the
Chamberlain’s Men was renamed the King’s Men, and Shakespeare’s productivity and popularity continued
uninterrupted. He invested in London real estate and, one year away from retirement, purchased a second
theater, the Blackfriars Gatehouse, in partnership with his fellow actors. His final play was Henry VIII, two
years before his death in 1616.
Incredibly, most of Shakespeare’s plays had never been published in anything except pamphlet form, and
were simply extant as acting scripts stored at the Globe. Only the efforts of two of Shakespeare’s company,
John Heminges and Henry Condell, preserved his 36 plays (minus Pericles, the thirty-seventh) [Barnet, xvii]
in the First Folio. Heminges and Condell published the plays, they said, “only to keep the memory of so
worthy a friend and fellow alive as was our Shakespeare” [Chute, 133]. Theater scripts were not regarded as
literary works of art, but only the basis for the performance. Plays were a popular form of entertainment for all
layers of society in Shakespeare’s time, which perhaps explains why Hamlet feels compelled to instruct the
traveling Players on the fine points of acting, urging them not “to split the ears of the groundlings,” nor
“speak no more than is set down for them.”
Present copies of Shakespeare’s plays have, in some cases, been reconstructed in part from scripts written
down by various members of an acting company who performed particular roles. Shakespeare’s plays, like
those of many of the actors who also were playwrights, belonged to the acting company. The performance,
rather than the script, was what concerned the author, for that was how his play would become popular—and
how the company, in which many actors were shareholders, would make money.
William Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616, and was buried two days later in the chancel of Holy Trinity
Church, where he had been baptized exactly 52 years earlier.
Hamlet: Summary
Prince Hamlet of Denmark is urged by his father’s Ghost to avenge his murder at the hands of the dead
king’s brother, now King Claudius; to make matters worse, Claudius has married the widow, Hamlet’s
mother, Queen Gertrude. Denmark is under threat of invasion from young Fortinbras, who seeks to regain
lands lost to Hamlet’s father by Fortinbras’s father. Claudius sends word to the King of Norway
(Fortinbras’s uncle) to curb Fortinbras’s aggression. In the meantime, Hamlet feigns madness with his family
and friends, including his beloved, Ophelia, sister to Laertes and daughter to Polonius. Both Polonius and
Laertes warn Ophelia against Hamlet’s amorous advances. Polonius believes Hamlet’s “madness” to be
love sickness. Laertes is given permission to return to his studies in Paris.
Hamlet: Summary 5
Claudius directs Gertrude to try to learn the cause of Hamlet’s odd behavior; they suspect it is the old king’s
death and their own recent marriage. Meantime, Claudius and Polonius eavesdrop on Ophelia and Hamlet,
who spurns her and appears mad. The King reveals to Polonius his plan to send Hamlet to England with
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
Hamlet seizes the opportunity presented by a traveling troupe of players to expose the King’s guilt with a
“play within a play.” Soon after, Hamlet delays killing Claudius because the King is at prayer, and Hamlet
does not wish to send him to heaven instead of hell. When Gertrude meets with Hamlet as Claudius has
directed, Polonius hides behind the arras in Gertrude’s room to eavesdrop on the conversation. Hamlet,
suspecting the interloper is Claudius, stabs and kills Polonius.
When Polonius’s body is discovered, Claudius summons Hamlet and tells him he must sail to England for his
own safety; Rosencrantz and Guildenstern accompany Hamlet, carrying letters to the English, threatening war
unless they kill Hamlet. Hamlet eventually escapes, returns to Denmark, and is met by Horatio.
Ophelia has gone insane after Hamlet’s departure and her father’s death. Laertes returns and vows to avenge
Polonius’s death. Claudius contrives a fencing match between Hamlet and Laertes, during which Hamlet is to
be injured with a poisoned sword tip and poisoned with a drink, thus assuring his death. When news arrives
that Ophelia has drowned herself, Laertes is grief stricken. Hamlet and Horatio happen upon the burial site
and funeral cortege; Hamlet tries to fight Laertes but is restrained.
Hamlet tells Horatio that he rewrote the papers carried by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and that the letters
now call for their own deaths. Osric invites Hamlet to the duel with Laertes; Claudius has supposedly bet on
Hamlet to win. Gertrude mistakenly drinks from the cup poisoned by Claudius for Hamlet, and dies; Laertes
wounds Hamlet with the poisoned sword, and then Hamlet wounds Laertes when they accidentally exchange
swords. When Laertes reveals the conspiracy, Hamlet wounds the King and forces the poisoned drink upon
him. Laertes and Hamlet reconcile, and Laertes dies; Hamlet prevents Horatio from drinking the poison so
that he can live to tell the truth. Hamlet names as his successor young Fortinbras, who arrives and orders
Hamlet buried with all dignity.
Estimated Reading Time
Given a text with abundant and helpful footnotes, an average student should expect to spend at least an hour
per act on the first read through; subsequent readings should take less time, as the language becomes more
familiar. Certainly a five-hour stretch is not advised; probably a few scenes at a time, or perhaps an entire act,
would be a comfortable portion for an average reader. Since there are five acts with a total of twenty scenes,
the student could expect to spend at least five hours in perhaps six to eight sessions.
Hamlet: Reading Shakespeare
In this section:
• Shakespeare’s Language
• Shakespeare’s Sentences
• Shakespeare’s Words
• Shakespeare’s Wordplay
• Shakespeare’s Dramatic Verse
• Implied Stage Action
Shakespeare’s Language
Shakespeare’s language can create a strong pang of intimidation, even fear, in a large number of modern-day
Hamlet: Reading Shakespeare 6
readers. Fortunately, however, this need not be the case. All that is needed to master the art of reading
Shakespeare is to practice the techniques of unraveling uncommonly structured sentences and to become
familiar with the poetic use of uncommon words. We must realize that during the 400-year span between
Shakespeare’s time and our own, both the way we live and speak has changed. Although most of his
vocabulary is in use today, some of it is obsolete, and what may be most confusing is that some of his words
are used today, but with slightly different or totally different meanings. On the stage, actors readily dissolve
these language stumbling blocks. They study Shakespeare’s dialogue and express it dramatically in word and
in action so that its meaning is graphically enacted. If the reader studies Shakespeare’s lines as an actor does,
looking up and reflecting upon the meaning of unfamiliar words until real voice is discovered, he or she will
suddenly experience the excitement, the depth, and the sheer poetry of what these characters say.
Shakespeare’s Sentences
In English, or any other language, the meaning of a sentence greatly depends upon where each word is placed
in that sentence. “The child hurt the mother” and “The mother hurt the child” have opposite meanings, even
though the words are the same, simply because the words are arranged differently. Because word position is
so integral to English, the reader will find unfamiliar word arrangements confusing, even difficult to
understand. Since Shakespeare’s plays are poetic dramas, he often shifts from average word arrangements to
the strikingly unusual so that the line will conform to the desired poetic rhythm. Often, too, Shakespeare
employs unusual word order to afford a character his own specific style of speaking.
Today, English sentence structure follows a sequence of subject first, verb second, and an optional object
third. Shakespeare, however, often places the verb before the subject, which reads, “Speaks he” rather than
“He speaks.” Solanio speaks with this inverted structure in The Merchant of Venice, stating, “I should be still
/ Plucking the grass to know where sits the wind” (Bevington edition, I.i.17-19), while today’s standard
English word order would have the clause at the end of this line read, “where the wind sits.” “Wind” is the
subject of this clause, and “sits” is the verb. Bassanio’s words in Act Two also exemplify this inversion:
“And in such eyes as ours appear not faults” (II.ii.184). In our normal word order, we would say, “Faults do
not appear in eyes such as ours,” with “faults” as the subject in both Shakespeare’s word order and ours.
Inversions like these are not troublesome, but when Shakespeare positions the predicate adjective or the object
before the subject and verb, we are sometimes surprised. For example, rather than “I saw him,” Shakespeare
may use a structure such as “Him I saw.” Similarly, “Cold the morning is” would be used for our “The
morning is cold.” Lady Macbeth demonstrates this inversion as she speaks of her husband: “Glamis thou art,
and Cawdor, and shalt be / What thou art promised” (Macbeth, I.v.14-15). In current English word order, this
quote would begin, “Thou art Glamis, and Cawdor.”
In addition to inversions, Shakespeare purposefully keeps words apart that we generally keep together. To
illustrate, consider Bassanio’s humble admission in The Merchant of Venice: “I owe you much, and, like a
wilful youth, / That which I owe is lost” (I.i.146-47). The phrase, “like a wilful youth,” separates the regular
sequence of “I owe you much” and “That which I owe is lost.” To understand more clearly this type of
passage, the reader could rearrange these word groups into our conventional order: I owe you much and I
wasted what you gave me because I was young and impulsive. While these rearranged clauses will sound like
normal English, and will be simpler to understand, they will no longer have the desired poetic rhythm, and the
emphasis will now be on the wrong words.
As we read Shakespeare, we will find words that are separated by long, interruptive statements. Often subjects
are separated from verbs, and verbs are separated from objects. These long interruptions can be used to give a
character dimension or to add an element of suspense. For example, in Romeo and Juliet, Benvolio describes
both Romeo’s moodiness and his own sensitive and thoughtful nature:
Hamlet: Reading Shakespeare 7
I, measuring his affections by my own,
Which then most sought, where most might not be found,
Being one too many by my weary self,
Pursu’d my humour, not pursuing his,
And gladly shunn’d who gladly fled from me.
(I.i.126-30)
In this passage, the subject “I” is distanced from its verb “Pursu’d.” The long interruption serves to provide
information which is integral to the plot. Another example, taken from Hamlet, is the ghost, Hamlet’s father,
who describes Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius, as
… that incestuous, that adulterate beast,
With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts—
O wicked wit and gifts, that have the power
So to seduce—won to his shameful lust
The will of my most seeming virtuous queen.
(I.v.43-47)
From this we learn that Prince Hamlet’s mother is the victim of an evil seduction and deception. The delay
between the subject, “beast,” and the verb, “won,” creates a moment of tension filled with the image of a
cunning predator waiting for the right moment to spring into attack. This interruptive passage allows the play
to unfold crucial information and thus to build the tension necessary to produce a riveting drama.
While at times these long delays are merely for decorative purposes, they are often used to narrate a particular
situation or to enhance character development. As Antony and Cleopatra opens, an interruptive passage
occurs in the first few lines. Although the delay is not lengthy, Philo’s words vividly portray Antony’s
military prowess while they also reveal the immediate concern of the drama. Antony is distracted from his
career, and is now focused on Cleopatra:
… those goodly eyes,
That o’er the files and musters of the war
Have glow’d like plated Mars, now bend, now turn
The office and devotion of their view
Upon a tawny front….
(I.i.2-6)
Whereas Shakespeare sometimes heaps detail upon detail, his sentences are often elliptical; that is, they omit
words we expect in written English sentences. In fact, we often do this in our spoken conversations. For
instance, we say, “You see that?” when we really mean, “Did you see that?” Reading poetry or listening to
lyrics in music conditions us to supply the omitted words and it makes us more comfortable reading this type
of dialogue. Consider one passage in The Merchant of Venice where Antonio’s friends ask him why he seems
so sad and Solanio tells Antonio, “Why, then you are in love” (I.i.46). When Antonio denies this, Solanio
responds, “Not in love neither?” (I.i.47). The word “you” is omitted but understood despite the confusing
double negative.
In addition to leaving out words, Shakespeare often uses intentionally vague language, a strategy which taxes
the reader’s attentiveness. In Antony and Cleopatra, Cleopatra, upset that Antony is leaving for Rome after
learning that his wife died in battle, convinces him to stay in Egypt:
Sir, you and I must part, but that’s not it:
Sir you and I have lov’d, but there’s not it;
Hamlet: Reading Shakespeare 8
That you know well, something it is I would—
O, my oblivion is a very Antony,
And I am all forgotten.
(I.iii.87-91)
In line 89, “ … something it is I would” suggests that there is something that she would want to say, do, or
have done. The intentional vagueness leaves us, and certainly Antony, to wonder. Though this sort of writing
may appear lackadaisical for all that it leaves out, here the vagueness functions to portray Cleopatra as
rhetorically sophisticated. Similarly, when asked what thing a crocodile is (meaning Antony himself who is
being compared to a crocodile), Antony slyly evades the question by giving a vague reply:
It is shap’d, sir, like itself, and it is as broad as it hath breadth.
It is just so high as it is, and moves with it own organs.
It lives by that which nourisheth it, and, the elements once out of it, it transmigrates.
(II.vii.43-46)
This kind of evasiveness, or doubletalk, occurs often in Shakespeare’s writing and requires extra patience on
the part of the reader.
Shakespeare’s Words
As we read Shakespeare’s plays, we will encounter uncommon words. Many of these words are not in use
today. As Romeo and Juliet opens, we notice words like “shrift” (confession) and “holidame” (a holy relic).
Words like these should be explained in notes to the text. Shakespeare also employs words which we still use,
though with different meaning. For example, in The Merchant of Venice, “caskets” refer to small, decorative
chests for holding jewels. However, modern readers may think of a large cask instead of the smaller,
diminutive casket.
Another trouble modern readers will have with Shakespeare’s English is with words that are still in use today,
but which mean something different in Elizabethan use. In The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare uses the
word “straight” (as in “straight away”) where we would say “immediately.” Here, the modern reader is
unlikely to carry away the wrong message, however, since the modern meaning will simply make no sense. In
this case, textual notes will clarify a phrase’s meaning. To cite another example, in Romeo and Juliet after
Mercutio dies, Romeo states that the “black fate on moe days doth depend” [emphasis added]. In this case,
“depend” really means “impend.”
Shakespeare’s Wordplay
All of Shakespeare’s works exhibit his mastery of playing with language and with such variety that many
people have authored entire books on this subject alone. Shakespeare’s most frequently used types of
wordplay are common: metaphors, similes, synecdoche and metonymy, personification, allusion, and puns. It
is when Shakespeare violates the normal use of these devices, or rhetorical figures, that the language becomes
confusing.
A metaphor is a comparison in which an object or idea is replaced by another object or idea with common
attributes. For example, in Macbeth, a murderer tells Macbeth that Banquo has been murdered, as directed,
but that his son, Fleance, escaped, having witnessed his father’s murder. Fleance, now a threat to Macbeth, is
described as a serpent:
There the grown serpent lies, the worm that’s fled
Hath nature that in time will venom breed,
No teeth for the present.
(III.iv.29-31)
Hamlet: Reading Shakespeare 9
Similes, on the other hand, compare objects or ideas while using the words “like” or “as.” In Romeo and
Juliet, Romeo tells Juliet that “love goes toward love as schoolboys from their books” (II.ii.156). Such
similes often give way to more involved comparisons, “extended similes.” For example, Juliet tells Romeo:
‘Tis almost morning,
I would have thee gone,
And yet no farther than a wonton’s bird,
That lets it hop a little from his hand
Like a poor prisoner in his twisted gyves,
And with silken thread plucks it back again,
So loving-jealous of his liberty.
(II.ii.176-81)
An epic simile, a device borrowed from heroic poetry, is an extended simile that builds into an even more
elaborate comparison. In Macbeth, Macbeth describes King Duncan’s virtues with an angelic, celestial simile
and then drives immediately into another simile that redirects us into a vision of warfare and destruction:
… Besides this Duncan
Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been
So clear in his great office, that his virtues
Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against
The deep damnation of his taking-off;
And pity, like a naked new-born babe,
Striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubim, horsed
Upon the sightless couriers of the air,
Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,
That tears shall drown the wind….
(I.vii.16-25)
Shakespeare employs other devices, like synecdoche and metonymy, to achieve “verbal economy,” or using
one or two words to express more than one thought. Synecdoche is a figure of speech using a part for the
whole. An example of synecdoche is using the word boards to imply a stage. Boards are only a small part of
the materials that make up a stage; however, the term boards has become a colloquial synonym for stage.
Metonymy is a figure of speech using the name of one thing for that of another which it is associated. An
example of metonymy is using crown to mean the king (as used in the sentence “These lands belong to the
crown”). Since a crown is associated with or an attribute of the king, the word crown has become a
metonymy for the king. It is important to understand that every metonymy is a synecdoche, but not every
synecdoche is a metonymy. This rule is true because a metonymy must not only be a part of the root word,
making a synecdoche, but also be a unique attribute of or associated with the root word.
Synecdoche and metonymy in Shakespeare’s works is often very confusing to a new student because he
creates uses for words that they usually do not perform. This technique is often complicated and yet very
subtle, which makes it difficult of a new student to dissect and understand. An example of these devices in
one of Shakespeare’s plays can be found in The Merchant of Venice . In warning his daughter, Jessica, to
ignore the Christian revelries in the streets below, Shylock says:
Lock up my doors; and when you hear the drum
And the vile squealing of the wry-necked fife,
Clamber not you up to the casements then….
(I.v.30-32)
Hamlet: Reading Shakespeare 10