Sunday, November 3, 2013

Hamlet Essay

  The main question asked about Hamlet in Hamlet what is wrong with him. Everyone in the play wanted know why he was unhappy. The performative utterances in Hamlet begin here. Hamlet utters a performative utterance when he says he will kill Claudius. Learning about performative utterance and reading Hamlet impacted my self from the way Hamlet speaks and interacts with the other characters throughout the play.

  Hamlet is a wise young man and displays his knowledge through his vocabulary and word choice. When Hamlet is speaking to other characters, for example his mother, he gives more elaborate words for what he is saying than is needed. Using more fluffed words to decorate what you are trying to say shows that Hamlet is more mature than his family and peers perceive him to be. I believe this idea reflects into AP English, studying vocabulary and "To Be Or Not To Be" soliloquy is just words until we put them to use and fluff what we say to embellish a point and give a better impression to others of ourselves.

  Actions speak louder important than words and Hamlet's actions lacked in comparison to his soliloquies. Hamlet says he is going to kill Claudius at the beginning of the play but his action of actually killing Claudius doesn't occur until the end of the play. The delay in Hamlet acting on his words creates a different interaction between Hamlet and the characters in the play which causes them to think he is crazy. Friends and family also delayed Hamlet's action since he was waiting for the perfect time to strike. In life there is never a "perfect time" for anything, there is a gut feeling, your intuition guides you and you can feel a perfect moment but nothing is ever perfect. Hamlet found his perfect time to kill Claudius as he himself was dying.

  Performative utterance is strung through Hamlet like it is in reality. People, in general, don't lie but don't tell the truth either. In "To Be Or Not To Be" Hamlet isn't saying he isn't happy or unhappy, he is reflecting on his experience and self-overhearing his emotions. Comparing Hamlet's thoughts in his soliloquy to my reflecting on reading Hamlet I created a schema to hold my knowledge I have learned through reading and discussing the play. This knowledge will help me in the future like Hamlet's knowledge helped him outsmart Claudius and escape his planned death escorted by his friends. 

No comments:

Post a Comment