Hamlet body 1

Looking at two major speeches of each character – Hamlet’s first soliloquy in act 1 scene 2 and two of the ghost’s speeches in act 1 scene 5 – the elements of audience, delivery, and style first deserve close attention. The identity of the listener helps determine the speech patterns of each character: Hamlet’s being himself and the ghost’s being Hamlet. Because Hamlet is talking only to himself, he reveals his raw thoughts; he is essentially delivering his train of thought and so does not have to explain or censor himself. As Hamlet is utterly disturbed by his mother’s hasty marriage to his uncle after his father’s death, Shakespeare deliberately uses a specific style to convey Hamlet’s distress:

                        she followed my poor father’s body,

            Like Niobe, all tears: –why she, even she –

            O God! a beast, that wants discourse of reason,

            Would have mourn’d longer – married with my uncle,

                                                                                    (I. 2. 148-151)

Here, Hamlet expresses his explicit thoughts through his direct diction, impulsive interjections, and prolific punctuation. Shakespeare’s frequent use of dashes that are even sometimes juxtaposed with other punctuation marks illustrates Hamlet’s passionate temperament and his unfiltered thoughts. His insulting reference to his mother as “a beast” reveals his blunt and uncensored diction. Unlike Hamlet’s private soliloquy, the ghost’s main speeches address and exhort an actual person. Essentially, if Hamlet were a computer, the ghost would be trying to hack him.  Moreover, the ghost is trying to manipulate Hamlet to avenge his “murder most foul” (I. 5. 27). Rather than directly explaining to Hamlet what happened in the orchard, he instead speaks in confusing metaphors and tricky riddles. After introducing himself to Hamlet, the ghost begins to ADVERB intrigue his son through vague references to “foul crimes” and “secrets of my prison-house” (I. 5. 12, 14). Further teasing his son, the ghost asserts: “I could a tale unfold whose lightest word/ Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood” (I. 5. 15-16). After dangling this terrifying tale before Hamlet further postpones revealing the story by referring to a mysterious serpent: “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life/ Now wears his crown (I. 5. 39-40).  He first uses implication when mentioning a serpent that stung him; next, he alludes to the snake in the Garden of Eden; finally, he employs the snake as a metaphor for his conniving brother, the new king of Denmark.