Figurative Language In Shakespeare's Speech In Hamlet
987 Words4 Pages
In Shakespeare's Hamlet, several intriguing factors are implemented into the speech that the ghost pronounces to Hamlet. Shakespeare employs this address from the Ghost of King Hamlet to Hamlet to primarily give major relevant details regarding the plot of Hamlet. Hence, Shakespeare establishes this speech to let the reader know who is responsible for the death of King Hamlet, and also to give Hamlet, the son of the fallen king, some direction. Shakespeare begins the discourse of the Ghost showing how outraged the Ghost is at being betrayed in such a gruesome manner by such a loved individual: his brother Claudius. From the very beginning the Ghost starts off using a powerful vocabulary to show his anger. The Ghost says," Ay, that incestuous,…show more content… When the Ghost explains the murder to Hamlet, he says that poison was as "swift as quicksilver [coursing through]/ The natural gates and alleys of the body" (25-26, Shakespeare). With this description, the reader is allowed to imagine the poison taking the form of an agile and fast object navigating through King Hamlet's body as if it were formed of gates and doors. Shakespeare could have merely said that the poison moved through King Hamlet's body very fast, but instead a new life is added to the speech of the Ghost. Later in the speech, Shakespeare also includes another example of vivid imagery. The Ghost tells Hamlet to not reproach his mother about the murder, but instead to let the "thorns that in her bosom lodge/ To prick and sting her" (46-47, Shakespeare). It is worthy to note the flavor and variety Shakespeare adds with that quote. The Ghost asks Hamlet to not confront his mother but to instead let her conscience bother her. Shakespeare signified those thorns as the painful reminders of the Queen's past and her actions to stab and disrupt the conscience of the Queen. Along with several other examples of imagery in the text, Shakespeare converts a potentially bland excerpt into a vivid and lively…show more content… For example, when the Ghost was explaining that he was murdered by his brother's hand, he said that he was deprived of "life, of crown, of queen" (34, Shakespeare). Although they are different objects, they embodied everything that had meaning to the Ghost. The text could have merely said everything "at once dispatched" (34, Shakespeare). Instead, the text emphasizes the value of everything that was lost. Emphasis is then also seen in the lines to follow where the Ghost says "Unhouseled, disappointed, unaneled" (36, Shakespeare). With that line, the Ghost is making it clear that he is upset. Shakespeare includes three words that all have a similar meaning and, in reality, had no need to include two of those three words. Despite that thought, Shakespeare includes these three words to emphasize on a greater level that the Ghost's disappointment is a profound emotion. It is understood to a larger extent , though, because of the two other variations of disappointment. A final form of emphasis is seen at least twice in the text. On line 39, the Ghost says the word "horrible" three times and on line 50, the ghost says the word "adieu" three times as well. The use of a word three times usually indicates the greatest amount of emphasis. The use of the word horrible was followed by a powerful statement in which the Ghost told Hamlet to not allow his mother's adulterous