1st Body Paragraph: Hamlet

Speech is used to convey one's feelings, emotions, and intentions. Shakespeare's word choice for each character's speech, in "Hamlet," not only reflects the personalities of the characters, but also helps the reader obtain a deeper understanding of the plot.   By recognizing the characteristic of each character, the reader can comprehend the situation of each character, in relation to the plot, and understand the motive for their actions and responses.    In "Hamlet," the Ghost and King Claudius can be seen as foils, through their language and diction.  The Ghost, who feels betrayed by his brother, speaks to Hamlet in a very direct and decisive manner, demanding righteous vengeance for his death.  King Claudius, on the other hand, is very sly and elusive, trying to hide his sin of murdering his brother and speaking in convoluted sentences.  However, Claudius, being the King, tends to still be direct in his speech by eventually stating his point after talking in a roundabout manner.  Therefore, through speech and diction, Shakespeare is able to convey the tension and motives for his character's actions, such as the Ghost and King Claudius.

Despite the fact that King Claudius and the Ghost are brothers, they have different speech patterns according to their situation. While King Claudius speaks in a convoluted manner as he attempts to hide his evil sin of murdering his brother, the Ghost, rushed by the short time he has time roam the earth, speaks with a sense of urgency.  The Ghost also has more emotion when speaking because unlike his brother, who has tainted his soul with murder, the Ghost seeks rightful vengeance.  King Claudius speaks in a uncongenial manner where he mixes the grief in his brother’s recent death with the joy in his new marriage: “Have we as ‘twere with the defeated joy, with an  auspicious and a dropping eye, with mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage, in equal scale weighing delight and dole taken to wife” (1.2. 10-15).  King Claudius’s strange manner of speech can be explained by his twisted soul, which no longer has any humanity.  The Ghost, unlike King Claudius, speaks in a firm and direct manner, plotting his plan to get revenge on Claudius. 

Furthermore, it is made obvious that Claudius has done something very wrong because the ghost uses such strong language in order to describe Claudius’s actions 

Setting Blog

Setting indicates the time and place of an event.  It also creates the atmosphere and mood of a scene.  Therefore, by noting the characteristics of the setting, the reader is able to understand the intended tone of the author. For example, during the ball scene in "Pride and Prejudice," the grandioseness of the environment called for the characters to act formally.  Settings in a play differ from settings in a fictional book because the settings of a play must be realistic so they can be produced for an on stage performance.  Therefore, the settings of a fictional book can often relay more meaning since it is not bound by the physical limitations of man.  

Rough Intro Paragraph For: Hamlet

Speech is used to convey one's feelings, emotions, and intentions. Shakespeare's word choice for each character's speech, in "Hamlet," not only reflects the personalities of the characters, but also helps the reader obtain a deeper understanding of the plot.  By recognizing the characteristic of each character, the reader can comprehend the situation of each character, in relation to the plot, and understand the motive for their actions and responses.    In "Hamlet," the Ghost and King Claudius can be seen as foils, through their language and diction.  The Ghost, who feels betrayed by his brother, speaks to Hamlet in a very direct and decisive manner, demeaning righteous vengeance for his death.  King Claudius, on the other hand, is very sly and elusive, trying to hide his sin of murdering his brother, and speaks in convoluted sentences.  However, Claudius, being the King, tends to still be direct in his speech by eventually stating his point after talking in a round about manner.  Therefore, through speech and diction, Shakespeare is able to convey the tension and motives for his character's actions, such as the Ghost and King Claudius.

Clash of the Titans: The Ghost vs the Serpent

Both the Ghost and Claudius can be identified as suspicious and sly characters.  The Ghost claims that Claudius had murdered him, which puts Claudius in the spotlight as the murder of the past king.  However, why would the Ghost urge Hamlet to commit a sin, by murdering Claudius, while he is in purgatory, a place where sins must be washed away before one can go to heaven.  Despite this suspicious behavior, the two character's speech severely contrast one another.  The Ghost is very frank when speaking, and tells Hamlet exactly who murdered him “the serpent that did sting they fathers life now wears his crown” (742).  Conversely, while Claudius is also quite literal in his speech, he speaks in a roundabout way and uses a lot of "fluff" words before stating his point.  In his main speech addressing the death of his brother, the previous king, Claudius hints towards his marrying of Gertrude, but does not directly address it until the end of his speech.

Character Blog

Characters can be defined as people, animals, or even objects, in a play. The plot of a play is usually structured by the conflicts between the characters, in the play.  Conflicts can either be described as internal or external.  In Hamlet, there is a a external conflict between Hamlet and King Claudius for the right to the throne and justice for his Hamlet's father's death.   In Huckleberry Finn, Huck has an internal conflict when dealing with Jim because he does not know weather to follow the ideals at the time, and turn Jim in, or do what he sees as justice, and let him be free.  Characters are usually developed through indirect or direct characterization to help create a connection between the characters and the audience.  These connections, help the audience understand the motives and actions of the characters, which helps create depth and complexity in the play.  

Hamlet vs Claudius

In "Hamlet," Shakespeare uses different types of speech to indirectly portray the characteristics of each character, to the audience.  Throughout the first Act, Hamlet is mournful due to the loss of his father.  In order to display Hamlet's emotional state, Hamlet's speeches are mainly in verses.  If one were to have a closer examination of Hamlet's speeches, one may realize that Hamlet is a intelligent, deep, and emotional character.  On the contrary, King Claudius' speeches are mainly in prose, and he seems unemotional and detached when addressing the death of his brother.  King Claudius is also very literal when speaking.