Irony in Hamlet
This essay will discuss the issue of irony in Hamlet by dealing with the problems that arise as a result of Hamlet's attempt to avenge his father's death. One of the central problems is the clash between Hamlet's overpowering need to believe in the ghost of his father, who is the authoritative figure in his life, and the awareness that he lacks empirical knowledge of the truth. In trying to achieve this knowledge, Hamlet sets out on a mixed mission of accusation, revenge and the search for truth, finally causing the upset of the original revenge plot when it ricochets off Polonius' dead body and hits Hamlet in the name of Laertes.
As a tragedy, Hamlet deals very heavily in anguish and frustration that are not necessarily allowed the means to be resolved or dissipated.
Dramatic irony is when the audience or reader knows the words and actions of the characters in a work of literature, but certain characters in the story do not know them. The reader or audience has a greater knowledge of many of the characters themselves. Shakespeare employs dramatic irony in many of his tragedies; so that the audience is engaged, and so they are able to witness characters errors in their action, predict the fate of the characters, and experience feelings of tragedy and grief. As a tragedy, Hamlet deals with the problems that arise as a result of Hamlet's attempt to avenge his father's death. Throughout the play Hamlet is on the search of his self, while his actions are shaping who he really is. As he is attempting to find himself his actions go too far and cause many deaths even his own, and he never gets the opportunity of finding his true self. According to the Whit Cream team, “your choices, values and perspectives that shape your soul” define your self.
When irony introduces something to the crowd that the actors don’t know it makes each individual feel as if they have a secret. They want to bellow the upcoming events to the characters, but know that they can’t stop the ending of the play. In Hamlet, there is a play within the play. During this scene the actors share what has occurred and give hints to what is to come next. The audience starts to realize that there are going to be deaths. They know that people are going to die, but every character feels as if their intentions and goals will succeed. Each individual is lost in their own personal beliefs and understandings that they don’t look at the facts and can’t see what it happening. Each characters is too caught up in what they believe is right and don’t see what is
Sarcasm is used in the play “Hamlet” to enlighten the story. It can help with the mood of the characters and helps to convey their feelings. One of most memorable quotes of sarcasm from act 1 was said by Hamlet, “The funeral baked meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables” (1.2 .180-181). Hamlet is clearly upset about his mother’s marriage to his uncle and he is being blunt about how quickly the marriage was arranged after his father’s death. In this moment there is a glimpse of the mental illness that was present in Hamlet’s psyche. Hamlet used sarcasm to explain his feelings towards the death and marriage. It contributes to the sassiness and conveys his annoyance towards the situation. “A little month, or ere those shoes were old with which she followed my poor father’s body.”(1.2.147-148) His animosity towards his mother shows through when he describes how his she had not broken in her shoes for the funeral by the time the wedding occurred. Hamlet shows anger towards his uncle as well when he describes his actions. “As he guzzles down his German wine, the musicians make a ruckus to celebrate his draining another cup” (1.4.11-13). Obviously Hamlet does not approve of his uncle’s behavior as king. He sees flaws in everything Claudius does and seeks to annoy him. The message behind his d...
Of course, there's considerable irony given by the dramatic context: this is not the perspective of the play. It's clear to us that Hamlet is deceived even at this late point by the devious and corrupt world. He may be less ambitious, but this does not mean that he is more aware of the truth, particularly connected to the plot against him. What's particularly ironic is that his confidence in providence leads him to catastrophe, exposing him to Laertes' treachery. In a sense, the catastrophe gives us a palpable dramatic manifestation of two images previously seen in the play: the fencing game between protagonist and antagonist in which there are secret a
“To be or not to be” (3.1.56) the famous lines known far and wide from William Shakespeare's Hamlet. The play, Hamlet, is about how King Hamlet of Denmark has died and his son Prince Hamlet returns for his funeral only to hear that the guards have seen the ghost of his father. This mysterious appearance intrigues the young Hamlet and so he goes to see the ghost and when he does, the ghost tells him that he is the spirit of his late father and that he did not die naturally. Continuing on the ghost tells Hamlet that he was actually murdered by his brother and Hamlet’s Uncle Claudius. Vowing to avenge his father’s death Hamlet sets out upon elaborate schemes to confirm that Claudius did indeed kill his father. As the play progresses Hamlet slowly seems to become insane, during one of his rampages while he was with his mother, he stabbed Polonius through a curtain killing him. Polonius’ death set Laertes, Polonius’ son, on revenge on the murderer and in doing so Claudius and Laertes joined in arms to make Hamlet disappear from the world. To ensure Hamlet would die Laertes poisoned his fencing sword and Claudius poisoned a chalice. In the end they all died from poisoning from the sword or from the chalice. Shakespeare provided dimension upon dimension for Hamlet, he created a character as real as could be. His character was an educated witty, indecisive, suicidal, and insane gentleman.
Throughout history, from ancient Rome to the present day, comedy has always been used in all forms of entertainment to instill the audience with feelings of pleasure and joy. Shakespeare’s use of comedy in the play Hamlet, has been analyzed in many different ways. Some believe that comedic themes in Hamlet, such as him developing a cynical attitude towards other after the passing of his father, are the real meaning of the comedy in this play. Although people may interpret that theme, the true purpose of comedy is to deflate scenes of high tension following a serious moment in the story, its simply for the comic relief of the audience. Every tragic event that is occurring or upcoming, Shakespeare incorporates comicality to release the build
Juxtaposition is a device that is often used to enhance and relate certain aspects of a writing piece. William Shakespeare uses this device in his plays to emphasize characteristics, themes and even scenes. He does this so that the elements that are being highlighted show major significance throughout the tragedy. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet juxtaposition is evident in the circumstances of the characters as well as their morals. Characters in the play that are juxtaposed against each other are Hamlet with Laertes, Hamlet again with Fortinbras and Ophelia with Gertrude. Overall they are parallel to each other and are considered foil characters due to their similarities and even differences.
Hamlet has had a rough time since his father passed; he uses sarcasm to release his anger, share his opinion, and show his newly brewed disgust for his family. Sarcasm is used to develop this play by using examples of how Hamlet views his families’ easy transitions through the death of his father. For example, Hamlet uses a sarcastic remark to show his disgust with his mother for getting over his father so quickly, and going with his uncle Claudius. The statement reads “…A little month, or ere those shoes were old with which she followed my poor father’s body.” (Page 28 Line 147-8) By this, he is saying that she barely broke in her shoes from the funeral before she married Claudius. Since the the wedding followed the funeral by just a little over a month, he is irritated that she could betray his father so quickly. Another example is Hamlet making his anger lucid through his sarcasm. He exclaims to Horatio “...Horatio? Or I do forget myself?” (Page 28 Line 162) By this, he is saying ‘Horatio, is that you?’ because it had been such a long time since they have accompanied each other. He says this neither because he truly doesn’t recognize his good friend nor because he is angr...
William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a tragic story about two lovers who are from two disputing families, and their eventual suicides. Shakespeare uses dramatic irony throughout the play to create tension for the audience and foreshadow the ending. Dramatic irony is when the words or actions of characters in a story have a different meaning to the reader than to the characters. This is because the reader knows something that the characters do not. Romeo and Juliet’s death could have been prevented if the characters in the story weren’t so ignorant of their situations, and often times the reader recognizes this.