outline and paragraphs

Title: Public Sophistication versus Hidden Emotion: Claudius’s and Hamlet’s Different Speech Patterns

Outline:

-          Intro

-          Thesis: Moreover, not only does Shakespeare’s diction and word choice express Hamlet’s and Claudius’s insightful knowledge, but also Shakespeare incorporates soliloquies to express character’s inner thoughts and emotions. Claudius may publicly dictate his emotions while Hamlet fails to do so, but his speech technique fails to represent his thoughts accurately.

-          1^st body: Public word choice

o   Claudius is wordy

o   Claudius sounds sophisticated

o   Hamlet short responses

-          2^nd body: Private word choice

o   Soliloquy

o   Emotions

o   Hamlet is more concise with words

    

  In the play Hamlet, Shakespeare demonstrates that in order to convey different personality types, language is a key element to persuade the audience’s perspective. Since the play consists of different speeches from different characters, Shakespeare applies language and diction to characterize the character’s attitudes and sophistication. Two characters that illuminate variation in speech are Hamlet and Claudius. Their dialogue with each other allows the audience to see the contrasting personalities the two characters possess as well as their unexpected similarities. Moreover, not only does Shakespeare’s diction and word choice express Hamlet’s and Claudius’s insightful knowledge, but also Shakespeare incorporates soliloquies to express character’s inner thoughts and emotions. Claudius may publicly dictate his emotions while Hamlet fails to do so, but his speech technique fails to represent his thoughts accurately. 

       Claudius and Hamlet both represent themselves through their public speech patterns; Claudius chooses to publicly announce his emotions, while Hamlet doesn’t reveal as much to the public. Thus, Shakespeare illuminates empty mindedness through excessive diction in Claudius’s speech, and employs that Claudius does not know how to control his wordiness. Claudius distracts from his main point in his speeches by using extra words to sound sophisticated and presents himself as knowledgeable; however, too many words result in the opposite. “To give these mourning duties to your father: but, you must know, your father lost a father; that father lost, lost his, and the survivor bound in filial obligation for some term to do obsequious sorrow:” (729). Claudius tries to explain his advice to Hamlet, but instead elaborates on the same points over and over in different long words like “obsequious.” His wordiness isn’t needed to fulfill his meaning and it also isn’t necessary to tell Hamlet the obvious facts. Although Claudius over uses language to enforce his meaning of his argument in his speech, a disadvantage, he explains his inner emotional circumstance openly. Hamlet, on the other hand, responds to Claudius’s lengthy and wordy sentences with shorter replies publically. He sometimes ignores Claudius altogether and just listens to the Queen and responds to her words: “I shall in all my best obey you, madam” (729). Hamlet resorts to listening to the Queen’s short replies instead of Claudius’s lengthy sounding conversation, even though Hamlet has equally extensive speeches. Hamlet doesn’t reveal a lot of emotion publically which causes built-up insanity and frustration from the passing of his father. Hamlet’s short responses contrast the most with Claudius’s wordiness because even though their speeches compare in length, their meanings are altered because of their choice of words. Hamlet’s simplistic diction iterates his point more effectively than Claudius’s, but Hamlet accomplishes the task by hiding the inner emotions within his mind.  

 

Figurative language

Figurative language is used to expand ideas as 'metaphorical' rather than the literal meaning. Figurative language, thus, explains an idea by comparing it to another idea (or something else). Shakespeare uses figurative language an not ornamental but more as an indepth meaning to express the way the characters think or the interal or external relationships between characters. An example in Hamlet is when Polonius calls Ophelia "a green girl." Shakespeare demonstrates the metaphor to reveal the dominance in the family. He refers to Ophelia as inferior and basically expresses his mentality that Ophelia's words are not worth his time. Shakespeare intertwines figurative language to connote personality characteristics, like Polonius's dominate and confident trait.

Setting

Setting describes the place and time of the literature; thus, connoting an atmospheric feel of a scene by using different images or metaphors. The setting allows the audience/reader/viewer to understand the circumstance of the place the characters are situated in, as well as their personal qualities. For an example, in Austin's Pride and Prejudice, Darcy lives in a huge mansion in Pemberley. His estate doesn't only represent his wealth but this setting illuminates the climax of the plot of the novel. This setting is where Elizabeth starts to develop feelings for Darcy. Settings can differ throughout the literature, representing the growth of a character, like Elizabeth, as well as the tone of the character's emotional status. Like from the beginning when Darcy thinks of Elizabeth as 'intolerable' which changes into loving Elizabeth.

1st Hamlet Par

In the play Hamlet, Shakespeare demonstrates that in order to convey different personality types, language is a key element to persuade the audience’s perspective. Since the play consists of various speeches from different characters, Shakespeare projects language and diction to characterize the character’s attitudes and sophistication. Two characters that illuminate variation in speech are Hamlet and Claudius. Their dialogue allows the audience to see the contrasting personalities the two characters possess as well as their unexpected similarities. Moreover, not only does their diction and word choice express their insightful knowledge, but also Shakespeare incorporates soliloquies to express character’s inner thoughts and emotions. Claudius may publicly dictate his emotions while Hamlet fails to do so, but Claudius’s speech technique fails to represent his thoughts effectively. Although Hamlet and Claudius have comparable speech patterns, their choice of words express their diverse mentality and personal sophistication; moreover, both characters seize different emotional confrontation in the play.

Hamlet and Claudius speeches

Hamlet and Claudius’s speeches differ because of the language they use and how they are delivered. Their speech patterns are very similar, but their different diction uses illuminates their characteristics and shows the contrasting personalities they possess. An example is when both Hamlet and Claudius are speaking and their diction differs in the way that Claudius sounds more sophisticated with his replies while Hamlet speaks more simply and less elaborate. Claudius’s language, thus, reflects his personality because when he tries to complicate his sentences by using elaborate diction, his speeches lose the effect and point he is trying to make. Hamlet’s diction, however, resembles his straight-forward personality. Moreover, Hamlet’s language in his soliloquies emphasis his straight-forward emotions in his inner conflict, instead of publicly exclaiming them.