Hamlet

“What is a man, If his chief good and market of his time Be but to sleep and feed? a beast, no more. Sure he that made us with such large discourse, Looking before and after, gave us not That capability and god-like reason To fust in us unused.” In this quote from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, Hamlet sees Fortinbras’s men fighting for a piece of land that isn’t worth fighting over. He realizes they are doing it for their honor, and through performative utterance it is made clear to him that he too needs to fight for his honor. This moment is central in understanding Shakespeare’s dauntless tone for the last act and his continuing theme of courage and action. Hamlet is finally confronted with the reality of his situation, and he has to make the choice to either be a coward or to be brave and take action.

                When Hamlet is making his speech about him being a coward because he won’t kill Claudius, even though Fortinbras’s men are willing to fight over something worthless, he reveals to himself that he has to be brave through performative utterance. “What is a man, If his chief good and market of his time Be but to sleep and feed?” In this quote Hamlet is saying that he can’t be considered a man if he doesn’t fight for his honor, and he just passes through life without taking action. “But greatly to find quarrel in a straw When honour's at the stake.” Hamlet is saying that there is always a fight to be had when honor is at stake, even if it is over something trivial. In both instances Hamlet reveals to himself through his words that he needs to fight for his honor and the honor of his family. He reveals to himself that he has more cause than Fortinbras’s men to kill Claudius and that he must take action. This speech causes Hamlet to agree to duel Laertes so that he may have a chance to kill the king, and his actions were revealed to him through his speech.

                When Hamlet realizes he needs to fight for his honor because he has seen Fortinbras’s men, Shakespeare’s dauntless tone for the final act is revealed. Hamlet is brave, and determined to fight for his honor after he is inspired by the soldiers. Shakespeare’s tone for this act and the one following it is very courageous, and it shows determination. “My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!” In this quote Hamlet is stating his determination to kill Claudius no matter what, which supports Shakespeare’s dauntless tone. “Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting, That would not let me sleep” Hamlet is saying that even in his heart he can feel his bravery and courage coming forth, and this sets a mood for determination and fulfillment. This also sets a mood of anticipation and courage within the audience because they have been waiting for Hamlet to take action against Claudius. The scene with Fortinbras and the letter Claudius sent to execute Hamlet have only strengthened the audience’s resolve against Claudius. In the last scene Hamlet takes the poisoned rapier and stabs Claudius with it, which proves that Shakespeare’s tone was truly determined and brave because Hamlet actually carried out his intents.

                The constant theme in “Hamlet” is whether or not to take action. Hamlet spends the whole play deciding whether or not to kill Claudius, and Claudius spends the whole play trying to figure out how to deal with Hamlet. “My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!” In this quote Hamlet makes up his mind to kill Claudius, which follows the theme of deciding to take action. Hamlet finally realizes that he has more cause and will to take action than the soldiers, and that Claudius has threatened his honor so he must stop him. The quote, “To be or not to be,” also supports the theme of deciding whether or not to take action because Hamlet is trying to figure out who he is. He is trying to decide whether or not to kill Claudius, and the kind of man he wants to be. When Claudius sends the letter for Hamlet’s execution he makes his choice and takes action just as Hamlet does. Claudius also has a dilemma earlier in the play when he questions himself and his actions at the altar, which shows that he is in the same boat as Hamlet. The theme in the play is supported by Hamlet and Claudius because they are both trying to figure out how to take action and the kind of men they want to be.

                When Hamlet finally realizes his honor has been threatened, and that he is going to kill Claudius it is largely due to performative utterance. Hamlet gives a speech about men and honor, and it lights his inner fire which makes clear to him what he has to do. “What is a man, If his chief good and market of his time Be but to sleep and feed? a beast, no more. Sure he that made us with such large discourse, Looking before and after, gave us not That capability and god-like reason To fust in us unused.” Hamlet is talking about being a man and how he has to take action in this quote. That is the central theme in the story, not only with Hamlet but with Claudius as well. The theme of taking action sets up a dauntless tone that continues into the next act and helps Hamlet to kill Claudius. The speech Hamlet makes about taking action ties together performative utterance, tone, and theme with his strengthened resolve and brings about the fulfillment of his intents. 

Pic of the Day #14

Circles

One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. In Shakespeare’s play entitled “Hamlet” the main character Hamlet spends most of the play contemplating whether or not he will avenge his father. He does this by investigating Claudius to see if he is guilty, even though he already acknowledged the fact that Claudius is guilty, by constantly putting on a show of madness for everyone in the court, and by speaking performative utterances. All of these actions display a level of insanity that transcends sociopathic, psychopathic, and schizophrenic behavior. Hamlet isn’t mad in the traditional sense; he is mad in his own sense. In each instance he is expecting, maybe even hoping, for a different result to alleviate him of the obligation he has to his father, but he gets none and the knowledge of what he has to do viciously cycles around in his head making him crazier and crazier.

One method to Hamlet’s madness is his investigation of Claudius. Hamlet doesn’t want Claudius to be guilty because then that would mean he would have to kill him. The fact that he learned of Claudius’s guilt from the ghost of his father gives evidence to the fact that he isn’t in his right mind, and maybe the apparition was a product of his knowledge of his father’s death. No one except Hamlet ever actually spoke to the ghost so maybe it was a form of his conscience appearing to him in a hallucination. The insanity of the whole thing is evident in the fact that he orchestrated the mouse trap even though he knew of Claudius’s guilt. He wanted the players to elicit some emotion from Claudius that disproved his theory so he wouldn’t have to take action. That’s why he was so moved by their outward performance. Again Claudius’s guilt was evident, and yet the distress of having to choose to take a human life unhinged Hamlet. Before the play he said, “Observe mine uncle: if his occulted guilt Do not itself unkennel in one speech, It is a damned ghost that we have seen, And my imaginations are as foul As Vulcan's stithy.” In this quote he is recognizing that the thoughts in his brain are foul and unwelcome adding even more to his hope that Claudius is innocent. This hope fuels his insanity as he expects a different result every time.

As the play progresses Hamlet puts on a show of madness to the whole court because he wants them to recognize his cry for help. He expects a different outcome every time he says something crazy because he wants the people around him to tell him he’s not crazy and that he doesn’t have to kill Claudius, but they can’t. His utterances aren’t taken lightly, and like De Boer said in his paper, “Polonius is vulnerable to Hamlet because of this mechanistic vision of human nature; madness, for him, is “madness”, and decent, sane behavior is as formalized and conventional as the various ceremonies of state that orbit around him.” The people around Hamlet are vulnerable to his performance because of their pre-existing ideas of madness, which constitute exactly the methods Hamlet uses to act out his madness. In his own way Hamlet is preserving his insanity by carrying out the same “experiment” and expecting people to realize that he’s stuck in a mad cycle. This might give evidence to the fact that Hamlet knows he’s insane and he doesn’t want to be sane, because sane people have to stick to convention. Hamlet uses his insanity to escape his situation and the constrictions society has put upon him. “This gives him the rhetorical space to explore various presentations of his own identity, and what better time for such exploration than within a performance of madness?” This quote supports the fact that Hamlet is using his madness to explore himself and show his true visage.

Hamlet explores his inner thoughts through speech, which contributes to Bloom’s theory of self-hearing which states that by listening to one’s own speech that person can discover things about themselves. Hamlet has many lines in the play which reveal to him the truth of himself and his situation, yet he doesn’t act on those revelations. This is because he continually reveals his thoughts with the intent of changing his own mind. He never succeeds in his venture because almost every time he ponders, he feeds his insanity and convinces himself that killing Claudius would be the right thing to do. It is a constant theme that Hamlet can’t translate his thoughts into actions. “Why, what an ass am I! This is most brave, That I, the son of a dear father murder'd, Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words, And fall a-cursing, like a very drab, A scullion!” In this quote Hamlet is bashing on himself because he can’t take action which only strengthens the argument that he knows Claudius is guilty and he should take action. The fact that he is prompted to these lamentations proves that he is insane because he is trying to spur himself into action, but he keeps getting the same result which is no action at all. He is stuck trying to convince himself not to kill Claudius, and trying to prompt himself to do the actual deed.

When people think of circuses and Rumpelstiltskin they associate those two symbols with insanity and the abnormal. The spinning of the carousel and the spinning wheel are just two examples of endless circles that people can get stuck in. They are never ending cycles that produce no new results. Hamlet’s circles are his speech, his investigation of Claudius, and his outward show of madness. Each time he presents his insanity he expects a different result, whether it be to convince himself not to kill Claudius or to get the people around him to notice his dilemma. This feeds his inner torture as he tries to break the cycle of avenging his father’s death and get his life back. 

The Performative Utterance in Hamlet

• ultimately hamlet seems to spend the play speaking but not doing
• his utterances betray little to no wavering in his understanding of his duty
• the divide between what is said and what is done is like Austin's theory of performativity
• certain language does not merely describe action, but acts in being spoken
• the locutionary force - the ability of language to deliver a message 
• the illocutionary force - what is done in being said
• perlocutionary force - what is achieved by being said
• Bloom argues that Shakespeare's characters develop through "self-overhearing"
• a man incapable of realizing the power of his own agency, but capable of using the spoken word, could come to learn of his agency by realizing that his speech has power to create change in the world
• the uncertain distance between what is sincere and what is not
• mimesis - a subtle kind of play acting like how Hamlet pretends to be crazy to throw everyone off