Help Notes: I need to write a paper that explains what literary devices are used to describe Claudius's character in Hamlet. These examples must be from act 1,...

In act 1,
scene 2,is characterized by his own words and through 's .

Claudius uses the
high, formal speech of a king as he addresses the court and various courtiers as well as .
Shakespeare characterizes Claudius as a smooth speaker, a man who uses the literary device of
juxtaposition to segue into his own concerns. Claudius juxtaposes wisdom and sorrow and deftly
turns from mourning for the dead king to thoughts of himself:

Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature
That we with
wisest sorrow think on him
Together with remembrance of
ourselves.

Claudius uses awhen he chides Hamlet for
grieving his father, showing he doesn't want to speak directly about his nephew's grief,
referring to it instead as "clouds":

How is
it that the clouds still hang on you?

We
also witness Claudius as a persuasive speaker and master manipulator, piling up words with
negative connotations such as "obstinate," "impious," "stubborn,"
and "unmanly" to criticize Hamlet's grieving:

Help Notes

Friday, 4 February 2011

I need to write a paper that explains what literary devices are used to describe Claudius's character in Hamlet. These examples must be from act 1,...

No comments:

Post a Comment

To what degree were the U.S., Great Britain, Germany, the USSR, and Japan successful in regards to their efforts in economic mobilization during the...