Figurative Devices In Hamlet Act 2 Scene 2

In Act II Scene 2, Shakespeare uses multiple figurative devices throughout Hamlet’s dialogue to reveal Hamlet’s full range of emotions as the character begins to set his revengeful plan into action.

When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern arrive to greet Hamlet, they are under the impression that Hamlet does not know the true reason why they are in Elsinore- Hamlet, of course, sees right through their façade. Hamlet plays along with their bantering behavior as they exchange their greetings, yet Hamlet’s dialogue as the scene progresses is filled with sarcastic puns to subtly hint his bitterness. After Rosencrantz responds to Hamlet’s question as to why they are here, Hamlet continues to refer to his friends with endearing terms that are meant to

When speaking to his friends, Hamlet refers to Denmark as a prison- “What have you, my good friends, deserved at the hands of Fortune that she sends you to prison hither?” (243-245). Hamlet continues to describe his home as a dungeon cell- “Denmark being one o’ th’ worst” (250-251)- despite the protests of Guildenstern and Rosencrantz because he is resolute in his belief that his life is akin to that of a prisoner in a cell, because he is locked away in Elsinore by the King, the same man who sent Hamlet’s own friends to spy on him. Hamlet stands resolute in his assertion, even though his spying friends try to convince him otherwise: “Why, then, ’tis none to you, for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. To me it is a prison” (253-255). Another extended metaphor follows right behind Hamlet’s description of life in Elsinore; Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Hamlet go back-and-forth over the matter of ambition, where Hamlet concludes that “[th]en are our beggars bodies, and our monarchs and outstretched heroes the beggars' shadows” (267-270). Hamlet stubbornly asserts the double meaning of the word ‘ambition’, which in this metaphor means a desire for more, but also a desire for the things that you do not have. Hamlet says that he has bad dreams, to which Rosencrantz says

By using extended metaphors, puns, and allusions, Hamlet’s emotional state gives added substance to his character as he tries to right the wrongs done unto his dead