Parallel Structure In Hamlet's Monologue

Through Hamlet’s monologue, directed at stage actors, Shakespeare uses parallel structure to display the virtue of self-control and subtlety in acting, as well as imagery of a tempest to assert passion is also a necessary element, ideally existing in perfect harmony with discretion in any performance.

In the first few sentences of his monologue, Hamlet warns the actors to refrain from unnecessary gestures, urging them to “not saw the air too much with [their] hand[s]”, but to instead be gentle and natural in their actions. He evokes the picture of actors using hand motions to convey their thoughts, and suggests the habit is a result of relying too heavily on gestures to display emotions. Through these statements, Shakespeare ridicules actors

Actors should not be “too tame neither, but let [their] own discretion be [their] tutor.” In the spirit of moderation, he warns the actors that they should not be devoid of actions, because the actions and motions of the performance enhance and compliment the words. Furthermore, the syntactic structure of this instance in Hamlet’s monologue reflects his earlier statement, beginning with an example of what not to do and followed by what the actors should do instead. This simple parallelism adds depth to Hamlet’s words and creates an undertone of structure and order associated with discretion. It’s also important to note the obvious personification of discretion, as this literary flourish, coupled with the rigidity of parallel structure, may be representative of passion’s complementary relationship with

Hamlet tells the actors to “suit the action to the word, the word to the action… that [they] o’erstep not the modesty of nature.” The methods of balancing words and actions in performance finally leads Hamlet to “the purpose of playing… to hold, as ‘twere, the mirror up to nature, to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image…” Ideally, the performers should act in a way that appears the least like a performance, and instead resembles the real world. The whole purpose of acting is to reflect nature, revealing its flaws and virtues in a unique and powerful way that can only be accomplished on the stage, so logically the acting must be as close to reality as possible. The more genuine the actor’s actions, words, and emotions are, the clearer the reflection of reality will be, and consequently the greater the play will