Shakespeare's Use Of Metaphors In Hamlet

219 Words1 Page

Shakespeare uses metaphors and imagery to convey the message that we live to feed the worms. Hamlet is explaining to Claudius that Polonius is at dinner, not dinner which he is eating “but where he is eaten”. Hamlet is comparing the king to a beggar saying that he is the same in a way that they are “two dishes, but to one table”. The king is going to end up like the beggar, dead and being fed to the worms. The beggar will eat the fish that eats the worm that ate the king, therefore the king has now been moved through the bowels of a beggar. Hamlet is simply saying that the king is not all that, he will die like everyone else and go throught the burden of life like everyone else. The worm is the “only emperor” because he eats everything and

Show More
Related

  • Literary Devices Identified In Hamlet's Soliloquy

    513 Words  | 2 Pages

    Literary Devices Identified in Hamlet’s Soliloquy O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I! Metaphor The purpose of a metaphor is to compare the similarities between two different ideas.

    Read More

  • Poison, Poison, Rot And Claudius

    1788 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, poison, decay, and rotting are motifs that can be related to the theme breaking down of society, or the downfall of the state of Denmark, during this time in Hamlet’s life. Considering Claudius’s malicious acts to gain the throne, one can say he is being punished by God, and since he is the king, the punishment reflects the state of the kingdom of Denmark as well. As the play progresses, references to rotten things, repellent animals, and vile circumstances are mentioned numerous times, and one can make a connection to these allusions as the truth about Claudius is revealed, and other corrupt events unravel.

    Read More

  • Death, Decay and Disease in Hamlet

    655 Words  | 2 Pages

    This attempts to the elucidate on the feeling of death, almost like becoming like a leper before death finally takes its toll. Decay also becomes a strong theme, weighing heavily on Hamlet's mind. Whilst talking to Polonius he says, "For if the sun breed maggots in a dead dog, being a good kissing carrion (II, II, 182). " Although Polonius appears not to notice this, we can see the constant references to death being made by Shakespeare’s tools, i.e. The characters.  Moreover associated with Shakespeare's use of decay and disease imagery is his use of horror, "Roasted in wrath and fire thus oversized with coagulate gore (II, II, 431)," is a perfect example of this.

    Read More

  • Allusions In Shakespeare's Hamlet

    488 Words  | 1 Pages

    Time never stops moving forward and neither do the changes that humans make to today’s society, so why should we use Elizabethan references to make the same point that modern points could make. It would be similar to building a house but only using tools available centuries ago, it takes longer and is not as effective as using today’s tools and methods. The allusions used in Hamlet are a great example of references that would have been understood by Elizabethan teens, but if it is going to be read by modern teens the allusions should be revised so the reader understands what the writer is trying to say. That is why updating these allusions would open up Hamlet to a whole new teenage audience.

    Read More

  • Hamlet, the Existentialist

    1068 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tragic play about murder, betrayal, revenge, madness, and moral corruption. It touches upon philosophical ideas such as existentialism and relativism. Prince Hamlet frequently questions the meaning of life and the degrading of morals as he agonizes over his father’s murder, his mother’s incestuous infidelity, and what he should or shouldn’t do about it. At first, he is just depressed; still mourning the loss of his father as his mother marries his uncle. After he learns about the treachery of his uncle and the adultery of his mother, his already negative countenance declines further. He struggles with the task of killing Claudius, feeling burdened about having been asked to find a solution to a situation that was forced upon him.Death is something he struggles with as an abstract idea and as relative to himself. He is able to reconcile with the idea of death and reality eventually.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Hamlet And Karl Marx

    1254 Words  | 3 Pages

    From the beginning of the story King Claudius wants to send Hamlet away to England because he is afraid that Hamlet will reveal his secret about him killing the former King and then quickly marrying his mom. Which looks very suspicious on the King’s side of the story. Hamlet is also part of the royalty because, first his mom is the Queen and his dad was the former King, so this makes him next in line for the throne. “Not where he’s eating, but where he’s being eaten… fat king and a skinny beggar are just two dishes at the same meal. That’s all I have to say.” (IV, iii, 21-27) This is said by Hamlet to show the betrayal of Claudius to the former King. He also emphasizes that power means nothing because when he dies, worms, just like anybody else, will eat him. It also demonstrates that betrayal is the root to all problems. Due to the differences they make in their social status, this idea can be seen as Marxist. If they were seen as equal, this would not be happening, Hamlet would forgive the King and the King would be free to do as he pleased without the coming out of the secret. There is also a big deal of greed that they have towards each other because of their relation and how they keep trying to put the other one down, something that in the end they

    Read More

  • Parallels in Hamlet by William Shakespeare

    779 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the importance of characters Laertes and Fortinbras have been an issue that's discussed and analyzed by many literary critics. Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras are parallel characters in the play. Laertes and Fortinbras are often use by Shakespeare to compare the actions and emotions of Hamlet throughout the play. "They are also important in Hamlet as they are imperative to the plot of the play and the final resolution" (Nardo, 88). Shakespeare placed these three men: Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras into similar circumstances, which is, to avenge for their fathers' deaths. The main difference between the three is the way that each of them comes to grief of their fathers' deaths and the way they planned their vengeance.

    Read More

  • Creative Viewing and Perception in Shakespeare's Hamlet

    644 Words  | 2 Pages

    William S. Burroughs once said, "Nothing exists until or unless it is observed. An artist is making something exist by observing it. And his hope for other people is that they will also make it exist by observing it. I call it 'creative observation. Creative viewing.' This quote lends a great ideal, an ideal that inhabits the essence of this paper. Perception is just how you see something! Perception is an individual process in which you take a look at an object or a situation and based on your level of being, culture, and/or education you do what is called "creative viewing." Something that is trash to one man, is art to another. Something that is ugly to most may be the most beautiful object in someone else's eyes. Human nature entails passing judgment or perceiving things quickly, it is an instinct, but another part of human nature allows a negative or a positive reaction to it. Being very educated on his situation and his power in his life young Hamlet has quite a big chunk to take in all at once. Popov too has a brute that changes her was of life, and she quicker than Hamlet must make life decisions. They both had much to perceive, and they did it very creatively.

    Read More

  • Elements of Drama in Hamlet by William Shakespeare

    533 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare is a tragedy or as you could even call it a revenge tragedy, a play the dramatizes the revenge that the main character, Hamlet, pursues upon his father’s murderer, his uncle, and new founding king, Claudius. Throughout the entire play, realizations are made, characters are investigated and the entire play is tied together through an effort by observing its cultural context.

    Read More

  • Essay On Hamlet Figurative Language

    519 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hamlet is an impactful work with many forms of figurative language. This can be utilized to the advantage of writers today, as an aid in creating their own works. Foster’s manual for reading literature like a professor incorporates Hamlet as a tool in making new original works. There are concepts that are similar within Hamlet and “How to Read Literature Like a Professor”, as in the chapters pertaining to vampirism and violence in “How to Read Literature like a Professor”.

    Read More

  • The Embodiment Of Human Nature In Shakespeare's Hamlet

    927 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nevertheless, it made him too intelligent and too arrogant for his own good. Nothing truly makes sense to him and it takes a toll on all of his actions. He cannot accept anything at face value. He is his own worst enemy. Hamlet’s inner battles are the face of the play. In his most famous soliloquy of “to be or not to be” he expresses his thoughts on the concept of life and its worth. He questions, “Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer,/The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,/Or to take /arms against a sea of troubles,/And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep.” He expresses himself so deeply within this and his other soliloquies that the listener is left in awe. Shakespeare was a deep person himself and even aspects of his humanness is brought out through Hamlet. It takes an incredibly intelligent person to be able to write in such depth and yet make it sensible to an entire population. Therefore, Hamlet’s inner conflicts are essential to every aspect of the story. It is what intrigues the audience. It is what makes them feel something. Like any person would do if his or her faith is brought to question such as Hamlet’s was, Hamlet is crushed under the weight of reality and brings everyone else down with him. He forces himself to accept that every individual dies and becomes part of the earth. When speaking to Claudius about the murder of Polonius he says, “Your worm is your only emperor for diet. We fat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots. Your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service—two dishes, but to one table. That’s the end.” Any soul concerned with the philosophy of living has the same recurring thought - everyone ends up as food for worms. One’s soul has no definite fate and that is impossible for Hamlet and all of humankind to

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Devices In Hamlet

    259 Words  | 1 Pages

    Due to the unfairness committed to King Hamlet, his ghost has been condemned to be between the living and the death until his crimes are repented. To convey the desperate motives of the ghost to recover an honorable and just eternal rest the playwright William Shakespeare employs rhetorical devices to reinforce it. In the ghost’s anxiousness to notify Hamlet the corruptive situation of Denmark, he angrily describes the culprit of his torment, his own brother Claudius, as a “an incestuous beast” that with his “with witchcraft of his wits, with traitorous gifts” has seduced his wife into evil as well (1.5.49,50). He blames that those “wicked wit and gifts,” were won the favor of the queen. Thus, the repetition of the phrase and the alliteration

    Read More

  • Realism and Imagination in Shakespeare's Hamlet

    2868 Words  | 6 Pages

    Do realism and imagination coexist side by side and equally present within the Shakespearean drama Hamlet? Let us examine the evidence from the play, along with literary critical opinion on this subject.

    Read More

  • The Presentation of Hamlet in William Shakespeare's Play

    1236 Words  | 3 Pages

    use words in an artistic way; in this case, he is using them to appear

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis of Shakespeare's Hamlet

    639 Words  | 2 Pages

    What is mans' purpose in life? Is there a purpose? If there isn't, then is it wise to end it, despite the fact that there might be nothing better? In Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Hamlet struggles with these and other issues. He states that the question of life is "To be, or not to be...?" Is existence really worth the troubles of life? In this monologue, Hamlet is wondering what is his purpose. He asserts that the only reason people endure their horrible lives is the uncertainty of what lies after death. "Who would fardels bear, to grunt and sweat under a weary life, but that the dread of something after death..." Is it noble to suffer, and is life worth all its misery? Hamlet must question himself to discover the answers.

    Read More

More about Shakespeare's Use Of Metaphors In Hamlet

Open Document