Peripeteia

Discuss the following extract from Act 4, Scene 5, exploring Shakespeare’s use of language and its dramatic effects

In this passage, Shakespeare utilises figurative and emotive language to explore the factors that contributed to Ophelia’s madness and to emphasise the themes of corruption and deception. Following the nunnery scene, the declarative “O woe is me, to see what I have seen” implies that, like Hamlet, Ophelia has undergone a discovery of the court's superficiality, thereby contributing to her madness. Therefore, through her subsequent madness, he evokes a tone of tension and the dramatic effect of suspense as the audience is anxious, anticipating her subsequent actions.

Firstly, Shakespeare utilises emotive language of a semantic field, songs and imperatives to explore the newfound agency Ophelia has gained through her madness, thereby not only evoking a sense of suspense but also an underlying effect of pathos. The bawdy lyrics of “tumbled me”, “St Valentine’s day”, and “by cock they are to blame” all correlate through the semantic field of sex and love. This inherently sexual language, particularly obvious through the euphemistic “by cock” expresses a newfound freedom as Ophelia can explore sexuality which had previously been forced into repression through the patriarchal society and the nature of courtly discourse. Similarly, the lyrics “before you tumbled me, you promised me to wed” subvert the love evoked by “St Valentine” and instead, expose the trickery and deception of the court of Elsinore. This is particularly potent through the switching from Hamlet's romantic love to her father, “i’ the cold ground”, and his familial love, creating pathos for Ophelia by demonstrating her victimhood as a result of opposing patriarchal forces. Furthermore, the act of song in verse itself grants Ophelia a newfound agency as she is liberated from the constraints of iambic pentameter, differing from her previous identity, defined by her silence, “I think nothing”. However, even the form of song itself is borrowed language of control. The fragmented words she sings are not her own and instead the voices of others, emphasising that she is yet to find a voice in the oppressive court. Finally, her use of the repetition of the imperative “pray you” demonstrates her newfound agency through her ability to command the court thereby subverting the patriarchal structure she was previously trapped in. Such subversion creates suspense as the erratic nature of Ophelia leaves the audience apprehensive of her actions and the subsequent fallout.

Furthermore, Shakespeare uses emotive and figurative language to emphasise the court's attempted suppression of the truth, creating tension for their future actions to silence this form of truth speaking. Repetition of language within a semantic field of beauty highlights this, as she is repeatedly described through the exclamative “pretty Ophelia!” and “pretty lady”. Not only does this reinforce the imposed patriarchal identity on her by the court, but the qualitative adjective “pretty” connotes a childlike state imposed throughout the play seen by Laertes’ “‘O Rose of May”. Through this infantilisation, the court attempts to diminish the potency of the truths in her madness, transforming it into something beautiful. This reinforcement of her old identity is an attempt at suppression by the court, emphasising the theme of corruption as the court attempts to disprove her words. Similarly, Claudius’s attempt to regain control is showcased through his repetition of declaratives. “This is a poison of deep grief”, and “it springs all from her father's death” evokes a certainty demonstrating he has the power through the verb ”is” and “springs”. This certainly creates dramatic irony and heightened tension as the audience is aware that Claudius is in fact the true source of corruption, attempting to misdirect the court, thereby creating apprehension about the volatile nature of his next actions.

Finally, Shakespeare utilises emotive language of a semantic field of disease and interrogatives to portray how such madness has added to the instability of the court of Elsinore, evoking the dramatic effects of suspense. Claudius’s speech following Ophelia’s exit is filled with language in the semantic field of disease: “pestilent speeches”, “poison” and “infects”. Such image clusters are viewed as highly ironic by the audience, as despite his attempt to subvert the source of blame in the court, similarly done by referring to Hamlet as a “heretic”, the extended metaphor of “poison” for corruption instead reflects how his leadership has created instability in Elsinore. This is enforced through the interrogative “Where are my Switzers?” as the noun “Switzers” implicates a lack of trust with the Danish court, as he instead hires guards from elsewhere. Yet the interrogative demonstrates that even his hired guards are superficial and desert him, highlighting how his corrupt nature has nurtured an instability through sycophancy, truly showcased in his plea, “help me, friends” in the final scene. Furthermore, such instability and corruption are highlighted through Horatio and Gertrude's silence. Both characters remain on stage during Ophelia’s madness, yet do not say a single line to her. By not engaging with her verse of prose, they create a void of isolation surrounding her as their rejection, particularly through Gertude's earlier declarative “ I will not speak to her”, underscores a moral paralysis that has infected the court. This enforces the dramatic effects of suspense and tragic inevitability as by silencing the “sane” characters, Shakespeare juxtaposes Ophelia’s truths with their moral blindness.

Overall, Shakespeare effectively utilises emotive and figurative language through techniques like repetition, semantic fields and metaphors to create suspense and even a sense of pathos in the scene. The extended metaphor of disease throughout the play finally showcases its true impact through the instability of the court. The stage direction “A noise within” and the following frantic imperative of the Gentlemen “, save yourself, my lord” dramatically create an alarmingly exciting danger, emphasising the beginning of the weakened court's destruction. This relates to the larger themes of the play of corruption, as the decaying court has fostered a fragility, forcing either the truth to be revealed through madness or concealment through suppression. Overall, I believe this employment of figurative and emotive language is essential when expressing themes of appearance and corruption, which Shakespeare aims to convey to evoke strong audience interaction and response.

‘In Hamlet, madness reveals the truth rather than concealing it.’

Using your knowledge of the play as a whole, show how far you agree with this view of the play.

In revenge tragedies, revengers often feign madness in order to conceal their plot for revenge, so it may seem conclusive that madness is a concealing force in Hamlet. However, whether intentional or not, in many cases madness functions to expose or reveal truths about the court of Elsinore which wouldn’t have otherwise come to light. It acts as a force against the corruption of the state.

While Act One Scene Five sees Hamlet planning to put on an ‘antic disposition’ to cover up his plot against Claudius, his madness also works to reveal the evil of the king; it conceals the truth that he has heard from Old Hamlet, but aims to reveal the truth to the court. Hamlet’s behaviour during The Murder of Gonzago in Act Three Scene Two is erratic and rash, it certainly looks mad, but he uses this to torment Claudius and confirm his guilt. Although, if this is simply an act, a performance, can we say that it is madness which is the revealing force, or is it simply being used as a means of doing so? There is much debate amongst critics as to whether Hamlet’s madness is real or not, with many seeing his delay in revenge as madness and, to use Aristotle’s Theory of Tragedy, his hamartia. In his 1904 ‘Shakespearean Tragedy’, A.C. Bradley argues that there is much more to Hamlet’s melancholia than simple madness, but many modern interpretations suggest that his feigning slips into real madness. This uncertainty obscures the truth, rather than definitively revealing it. To view Hamlet’s delay and madness as intertwined, from a psychoanalytical reading, we could argue that it reveals truths about himself. In his 1949 ‘Hamlet and Oedipus’, Ernest Jones takes a Freudian angle to suggest that Hamlet can do anything but take revenge on the man who did away with his father and took that father’s place with his mother, showing him the repressed desires of his own childhood realised.

A similar uncertainty is created of Hamlet’s feelings towards Ophelia. In Act Three Scene One, he contradicts himself about whether he did truly love Ophelia within a few lines; the truth is uncertain. In his critical notes on Hamlet in 1765, Samuel Johnson calls Hamlet’s ‘cruelty’ towards Ophelia ‘useless and wanton’. In this sense, his madness makes him become malicious. Could it be that this was the truth of his feelings for Ophelia which is simply revealed by his newfound cruelty? Again, however, there is an element of performance considering the fact that Hamlet is being spied on by Polonius and Claudius. Branagh’s 1996 version makes it apparent that Hamlet was aware of their presence behind a mirror, so perhaps this is what provokes his behaviour towards Ophelia, a performance or, again, a feigning.

Commonly known by the name ‘Ophelia’s Madness’, Act Four Scene Five is crucial in the function of madness. It’s easy to neglect Ophelia’s dialogue at this moment as simply nonsense, such as the interpretation of mid-twentieth century critic R.D. Laing, saying ‘in her madness, there is no one there’, but analysing it closer, it seems to reveal truths about the court which are very dangerous for Claudius. There is a self-knowledge about her language, ‘we know what we are’, which suggests she’s had some sort of revelation, seeing the truth behind the corruption of Elsinore. Where Ophelia has previously been ‘marginalised and silenced’, as it’s put by modern critic Elaine Showalter, her madness gives her a voice.

Ultimately, madness in Hamlet becomes an anti-state voice, a means of expression and revelation. Perhaps Hamlet’s madness reveals the truth about the nature of Elsinore because, as a court, it is built on performance – Claudius is a murderer, Polonius spies on his children, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern betray friendship. So, while not in every case used to do so, madness seems to reveal the truth, rather than concealing it.