HAMLET ESSAY

       We spend a large part of our day speaking but we don't always realize the effects that our words have on ourselves and on others. In Hamlet, the conversations that he has and the soliloquies that he makes give us clues to his actions and feelings. Hamlet's words show the reader the kind of person he is. His soliloquies give us the opportunity to really understand what is going on in his head and his words with other people give us insight into his plans and schemes. This carries over to real life as well. Our words can be more than words. They are often a call to action that we don't even realize when we say them. Words have the power to be more than simply words and through Hamlets words we can see him develop his plans. This is similar to real life: The words that we utter can mean more than we think.

       Performative utterances are words that change things. They have actions behind them and behind Hamlet's performative utterances the reader see Hamlet's sense of action. In Act III Scene II Hamlet is giving the actors advice on how to portray the characters in his play. He is being somewhat harsh to the actors with his advice. He says "O, itoffends me to the soul to hear a robustious / periwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to / very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings, who / for the most part are capable of nothing but /
inexplicable dumbshows and noise: I would have such / a fellow whipped for o'erdoing Termagant; it / out-herods Herod: pray you, avoid it.". His advice to the actor has a double meaning. He is telling the player to make his acting realistic without overdoing it or not giving it too little attention. While reading this section I was wondering if Hamlet's advice was for the actor or if it was really for himself. Hamlet is doing some serious acting in this place and must have to work pretty hard to stay convincing. His words to the actor are more meant to convince himself to keep up his acting to make his sub rosa schemes successful. Hamlet's soliloquies offer us an insight into his mind. In the famous to be or not to be soliloquy, Hamlet deals with a lot of big life questions and these soliloquies show us the real Hamlet. In his conversations with other characters we can't always tell if he's acting or not or what he is really thinking but in his soliloquies we know exactly what he is thinking and feeling.

       I find examples of self-overhearing in my own life as well. I experienced it especially while memorizing to be or not to be. When I started memorizing it, the soliloquy sounded like a bunch a strange words clumped together that didn't really mean anything. As I read it out loud more and more times the words started to have meaning. I began to relate to different lines of the soliloquy and words were more than words. My life is fairly consumed with college applications right now and seems like endless pages of questions and personal statements. Things change though when I talk about it out loud. When people ask me where I want to go to school and what I want to do with my life my words become more than lines on an application. My words make me excited for the future and I can see it coming together when I talk about it. Hearing myself talk about the future makes it that much more tangible.

     The power of words bringing action is something we don't always realize even though it has large implications. Hamlet is an example of this power. His performative utterances give us insight into his actions and they help to convince Hamlet himself of his plans. The words that we speak can help us envision action and motivate us to bring those words to life.