How Does Shakespeare Convey a Sense of Anomie in Hamlet Act 1 Essay Example

middle of the night.

Marcellus asks Bernardo "Has this thing appeared again to-night? " to which Bernardo replies "I have seen nothing. " Shakespeare has given us no clues to what this "thing" might be, but he has given us fuel to fire our imaginations. Shakespeare has been deliberately vague in his description to give a sense of mystery to the scene (which is heightened by the lonely night-time setting), but by using the preposition "thing", he has suggested that what Marcellus and Bernardo are talking about is neither "he" nor "she", it is something un-human or otherworldly.

This creates emotional anomie in the audience as they are dreaming up terrible monsters and evil demons, trying to fathom what this "thing" is throughout the first part of scene 1. Shakespeare uses pathetic fallacy to create the feeling of suspense. Pathetic fallacy is a dramatic technique used to manipulate audience reaction, by using the environment to reflect the emotions of the characters, e. g, in Scooby doo, when they decide to stay in the old abandoned castle, it's inevitably thundering and raining.

The first scene is set in the middle of the night, as Bernardo tells us in the line "Tis now struck twelve", and Francisco adds to the setting with the statement "'tis bitter cold". This picture Shakespeare gives us of a bitterly cold middle of the night, with a lone guard patrolling a castle, sets the scene for the ghost's appearance. Also, I picked up some tension when reading the first scene, in the way the characters spoke in the lines: This passage of dialogue suggested to me that the characters were a little on edge, by

the way they question each other, and Bernardo's tentative, "Who's there? and the way Francisco refuses to reveal his identity before he knows who he's talking to.

This gave me the impression something was up. Horatio plays the role of the sceptic, telling the others "Tush, tush, 'twill not appear". This technique is often used in Hollywood horror movies, where one character refuses to believe that anything is happening right up until the point where they inevitably get killed, and in the context of the play, Shakespeare uses Horatio as a dramatic device to the same effect - to create tension between characters and provoke audience reaction/participation.

This technique is considered to be a clichi?? , something that everyone is familiar with, and Shakespeare used it hundreds of years earlier to the same end. This is one example of why Shakespeare's plays have been so popular for so long, using timeless writing techniques to provoke emotional reaction in his audience. As Bernardo starts to tell the tale of when he and Marcellus first saw "it", the ghost appears. Shakespeare finally provides us with an idea of what the ghost looks like when Bernardo states "In the same figure, like the king that's dead. It is interesting that Bernardo says "like" the king.

This suggests that Bernardo is hesitant to assume it is definitely the king's spirit, and introduces the theme of appearance vs. reality, as in 14th century Denmark (where the play is set), people believed that evil spirits could take the form of a pleasing figure to lure curious souls to their deaths. This heightens the feeling of anomie and tension, as the audience and characters try

to find out whether this "portentous figure" has good or bad intentions.

When Horatio tries to question the ghost, it does not reply, further boosting the tension of the audience. Bernardo comments "Well may it sort that this portentous figure, comes armed through our watch; so like the king that was and is the question of these wars. " Bernardo is saying that the ghost appearing in the form of Denmark's late king, and the fact that he appears in full armour, could be an omen of war. Omens usually never appear predicting happy events or good times ahead, and because Horatio earlier pointed out "At least, the whisper goes so.

Our last king, Whose image even but now appeared to us, Was, as you know, by Fortinbras of Norway, Thereto prick'd on by a most emulate pride, Dared to the combat; in which our valiant Hamlet--For so this side of our known world esteem'd him--Did slay this Fortinbras; who by a seal'd compact, Well ratified by law and heraldry, Did forfeit, with his life, all those his lands Which he stood seized of, to the conqueror: Against the which, a moiety competent was gaged by our king; which had return' To the inheritance of Fortinbras, Had he been vanquisher; as, by the same covenant, And carriage of the article design'd, His fell to Hamlet.

Now, sir, young Fortinbras, Of unimproved mettle hot and full, Hath in the skirts of Norway here and thereShark'd up a list of lawless resolutes, For food and diet, to some enterprise That hath a stomach in't; which is no other-- as it doth well appear unto our state - but to recover

of us, by strong hand and terms compulsatory, those foresaid lands so by his father lost: and this, I take it, is the main motive of our preparations, the source of this our watch and the chief head of this post-haste and romage in the land. This lengthy passage explains that the late Hamlet took land previously belonging to Norway with force, and killed Norway's king. Now, Fortinbras (the son of the dead Norwegian king), seeks revenge, and has rallied up an army to take back the land lost by his father. That fact, accompanied by the omen of war represented by the ghost, introduces political, or social anomie, as the state of Denmark looks set for war.

Another way the the ghost could create anomie in Act 1 is the fact that in the time the play was written, a spirit roaming the earth meant that it was in limbo, a place between heaven and hell, where souls go to be purged of their sins. People believed that souls were burnt for days on end to rid them of evil, the time depending on the amount and severity of their sins. The fact that the king's souls is walking the earth cold mean that he died before he had a chance to repent his sins, or that he was killed and is seeking revenge or justice.

Horatio says to the ghost "If thou art privy to thy country's fate, which, happily, foreknowing may avoid, O, speak! Or if thou hast up hoarded in thy life extorted treasure in the womb of earth, for which, they say, you spirits oft walk in death, Speak of it: stay,

and speak! " What Horatio is asking the ghost, is whether he has indeed come to warn of a terrible event, or whether he is seeking buried treasure, acquired during his lifetime, which some people believed spirits did at the time the play was written.

In Act 1, Scene 2 starts with Claudius, the new king of Denmark, addressing his subjects. His speech starts "Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother's death the memory be green, and that it us befitted to bear our hearts in grief and our whole kingdom To be contracted in one brow of woe, yet so far hath discretion fought with nature That we with wisest sorrow think on him, together with remembrance of ourselves. Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen, the imperial jointress to this warlike state.

Claudius is saying although we should be sad that King Hamlet died, we should rejoice in the fact that he and the queen are marrying. It seems he is trying to distract the public from tragic events, to make them feel at ease and content. He continues, "Now follows, that you know, young Fortinbras, holding a weak supposal of our worth, or thinking by our late dear brother's death our state to be disjoint and out of frame. He is telling of Fortinbras' intention of taking back the land lost by his father, and how he thinks Denmark is weaker because of King Hamlet's death. He answers this threat with the crowd-pleasing "So much for him. " Claudius is trying to instil calm in his people, he is trying to show that everything is under control to combat the rising fear of war,

the rising social anomie. After Claudius' speech, he turns to young Hamlet, son of the dead king, and the plays main character.

Claudius, his uncle and stepfather, and Gertrude, His mother, are asking him how "clouds still hang on him", how he is still grieving his fathers death. Gertrude tells him "Thou know'st 'tis common; all that lives must die, passing through nature to eternity. " To which Hamlet replies "Ay, madam, it is common. " "If it be, why seems it so particular with thee? " "Seems, madam! nay it is; I know not 'seems. '" Again this passage of dialogue puts forward the theme of appearance vs. reality, as the ghost did in scene 1.

Hamlet is saying that he does not seem to be grieving, because that would suggest that he was not grieving genuinely, he is grieving, he is truly feeling devastated by his fathers death. His statement can also be interpreted as Hamlet saying he literally is grieving, a personification of the feeling, a living representation of the emotion, wearing only "my inky cloak, - customary suits of solemn black. " And talking with "windy suspiration of forced breath". He goes on to list these "actions that a man might play", saying that he truly feels them.