For my character analysis I will be analyzing Claudius. In
the essay I plan to specifically examine the theme of public versus private
self, and how Claudius assumes two very different roles and tones depending on
whether his statements are made in public or to himself. For this blog post, I
am analyzing Act I, Scene 2, Lines 1-16. In class, I believe this speech made
by Claudius was likened to one made by Bill Clinton. Following is a copy of the
excerpt:
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,
Th’ imperial
jointress to this warlike state,
Have we, as
‘twere with a defeated joy,
With an
auspicious and a dropping eye,
With mirth
in funeral and with dirge in marriage,
In equal
scale weighting delight and dole,
Taken to
wife. Nor have we herein barred
Your better
wisdoms, which have freely gone
With this
affair along. For all, our thanks.
Claudius’ tone in this excerpt is
serious and formal. It has largely political undertones, and is meant to
present the King himself as appropriate, responsible and possessing the
qualities of a leader. He begins by making an appeal to emotion, mentioning the
death of his brother Hamlet, and the “green” memory that is all too familiar in
the minds of those whom he addresses. He uses this pathos as a segue to
discussing the current state of Denmark and its leadership. He uses words like
“ourselves” to make it seem as though he refers to and embraces the entire
kingdom, even though the speech itself is about his own selfish political
ambitions. In this way, he spins the rhetoric in a way that makes him seem
personable, as though he is looking out for all of his citizens. Using
parallelism (“mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage”; “weighing delight
and dole”), Claudius establishes a rhythm and a sense of credibility. Much like
today’s political figures, there is a reassuring cadence to the speech.
I would like to further explore how
the tone of voice and the style of speech change when Claudius is speaking
alone (or in an aside). Thoughts, comments, and questions are much appreciated!
I haven't scanned Claudius' confession speech, but it IS important that he is alone when he confesses. And since he is alone, he can't actually confess. We don't hear the confession but rather overhear it (as I said in another comment). And even if we do hear it we don't offer absolution, which is the whole point of confession. Another point to consider is that Claudius is actually an amiable king--people like him. He isn't a Richard III or a Macbeth. He isn't as sinister as Iago (who never confesses). Hamlet, on the other hand, is feared in Denmark--he is malicious and asocial. Isn't this odd?
ReplyDeleteOh, and don't forget to include the hendiadys in his first speech in your analysis. They are important.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this speech presents the King himself as appropriate, responsible, and possessing the qualities of a leader, but I also think that you can easily find instances of contradiction of meaning within the speech. You can analyze this disparity between rhetorical devices and meaning (i.e. he uses parallelism, but within this parallelism, there are paradoxes such as "mirth in funeral" and "dirge in marriage.")
ReplyDeleteThis seems to parallel the blur between "acting" and "sincerity". I think it would be interesting for you to analyze the motivations behind Claudius' changes from political self to introspective self as well-- I am specifically thinking of Act IV Scene 7 when he speaks quiet eloquently about his profound love for Gertrude.
I thought using words like "ourselves" was important in this speech as well. I think it changes the tone of his public speeches to make Claudius seem more likable and inclusive compared to his private speech. It would be interesting to compare that to how Hamlet describes the kingdom. Also, I don't know if you are analyzing just a speech of Clinton's, but interestingly, Clinton's leadership was shaken by something in his private life as well.
ReplyDelete