Hamlet : Literary devices
Hamlet is a notable literary work by William Shakespeare. A complete discussion of this literary work is given, which will help you enhance your literary skills and prepare for the exam. Read the Main texts, Key info, Summary, Themes, Characters, Literary devices, Quotations, Notes, to various questions of Hamlet.
Literary devices
Symbols
Yorick’s Skull: Symbolizes mortality and the inevitability of death. In Gravediggers’ Scene, Hamlet finds the skull of Yorick, the court jester whom he knew and loved as a child. Hamlet reflects on how death comes for everyone, no matter their status in life. It highlights the temporary nature of the physical body.
The Ghost: Symbolizes decay and corruption in Denmark. It also embodies vengeance, urging Hamlet to seek revenge for his father’s murder.
Figures of Speech
- Metaphor: “Denmark’s a prison.”
Hamlet compares Denmark to a prison, expressing his feelings of being trapped and restricted.
- Simile: “…for it is as the air, invulnerable, / And our vain blows malicious mockery.”
The guards describe the ghost as being like air, untouchable, even though they try to strike it.
- Personification: “Frailty, thy name is woman!”
Hamlet personifies frailty as a woman, expressing his disillusionment with his mother, Gertrude.
- Hyperbole: “I loved Ophelia: forty thousand brothers / Could not with all their quantity of love / Make up my sum.”
Hamlet exaggerates his love for Ophelia. It reveals the intensity of his emotions after losing Ophelia.
- Oxymoron: “I must be cruel only to be kind.”
Hamlet uses this oxymoron to describe his conflicting feelings in confronting his mother Gertrude.