In literature from around the world, one of the most common persons mentioned is an epic hero.This seemingly flawless character possessing extraordinary strength or mental capacity is viewed overcoming obstacles and even the most dire situations. We see this hero with few inner struggles, and from what we know of his sense of self and morals is generally just a conviction to do good. However, when we look at Shakespeare’s work we see an intense depth and attention to detail as he shaped Hamlet into a dramatically transparent man. This transparency allowed the audience to see a hero that had not yet been revealed, a hero with overwhelming emotion ranging from his sickening feelings of loss and hate, to his fits of rage against injustice.
Shakespeare was able to depict these strong emotions and inner turmoil so eloquently through his flowery and often cryptic language that can just as easily confuse as it can reveal the essence of a character. For example, when Hamlet says “For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause. There's the respect That makes calamity of so long life.” In this small portion of the passage we see Hamlet debating the benefits of death and how they can outweigh life. No classic hero ever struggled with these contemplations brought about by extreme hopelessness, they were hardened men who were only concerned with fight, kill, win mindset never touched by feelings of inadequacy or hate.
In addition, another important part of Shakespeare’s language is his use of self-over hearing. Hamlet’s character is constantly in a state of self discovery, finding himself along with the audience as he makes indecisive declarations that voice his true desires and eventually guide his actions. Hamlet must rely on himself for these revelations, he doesn’t have the classic mentor to show him the way in his journey, his journey is within and his guide must be his own will drawn forth by his ability to search his thoughts. A textual example is,” Thus conscience does make cowards of us all, thus the native hue of resolution, Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought, And enterprise of great pitch and moment, With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action.”Hamlet can acknowledge that our mind can be our greatest weakness in itself, and that once confident decisions can lose their drive and movement in a sea of uncertainty.
Lastly , a definitive aspect of the language that Shakespeare uses is performative utterance. Hamlet isn’t some mighty warrior capable of vengeance and destruction, he lacks the confidence so commonly seen with the hero, and instead must voice out these feelings he has in order to give them life and reality, to create a passing thought into a determined action. This can be seen in “Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer, The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them.” We can see Hamlet questioning his own mental torture, at first weighing out the two options, and then needing to have some sort of action whether it be to fight back or end the sorrow and pain he is feeling.
In conclusion, Hamlet’s use of language gives him a completely different image, breaking free from the fight to the death hero stereotype and being the transparent self tortured man. Shakespeare gives Hamlet this desperation not only to search for answers to his undecided questions, but to act upon those feelings within himself that cannot be brought about accept through extreme self analysis.
