To be honest, I really do hate poetry. Most of the time it just makes simple ideas way to complicated, and there are double meanings to the ideas, which is exactly why I will keep this as straightforward as possible. Keeping with the idea of poetic structure in Shakespeare (as it has been mentioned several times below), the most obvious form of it in Hamlet is the use of rhyming couplets at the end of some scenes. These simple similarities of sound often tie together the two ideas expressed, and they help draw each scene to a quick close. For example, at the end of Act 1 Scene 2, it says, “Till then, sit still my soul. (Foul) deeds will rise, though all the earth o’erwhelm them in men’s eyes.” Through the rhyming of “eyes” and “rise” Shakespeare directly draws the connection between men and foulness. Had he otherwise said something like “Bad deeds will be exposed, regardless of man’s methods to hide them.” Though it would have made more sense to me in the first place by saying it like that, the rhyme attempts to help sum up the main idea of the scene, as well as distinguish the mood, which is in this case, a gloomy one after the introduction of the ghost.
There is another rhyming couplet at the end of Act 3 Scene 2, following Hamlet’s discussion of clouds with Polonius and portion of comedic relief amidst the tragedy. “How in my words somever she be shent, to give them seals never, my soul, consent.” From a quick internet search I found that “shent” correlates with shame. So from that, I assume Shakespeare could have written something like “I won’t take action upon my words, they bring her shame.” Here Shakespeare is once again emphasizing this simple idea by rhyming two parts of a sentence, and it highlights Hamlet’s thoughts about Ophelia and once again brings out the dark aspects of this tragedy, even after a bout of comic relief from Polonius earlier.
From the simple concept of rhyming couplets, Shakespeare stays true to his continued use of poetic structure in Hamlet, and this is generally important because it helps tie up the end of each it is used in by capturing the mood.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
i think that the rhyming couplets not only convey the mood of the scene but also shows that particular scene is important because not every scene ends with a couplet the ones that do must have some soret of extended meaning.
ReplyDeleteAll i can think of is how long it must have taken Shakespeare to write poems like this and think of the heroic couplets. To me it's completely brilliant that is shows closure and mood and rhymes all in one.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Will in the sense that poetry complicates simple ideas and adds a double meaning to everything. To me however, this is a form of art that is very interesting. I believe poetry also holds purposes. For example, shared line helps to show connectivity between characters during intense dialogue or to display close relationships.
ReplyDeleteWell it think the attraction to poetry is that it was very open ended and leaves room for multiple translations and interpretations. Everything in poetry contributes to it's overall meaning, including spaces and breaks in the lines. It's not meant to be a negative aspect.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both Will and Melanie in the sense that poetry often over complicates things. There are times when one could argue that the addition of poetry and as will mentioned, the possibilities for different interpretations, could help a story or a play, i think often times it simply adds to the confusion. In the end a story's point is to tell a story, whether theres some moral behind it or not, generally if its just a bunch of nonsense no one will read it. It is with this goal in mind that i think poetry can sometimes gives readers a less clear idea of what the author was trying to say....then again it might be only because i don't really like poetry nor interpreting it but its a thought.
ReplyDeleteYou read my mind. I think that poetry is way more complicated than it should be. Especially Shakespeare! I don't understand a lot of the olden day words and it's hard to interpret what he actually means.
ReplyDelete