Hamlet Rhetorical Analysis

Hamlet: The Use of Metaphors, Tone, and Verbal Irony to Convey the Character Trait of Cowardly Inactiveness
In Act 2 Scene 2 of Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet witnesses the account of an ancient Greek myth demonstrated by a travelling actor. After witnessing the First Player’s emotional rendition, Hamlet realizes that he has covered little ground in his pursuit of revenge for his father’s death. The dramatic significance of this soliloquy is this: in regards to character, Shakespeare uses metaphors, tone, and sarcasm to illustrate Hamlet’s characteristic of cowardly inactiveness.

During Hamlet’s second soliloquy he sets himself up on multiple occasions as being coward. The first way is through the use of a metaphor. Shakespeare uses

Hamlet became tasked with killing Claudius and his ill feelings towards his uncle are no laughing matter. This is clearly shown when Hamlet says, “Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain! O, vengeance!” (Shakespeare, II, ii, 582-583) to describe his father’s murderer. Throughout the soliloquy, there is a tone of fury--at Claudius, at the world, and at himself. The young protagonist wholly believes himself a coward for complaining, dawdling, and being so incompetent. This strong tone makes the audience wonder why Hamlet is not doing something about his situation. If he is so angry, why has he not killed Claudius yet? If he despises his uncle so much, why wait? Shakespeare’s reasoning behind this may be to show that Hamlet is a coward and is terrified to do anything which might advance his plans to murder Claudius. This trait of his, his unwillingness to act, directly contrasts with such a heavy tone. One would think that any character who has such vehement sentiments would make a move, but that is not the case with Hamlet. It appears that this cowardly unwillingness to act is a character trait so strong that it even overtakes such a tone of