Asides In Hamlet Essay, Research Paper

Asides in Hamlet

Asides… what is an asides? Unlike a soliloquy that is spoken when the speaker is the only actor onstage, an aside is spoken by an actor when there are other actors present on the stage. The aside is also meant for the audience, but sometimes an aside is spoken to an actor(s) on the stage, but not to all of the actors on the stage. How do the asides in Hamlet by William Shakespeare effect the dynamics of the play? The asides in Hamlet have several different dramatic functions; Some of the asides are used to add a bit of irony to the play, others are premonitions of what is going to happen in the play (one is even an ironic premonition), and yet others (most importantly) can be used to look into the character of the actor by what he says of others or what he says of himself (or too himself), and finally all of the asides have the function of helping to set the plot of the play. (I use the male gender because I did not encounter an aside from a female).

The first line said by Hamlet in Hamlet is an aside in which Hamlet tells us his feelings on the King of Denmark, his uncle Claudius. What he says turns out to be very ironic after his confrontation with the ghost, A little more than kin, and less than kind (1.2.66). Hamlet and the King are not direct kin, that is to say father and son, or siblings, but the King is married to his mother. He is only the nephew of Claudius, but also now in the position of a son within the marriage. Hamlet is not on good terms with the King after the hasty marriage to his mother. It turns out to be ironic what Hamlet has chosen to tell us here, the King turns out to be his arch-enemy . His feelings towards the King are questionable and soon he will find out that the King is an enemy to the state of Denmark and the cause of why Hamlet is the state of mind that he is in. This aside will culminate with the story of the ghost to form the heaviest part of the plot of the different subplots. One very important and ironic set of asides is given by Polonius, Though this be madness, yet there is method in t (2.2.213-214). The Lord says this shortly after saying that he thinks that Hamlet is crazy. He realizes that possibly Hamlet is not crazy, or still a little bit there. How pregnant sometimes his replies are! A happiness that often madness hits on, which reason could not so prosperously be deliver d of. (2.2.216-218). Here it seems that Polonius is quick to negate the possibility of Hamlet even being a little bit there. It is the wit of Hamlet that keeps him alive to the end. By dismissing the smarts of Hamlet here, Polonius is setting his own doom and making the King and Queen see Hamlet how he thinks he is. By giving the King ignorant opinion he helps to alter the end of the play too. It is possible that the King would have taken more precautions had he thought that Hamlet was the least bit with it. One aside is used has a ironic function that serves as a premonition about the end of the final act of the play, To my sick soul, as sin s true nature is, Each toy seems prologue to some great amiss, So full of artless jealousy is guilt, It spills itself in fearing to be split (4.5.18-21). It is a look at the reasons for the deaths in the final scene. The calamity at the end arises out of the suspicions of the guilty and comes to an end with the death of Hamlet, the King, the Queen, and Laertes. Do to the suspicions of the King and Laertes, themselves, Hamlet and the Queen will lose their lives. The ironic aspect of it is that Horatio is breathing these words tens of minutes or hours before the guilt spills itself .

Besides the use of dramatic irony with the asides, we can also use an aside to look at the character of the actor saying the aside. We can get a sort of psychological read of the character of the speaker. That s wormwood (3.2.158). Hamlet here is responding to the play within the play. He is responding to a line said by the play queen. The play queen has just said how she would not remarry and Hamlet is saying that he does not believe that. This is a look at how Hamlet sees women in general. Do to what has occurred between he and Ophelia and how his mother has acted after the death of his father, he has a deep distrust of women. One promised him something and another he supposes promised his father something, and they have both broken their words. Nay then I have an eye of you! (2.2.283). Hamlet here is contemplating the actions of his dear friends from school, Guildenstern and Rosencrantz. He is assuming, and rightly so, the purpose of the appearance of his two oldest friends. He knows their purpose of spying on him for the King and Queen. His knowledge of this will again turn out to be significant again later in the play. With this knowledge, he escapes death by their hands, and has them put to death. Hark you, Guildenstern, and you too-at each ear a hearer-that great baby you see there is not yet out of his swaddling-clouts (2.2.352-353) Hamlet is addressing his two friends and us of his distrust for Polonius. He knows that Polonius is a back stabbing old man trying to find out what he can in any situation. He is telling his friends to mark their words in the presence of this fiend. Other than what has just been mentioned, Hamlet is showing his distrust for humankind in general. It is not surprising that he can not trust the Lord Chamberlain, but to not trust two of his oldest buddies really shows something about how he sees the people around him. They fool me to the top of my bent. (3.2.336-337). At this point Hamlet is having troubles with his acting . He thinks that it is now becoming harder to act the fool with all of the treachery going on around him. Not only is it Guildenstern, Rosencrantz, Polonius, the King, but it is now his mother. Why is this making it so hard for him to act? It could be that it is too many people to act for, or the new person of the audience is his mother, and that could be a hard act to pass. This is when Hamlet reaches his low point in the play of trust for humanity. He thinks his mother to be in on the conspiracy theory with all of the others around him and in the last scene he had told Ophelia that he did not love her.

Polonius is another with significant asides that hinge on Ophelia and Hamlet and reveal things about himself. How say you by that? still harping on my daughter. Yet he knew me not at first, a said I was a fishmonger. A is far gone. And truly in my youth I suff red much extremity for love-very near this. I ll speak to him again. (2.2.199-201). Polonius here thinks that Hamlet is still in love with his daughter, and in this he has another reason to spy or check-up on Hamlet. Polonius has already given his daughter the ultimatum concerning Hamlet. He is starting to think that Hamlet is a little crazy also. He also states that he thinks that Hamlet does not really know him (which is not true). Still on my daughter (2.2.375). This aside is given shortly after the previous of Polonius+s asides. The only thing that has occurred since the previous one is that Hamlet has had a talk with his two friends. This is showing the mentality of the Lord Chamberlain. He is stuck on the thought that Hamlet is in love with his daughter and is convinced to spy on Hamlet. He also faults to show respect for the intelligence of Hamlet which will have later effects. It shows that he is a man who thinks himself very smart and is not one who will change his mind easily. It also shows his parallel to Hamlet. They are both people who distrust those around them. Polonius goes to the extent of having people spy on his son in France.

Through the dramatical use of asides in the play Hamlet we can see many things. Through the few lines that are muttered here and there throughout the play in the form of asides we get a look inside of certain actors. We also see a bit of dramatic irony and premonitions. The largest contribution that these asides make to the play is that they help to form the plot of the play. Whether by giving us looks into the suspicious behavior of the actors which forms a major part of the plot or by setting the tension with Hamlet s first spoken words in the form of an aside.

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William Hamlet . Heath Introduction to Literature. Eds. Alice S. Landy and

William Rodney Allen. Sixth Edition. Boston and New York: Houghton

Mifflin, 2000. Pages 633-747.