Hamlet Essay

From Austin's theory of performativity, performative utterance can be broken down into three forces, the locutionary force, the illocutionary force and the perlocutionary force. The locutionary can be defined as what the meaning of the words are, for example in Hamlet when the ghost of King Hamlet appears and tells Hamlet that Claudius was the one who killed him. After receiving this information, Hamlet felt like he had to avenge his father and throughout the story that was his goal. The illocutionary force is the function behind the statement, as demonstrated in Hamlet when the king tells Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet. He does this so he can hopefully get information from them, but also to reassure his power as King. The perlocutionary force is what is achieved by being said. At the end of the story Laertes tells Hamlet that the King tried to poison him and killed his mother, and because of this Hamlet kills the King on the spot. Hamlet uses speech to display his inner thoughts, so that the audience knows what he is thinking and feeling during the play.

According to Harold Bloom's theory, the way Hamlet speaks constitutes action in itself because Hamlet overhears himself speaking and in doing so gains knowledge, The insight that he gains is important because this helps him make decisions throughout the story. In Hamlet's soliloquy, “To be or not to be,” he shuffles back and forth with the choice of either killing his uncle Claudius or committing suicide. There is action in this because Hamlet is showing the audience how he feels and what choices he has. Even thought Hamlet uses soliloquy's more than the other characters, the rest of Shakespeare's characters also use speech to present their inner thoughts. The King uses speech often and lets us know that he plans on killing Hamlet. Since he said what was on his mind, this gave the audience information that not every character in the play had. Hamlet had no idea Claudius was trying to kill him, until he found that note when he was being sent to England. It also provides foreshadowing for the plot, because we know whats going to happen, but the characters don't know what the other characters are thinking.

Since learning about “self-overhearing” I have noticed the times when I actually do “self-overhear.” It's usually after I just got into an argument when I will look back and say “oh I should have said this.” Also when I second guess myself on a quiz, I can see myself going over a question in an attempt to pick the right answer. When I reflect on my experience it creates a sense of memory, because the more I look back on something, the easier it is to remember that event. When I look back, it creates a sense of expectation for a couple of reasons. One reason is because I see what I've done well, so if I fail to do what I know I can accomplish, then I am not meeting my expectations I have for myself. Also I have seen what I've done poorly in the past and expect to not make those same decisions, but rather make choices that will end with success.

“Self-overhearing” is apparent with Hamlet as well as the decision making process that people use every day. Hamlet says his thoughts out loud so that the audience knows what going on, but most people keep their thoughts to themselves. In a sense when we “self-overhear” we are communicating to ourselves, so it is silly to suggest that we all don't talk to ourselves at one time or another.. It can be beneficial going over the different options in our heads before making a decision, because this can help provide the best choice. In some ways, I suppose we can all learn from Hamlet's methods.