Compare and contrast the ways Essay

Compare and contrast the ways in which language expresses the feelings of anger and frustration felt, by Hamlet and Claudius. Shakespeare uses very strong and powerful language in both of the speeches to express to the audience the strong feelings of anger and guilt felt by Hamlet and Claudius at this point in the play. The speeches are both commenced with a sorrowful expression, `O’, I think this demonstrates their pain and grief about what they both feel is their fault. I think Claudius feels he perhaps shouldn’t have murdered his brother, but is still trapped inindecisiveness and his thoughts conflict each other, through guiltabout being a murderer, and where he would be and what he would not have if he hadn’t taken action to try and lift his place in society. Hamlet feels he should have already taken action to avenge his father’s murder, so feels guilty about his inert efforts and decisions. The `o’s are then followed by degradation, Hamlet says `What a rogue and peasant slave am I’, and Claudius says `My offence is rank it smells to heaven’. The way in which these lines are similar that they are both degradations, but they are in different in their nature. Hamlet degrades himself by calling himself the lowest most worthless criminal, whilst Claudius degrades the crime he has committed and says it’s the worst crime he could have committed. Their feelings of anger and frustration are demonstrated with the use of powerful adjectives in his self condemnations, such as `monstrous’, `horrid’ and `damned’. They enable the audience to build vivid mental images of powerful items, which brings the feelings of self hatred experienced by the characters to  life, enabling the audience to feel the character’s pain and grief. A difference in Shakespeare’s portrayal of the character’s similar feelings, is that the language used in Hamlet’s speech explicitly shows his deep feelings, as he forcefully explains his grief and sorrow about the situation, `I am pigeon livered and lack gall to make oppression bitter,’ Hamlet clearly shows that he feels he is lacking courage and confidence. But in Claudius’ speech he explains how he feels bad about what he has done, but he doesn’t use such dramatic and descriptive language, whilst quietly explaining how he feels. ` It hath the primal eldest curse upon’t. ‘ I think this explains that Claudius feels angry at what he has done, but I don’t think it’s as harsh as the way Hamlet degrades and insults himself. I think Hamlet’s speech can be separated into sections, each describing his stages of emotion and the three mental phases he goes through, first he feels guilty about not taking action to avenge his father’s murder, then he feels angry at himself for wasting time feeling guilty instead of making a plan and finally he decides to take action and form a plan. I think this helps to show the levels of Hamlet’s grief and frustration and puts across to the audience that Hamlet’s feelings are a complex mixture or reasons and emotions and not just one like Claudius. I think Claudius’ anger and frustration is about killing his brother and throughout his speech he concentrates the whole speech to this unlike Hamlet who has mixed feelings and goes through different states of mind during his speech. I think on the surface Hamlet and Claudius have different feelings about the murder of the king, but deep inside they share similar emotions. Hamlet describes his father’s murder as a `damned defeat’, meaning a defeat as an act of destruction, which I think is a powerful way of expressing the anger and grief he feels about it, because he is saying that Claudius hasn’t only destroyed a part of him, he has irreparably removed part of his life because what has been destroyed cannot be replaced. Similarly in Claudius’ speech. References Visible links Hidden links: 1. http://www. coursework. info/.