Hamlet Essay

             Many are capable of “talking the talk,” but few are able to actually “walk the walk.” As humans, we can create an impact on our outcomes by thinking through our strategies beforehand and rationalizing the best choice. However, when justifying our decision, we have split personalities: rational and irrational. This performative utterance victimizes Hamlet throughout the play. The actions Hamlet takes in response to his soliloquys takes a strong impact on the plot and makes the play dependent on his “self-overhearing.”  

            When the play begins, Shakespeare gives the reader the impression that Hamlet is indecisive, where he talks about what he wants to do but rarely ever acts upon it. DeBoer, however, believes his soliloquys are performative utterances, meaning that when Hamlet is speaking, he is not just describing what is happening, but changing it. The most prominent example of this is how Hamlet was able to convince everyone that he was mad. Everyone in the play gets involved thinking they know the source to his madness, when in reality, Hamlet is not even mad. Polonius is convinced that the reason for his insanity is because of Hamlet’s love for his daughter Ophelia. The king states that “Madness in great ones must not unwatched go.” Polonius becomes so preoccupied in sorting this conflict out, that he gets himself killed and Hamlet’s “madness” serves as a justification for this mishap.

            Another example of Hamlet’s performative utterance is when he swears to kill the king. The reader can see how much thought he puts into this delicate situation. Hamlet considers everything; when to do it, how to do and where to do it. He wants to complete this action in way, where his father will achieve the revenge he deserves but also that King Claudius will still go to hell and get the punishment he deserves. After the play inside of the play, a perfect opportunity comes up for Hamlet to complete his deed to his father, but he is able to compose himself and not strike because Claudius was kneeling asking God for forgiveness and would go to heaven if he was killed in that instant.  

            In conclusion, Hamlet’s self-overhearing shapes the play into how it unfolds. It made a large impact on how other characters thought and reacted and how the plot developed. In DeBoer’s paper, he discovered and showed that Hamlet is a man who uses the performative power he has in his tasks he needs to accomplish during the length of the play.