The purpose of descriptive language in literature is to connect the reader to the story or poem. Literary devices such as imagery, alliteration and analogies are an important aid for the author. These devices allow the reader to connect with the story on a deeper level, and they allow for enhanced visualization. Shakespeare uses words like lewdness, incestuous and loathsome to set the mood of the scene. In the play Hamlet Shakespeare uses profound diction and marvelous imagery to show the mind-set of Hamlet and the Ghost towards Claudius and the Queen. The play is introduced with the understanding that Hamlet is still grieving for his father exceedingly.
He has immense animosity towards King Claudius, and feels as if he is alone. His mother married Claudius, and his beloved father is dead without warning. But when Horatio tells Hamlet about the ghost of his father, Hamlet is in high spirits but apprehensive at the same time. He wasn’t sure about if the Ghost was really his father, or if it was an evil spirit in disguise. Shakespeare created a somber mood when the Ghost talked, by using metaphors and grisly diction.
From this scene the reader learns how Hamlet’s father dies, and the Ghost’s feelings towards the situation. But Hamlet and the Ghost’s feelings of enmity are not spread evenly among the Queen and Claudius. The description of Hamlet Sr.’s death in itself draws the reader to align with him and Hamlet. In the Ghost’s soliloquy Shakespeare sets a morbid mood by using morose diction. The Ghost compares Claudius’s actions to those of a serpent and calls him “incestuous” and “adulterate beast, with witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts.” Adjectives such as these bring out the tone and feeling of the character. This description conveys to the reader that Claudius is a character not to be liked.
The Essay on Hamlet Ghost Bitter Cold
Hamlet - Ghost The presence of the apparition in the opening scene of William Shakespeare " hamlet sets a macabre and eerie tone while emitting and foreshadowing a theme of death. In addition to the death theme the presence of the ghost illuminates on the mystery surrounding the death of Hamlet's father, the King of Denmark. Often in literature the presence of a ghost indicates something left ...
The Ghost leaves the Queen be, because after all he did love her, and he felt that her weighted conscience would be enough punishment. Overall Shakespeare easily creates the mood of a particular situation, and allows the reader to fully comprehend the purpose of the characters. In conclusion, literary devices have the specific purpose of giving the reader the full meaning of a piece of writing. If the reader cannot ascertain or connect with a piece, then it really doesn’t fully serve it’s purpose. Shakespeare clearly wants the readers of Hamlet to feel what the characters feel, and obtain a sense of what the purpose of each character is.
Stories and poems are a gateway to the imagination, and those that use literary devices enhance the mind’s ability to really explore the depths of emotion.
