WORDS AND ACTION

            "Have more than you show, speak less than you know." This quote by Shakespeare defines Hamlet to be the most intelligent young man who knows how to manipulate those around him. All of Shakespeare’s characters serve to be self-motivating and self-overhearing characters. Hamlet, a Shakespearean character, is a smart, intelligent, wise, and determined individual, who is passionate and unwavering about his duties and decisions. But he struggles to bring about a practical response to his decisions and thoughts. Hamlet’s speech constitutes locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary forces – theory of performativity conceived and constructed by J.L. Austin. As described in The Performative Utterance in Hamlet by Fredrik deBoer, Hamlet has “aesthetic power, descriptive power, artistic power” in his language and speech. His soliloquies and dialogues are self-convincing and self-reflecting, but they lack to evoke the drive in Hamlet to convert them into action.

            Hamlet, being a maturely developed, having complex psychological abilities, and transcending expectations of any teenager, is fettered by “cognitive paralysis,” where he is incapable of bringing his mental assurances to physical confirmation. “..That patient merit of the unworthy takes, when he himself might his quietus make/with a bare bodkin?,” Hamlet clearly distinguishes between the expectation from his father and the real-world result that he faces. He knows he must kill Claudius to avenge his father’s death, but his inability to bring about the expected action frustrates him. According to deBoer, Shakespeare has an unstated requirement to use the theory of performativity and the method of self-overhearing to reveal the inner personalities of his characters. If Hamlet did not have soliloquies in the middle, it would be extremely difficult for the readers to analyze and psychoanalyze Hamlet to understand his emotions, internal and external struggle, and his distinct ability to make intact decisions. Shakespeare’s technique to have Hamlet reveal his thoughts not as thoughts but as spoken speech creates a sense of reality for the readers.

            “So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word; It is ‘Adieu, adieu! remember me.’ I have sworn’t.” These words by Hamlet to his father reveal a sense of action to the audience where the viewers are assured that Hamlet is completely certain to kill Claudius. Every statement, as such, moves the plot forward and characterizes him and others a little deeper. In this quote, his certainty towards avenging his father’s death assures the viewers of Claudius being the villain of Denmark. His ability to reflect on his “love” for Ophelia, respect for his father, anger for his mother, and hatred for Claudius in his speech proves Austin’s theory of performativity to be accurate. His speech clearly conveying his emotions across, hatred towards Claudius, – locutionary force – and through his emotions, he brings about a responsive action, he will kill Claudius, – illocutionary force – and finally, him evoking feelings of sympathy and anger from the readers – perlocutionary force. Shakespeare is capable of using theory of performativity in all of Hamlet’s soliloquies, which are an act of self-overhearing – where in each dialogue Hamlet and the readers realize one unique quality of him every time.

            The Performative Utterance in Hamlet takes Hamlet and its analysis to a higher level than just a superficial analysis of a “crazy, confused, and suicidal” teenager, which by the way is the most illogical conclusions reached based on reading the text only on the surface. He is a very smart teenager in ways that he knows and plans his “plays” to make Claudius admit to his sinful deeds. It’s extremely doubtful if a crazy and confused teenager would refuse to kill Claudius when he was praying because Hamlet did not want to send him to heaven – it’s an act of desire of pure revenge. Hence, his use of language to convey his emotions (such as anger and frustration to his mother both before and after killing Polonius, mistaking him to be Claudius) is immensely impacted by performativity, as Hamlet is a character of words. With him having much more than he shows, and speaks much less than he knows, he is definitely one of the most fitting Shakespearean character and one of the best one yet!