Hegert IBMYP English 7, HL
When annotating a passage for commentary, first look for and mark the basics: imagery, different types of figurative language, diction, etc., being especially alert for patterns or motifs. But to reach a more advanced level of commentary, leave yourself time to also analyze the style, structure and syntax of the language used, and connect that language to the purposes, meanings or effects Shakespeare achieves through it. A particularly important question to ask is how a character’s language reflects the character’s state of mind or motives.
Be alert for the basic structural forms Shakespeare uses. The three key types are…
Blank verse: Blank verse is unrhymed (or only occasionally rhymed) iambic pentameter. Blank verse is the most common form Shakespeare uses. It’s a way of asserting mastery over the material, and is generally used to convey material more important or noble than material presented in prose, though that is not always so. Most of the important soliloquies in
Shakespeare’s plays are written in blank verse, though the iambic structure is often broken with variations to the metrical pattern. The variations tend to highlight important meanings.
Example: See Hamlet’s first soliloquy (1.2.133-164) for a very good example, but you’ll find blank verse on almost any page you open to in the play.
Rhymed
Verse:
Prose:
Because most of the verse is unrhymed, the occasional use of rhyme stands out when it occurs. It often occurs in a rhymed couplet at the end of major speeches to add a sense of weight and closure to the speech, but also to highlight key ideas, emotions and plot developments. Generally, only important characters speak in rhyme and only at important moments.
Shakespeare also uses prose in a very deliberate way–generally for characters like the gravedigger who would not naturally speak in the more courtly, complex style of the nobility (though these characters can be more noble and intelligent that the nobility). Prose is also used by characters expressing more vulgar and profane, less elevated ideas.
Interestingly, even when Hamlet speaks in prose about ignoble matters, his syntax remains highly complex and poetic–perhaps a reflection of his unflagging intelligence and philosophical cast of mind.
Even more important than the form the language takes is its style. The style of language in Shakespeare’s play varies widely. Since language is a reflection of both character and state of mind, the wide variety of characters and states of mind in Shakespeare’s plays result in a multiplicity of styles. Here are a few key terms you might use to describe the different styles of language you may have to deal with in your commentary.
Courtly language: Characters of high social or courtly status often speak in flowery, complex, regal verse. The sentences tend to be long and

syntactically complex, with lots of figurative language, imagery, and allusions to figures from history and mythology. (Note also that Shakespeare sometimes parodies the flowery language of obsequious courtiers like Polonius or Orsic. Shakespeare is very aware of the difference between eloquence and bombast.)
Examples: See speeches by Hamlet, the ghost of King Hamlet,
Claudius, and Laertes.
Reflective and
Philosophical:
Hamlet’s language is often reflective and philosophical, especially when he explores metaphysical ideas about the nature of human experience and the world beyond death. He tends to speak in second or third person in these speeches rather than first person, a stylistic point can be important on several different levels. The lack of first person might indicate that Hamlet cannot face his problems directly–he must approach them from a more distanced, philosophical perspective. Or, it might reflect that Hamlet’s depression and disturbance of spirit go beyond the personal in their depth and scope to a more existential and metaphysical level. It might reflect his intelligence and philosophical cast of mind. Or, it might reflect all these things at times. Other characters, like King
Claudius and the gravedigger, also speak reflectively and philosophically at times.
Examples: See Hamlet’s soliloquies, particularly “Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh…” or “To be or not to be …”
Other terms you might use to describe different types of language in the play:
Deceptive, manipulative, sincere, insincere, ironic, humorous, vulgar, sexual, flowery, etc
Start with some basics: Are the sentences long or short , flowing or choppy , smooth or harsh, etc. Connect that to the character’s state of mind or motives.
Is the syntax natural and direct (subject, verb, object) or inverted and complicated?
Seldom will you find direct language in the play; the syntax is almost always inverted and complex–a reflection perhaps of all the complexities, deceptions, spying, and hidden motives in the play.
When the syntax is inverted, first try to find the main subject and verb. That will help you see what Shakespeare is adding to the sentence, and why. Example: Consider, for instance, the opening of Hamlet’s second soliloquy:
“O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I.”
The natural way one would say this is, “I am a rogue and peasant slave.” –pretty boring both in terms of rhythm and meaning. Now notice how Shakespeare has altered the natural structure of the sentence. He begans with an exclamatory word, “O”, to emphasize the intensity of Hamlet’s emotional distress, and moves the modifying phrase
“rogue and peasant slave” ahead of the verb and subject “am I”. In part, the syntax spices up the rhythm of the sentence, but on a deeper level, it reflects Hamlet’s sense of shame, self-loathing and self-effacement at this point in the play.
Types of syntactical inversions:
Review the handout on sentence type and structure that we used when studying Dickens.
Be alert especially for these two types of inverted sentences Hamlet:

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Interrupted sentences: Shakespeare often interrupts the natural sequence of subject, verb, object with modifiers between the elements in order to add emphasis and ideas to the sentence.
Example: See page xviii of the intro to the play in your books.
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Delayed sentences: Rather than interrupting or separating the basic elements of the sentence (subject, verb, and object), Shakespeare often holds them back until the end of the sentence, placing modifiers in front of them to emphasize certain ideas and emotions.
Example:
“Within a month, / Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears / Had left the flushing in her galled eyes, / She married.” (1.2.158-161)
Also, be alert for these structural elements: Repetition, parallel structure, endstopping or enjambment, and caesura.
Wordplay is important in all of Shakespeare’s plays, often used to comical effect.
But in Hamlet, wordplay is critically important in shaping the meanings of the play.
Three related forms of wordplay to watch for:
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Puns: A pun is a play on words that sound the same but have different meanings.
Example:
“Get thee to a nunnery.” Nunnery means both a convent and, satirically, a brothel. Or, Hamlets comments about the dead Polonius shortly after Hamlet killed him: “… this counselor / is now most still, most secret, and most grave, /
Who was in life a foolish prating nave.” Here Hamlet plays on the word “grave,” making fun of Polonius’ seriousness and his death.
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Stichomythia: A quick, witty exchange of puns–usually delivered in single lines
(thus, the term “one-liners”). It’s like verbal swordplay.
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Metaphors: Example
–When the ghost of King Hamlet tells Hamlet about his murder, he says he was “ … cut off, even in the blossom of my sin…” (1.5.83) He uses an earthly metaphor–“cut off in blossom” to emphasize that he was murdered suddenly, with no chance to confess his earthly sins, thus setting up one of
Hamlets primary concerns: the salvation of his father’s soul.
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Oxymoron : The characters sometimes speak in oxymorons. An excellent example is Claudius first speech as king in I.ii, in which he is trying encourage his subjects, and Hamlet, to move on from grief over King Hamlet’s death and accept his kingship and marriage to Gertrude. The use of oxymorons emphasizes the contradictions that run through the play. Examples:
“ defeated joy” “Auspicious and drooping eye”
“mirth in funeral”
“delight in dole”
“dirge in marriage”
Shakespeare’s word meanings can be problematic, in some cases because some of the words used have now fallen out of use, in other cases because the word meanings have changed. Here are some words to watch out for. soft : wait a minute marry : indeed indifferent : relatively (as much as the average) rival : companion; colleague extravagant: still: cousin:
wandering always kinsman wants : lacks would that: I wish that
I doubt that: I suspect or fear that