| synecdoche | A whole is represented by naming one of its parts (genus named for species), or vice versa (species named for genus).”So the whole ear of Denmark/ Is by a forgèd process of my death/ Rankly abused.””Good Hamlet… let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark” |
| anaphora | repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses, sentences, or lines[being overly upset when your father dies] “tis *a fault* to heaven, /*a fault* against the dead,/ a faulta faulterly upset when your father dies] “tis *a fault* to heaven, /*a fault* against the dead,/ a fault to nature…” |
| polysyndeton | employing many conjunctions between clauses”Tis not alone my inky cloak… *nor* customary suits of solemn black,/*Nor* windy suspiration of forced breath…/ norNornot alone my inky cloak… *nor* customary suits of solemn black,/*Nor* windy suspiration of forced breath…/ nor the dejected havior of the visage…/That can denote me truly” |
| asyndeton | The omission of conjunctions between clauses, often resulting in a hurried rhythm or vehement effect. |
| metaphor | A comparison made by referring to one thing as another. |
| tricolon | Three parallel elements of the same length occurring together in a series. |
| stichomythia | dialogue in which two characters speak alternate lines of verse, used as a stylistic device in ancient Greek drama.QUEEN: Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.HAMLET: Mother, you have my father much offended.QUEEN: Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue.HAMLET: Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue. |
| conceit | An extended metaphor. Unlike allegory, which tends to have one-to-one correspondences, a conceit typically takes one subject and explores the metaphoric possibilities in the qualities associated with that subject. |
| apostrophe | one addresses oneself to an abstraction, to an inanimate object, or to the absent.”O God, God/ How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable/ Seem to me the uses of this world!” |
| antithesis | Juxtaposition of contrasting words or ideas (often, although not always, in parallel structure). |
| monologue | a long and typically tedious speech by one person during a conversation. |
| soliloquy | an act of speaking one’s thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers, especially by a character in a play. |
| chiasmus | Repetition of ideas in inverted orderRepetition of grammatical structures in inverted order”Suit the action to the word, the word to the action.” |
| hyperbole | Rhetorical exaggeration.”What a piece of work is man, how noble in reason… infinite in faculties… |
| oxymoron | Placing two ordinarily opposing terms adjacent to one another. A compressed paradox.”goodly king” “Honest Soldier”” But my uncle-father, aunt-mother.” |
Hamlet Literary Devices
September 1, 2019