In class we have recently begun to read William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” now that our study of poetry is over. I was faintly surprised to find that certain literary devices, namely connotation and denotation, from poetry are still applicable to “Hamlet.” According to Perrine’s Sound and Sense: An Introduction to Poetry, denotation is, “the dictionary meaning or meanings of the word” whereas connotation is what a word, “suggests beyond what it expresses: its overtones of meaning … acquire[d] … from its past history and associations, from the way and the circumstances in which it has been used.” More simply put, connotation is what we believe the word to mean or represent despite the fact that our supposed definition of the word is unlike anything in its actual definition. Take the word ‘home’ for example. Its dictionary definition is a building in which people live, but its connotation to most people is along the lines of love, comfort, and security.
In poetry the reader must distinguish whether the author intended the denotation, connotation, or both to be used and then understand why and how it contributes to the author’s central purpose. The use of the word frigate in the poem “There is no Frigate like a Book” by Emily Dickenson is one example. A frigate is a type of ship, but its connotation suggests exploration and adventure. Imagine if in place of the word frigate, Dickenson used the word steamship or boat; either of these choices do not supply the same connotative purpose that frigate does.
In “Hamlet,” the denotative and connotative purposes are used slightly differently than they are in poetry. The character Hamlet often makes jests, relying on the multiple denotative or connotative definitions words have. In the first scene Gertrude, the queen and Hamlet’s mother, is speaking with Hamlet on his father’s death. She is attempting to explain to him that it is common, usual, that people die; everyone will eventually. Hamlet replies by saying that it is common, but uses the word in such a way that common in this instance means those of the lower class. In the next line Gertrude uses the word ‘seems’ to ask Hamlet why he is acting as if his father’s death is a particularly awful occurrence. However, Hamlet twists the meaning to make it seem as if she is asking him why he is putting on an act of grief; he then replies that he is not acting, answering his own twisted question. Before the above conversation Hamlet, calls Claudius, “A little more than kin and less than kind.” Because it is Hamlet the word ‘kind’ has a double meaning. It could have the meaning of being one of Hamlet’s kindred, which is also implied by the statement, “A little more than kin.” It could also mean, when paired with less than, that Hamlet is referring to Claudius as one who is heartless and ruthless. The way that Hamlet uses both the denotative and connotative meanings of certain words help to make clear a portion of Hamlet’s character: that he likes to jest, has an education, and frowns upon his stepfather.
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Apparently we’re coming back to poetry soon, but take what you can get, right? Hmm. Noting the connotation/denotation connection was perfect considering Hamlet’s habit of speechifying with puns. I must say that it’s a little discouraging that some (okay, a lot) of the words in his speech, though, are now obsolete to the lexicon of the modern age, so some of them wouldn’t make any sense without the use of a dictionary or the glossary. Not having a thorough understanding of Shakespearean literature, I don’t think I can comment on that portion very descriptively. But I can definitely understand the connection you made with the use of “frigate”. haha. I can just picture Emily Dickinson writing: “There is no Tugboat like a Book”… yeah. That’d not have the same effect. Unless you hate books (but that’s a different story). In fact, if a slight misunderstanding is made with the interpretation of a single word (whether for the author writing or the reader reading), the entire poem can seem screwy. Sometimes, when one word is supposed to have multiple interpretations, such as the conversation you noted between Hamlet and his mother, it might seem even more strange, and/or the intended humor may be lost (as is the case here, even showing sarcasm and whatnot) and the piece may set the reader on a completely different path of understanding. That’s why it’s incredibly important to open one’s mind when reading literature. Authors seem to have their own strange mindsets…. grr. rraugh. yep.
Elizabeth this was an extremely well done blog. Skimming at the other ones, they are mostly about what we have already learned in class. However, yours went beyond the classroom. You took what we learned in the poetry lesson and applied it to Hamlet, something we had not done in class. This is why I decided to comment on your blog. Instead of simply writing about something people already learned in class, you on your own analyzed and synthesized two things we did in class. Also, it was very interesting to see that Hamlet does choose his diction carefully for several purposes. It makes me wonder how many more examples of specific diction by Hamlet and perhaps other characters are in the novel.
i agree with Kristine. I think you did a really good job of connecting the two units we have just covered in class. Shakespeare's use of connotation adds to the plays comic relief. The readers can interpret Hamlets sarcastic comments (especially ones made toward his uncle) in more than one way in most cases. The two ways that Hamlets words could have been interpreted could of added to Shakepeare's goal of expressing Hamlets insanity because both the audience and the person that Hamlet is speaking to may not know exactly what Hamlet is meaning to say and might be slightly thrown off because of this
First of all, I have to say, I like the denotation for connotation you found, Elizabeth. :) Now that we have talked about denotation versus connotation in English, it really has made me realize how much we actually use it in our daily lives. I know personally, there are some words that I use in multiple situations with different meanings. For example, 'interesting' can mean that, like the dictionary definition, it held my attention, or I sometimes use it to mean that something surprised me or I found it odd. I know there are many other words that individuals use in different ways and that society uses with different connotations. Similarily, I presume that in Shakespeare's time, they had words that could mean different things too. I bet that, in Hamlet, there are many words that either have different connotations now than what they had when Shakespeare wrote it or even have different denotations from back then. Thankfully, the publisher for the book we used included notes that explained some of the words and phrases, but I believe that there are probably more that we didn't fully understand just because of the differences in language. Every generation or time period does modify how words are used. It is amazing how much meaning we put into our words on a daily basis.
Brian Reuland:
Well done with the blog Kristine is absolutely right. It was very deep, which should leave me plenty to talk about... Anyway, I completely agree with your point that connotation and denotation are very important in Hamlet. I think that the gravedigger scene is an interesting example of this. I don't have the book with me to make direct quotes, but the fact he calls graves "long lasting buildings" is key. This brings up the idea that death will even out social classes and make kings like Claudius equal to peasants or gravediggers. Thats just one example I could come up with having not read it for awhile. Also I thought your Emily Dickenson example was great. It was a great way to drive home your point with solid support.
I am glad that we finaly got to read more shakespeare. My favorite shakesperian play that ive read so far was midsummer night's dream. It was a weird novel but it introduces alot of shakespears charecteristic elements.The one that really reminded me of the other story was that the play with in a play happens in both of them. Im pretty sure that shakes pear worte plays with in most of his plays. I think that this would be amusing to actually see in the audience. They would see the actors acting as other actors. I dont know if all of shakespears plays have a play within them. Does any one know? I cannot remember one in romeo and juliet. If someone could please answer the question that would be great.
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