Hamlet Essay

Performative Utterance has not only taken a big part in Hamlet but is also a main part of my thinking process. Taking performative utterance and the explanation of de Boer into thought we now know that the turn of events in Hamlet the play were constituted by the vocal power Hamlet possesses.  This is where “self-overhearing” also ties in because in this process you are forced to take all into consideration to produce a conclusion.  

As de Boer has stated, Hamlet was able to convince those around him he is mad, as in crazy. Because of this, his mother had feared him when they were in her room alone, shown when she called for help as if her life depended on it.  If Hamlet would have come off as a sane person who could be trusted, then his mother could have had a more stable, not to mention trustworthy, relationship. This would have caused her to realize, at some point, what Claudius was capable of and maybe even figure out what he had done to his brother. The performative utterance in this situation would be not that Hamlet is persuasive but what events his persuasion causes; the consequences. 

When we talk to ourselves, there is usually an idea being debated on.  Self- overhearing is a way to evaluate the decision we conclude with. Once we have come across this decision we become more assured of ourselves.  This could also be taken into another perspective. When we talk to ourselves, there can be a specific thought over-crowding our minds causing it to be all we think about. This causes us to let out steam when we have experienced something very dislikeable. Once we have let out steam we can think with a clear mind. The soliloquy of Hamlet, “to be or not to be” would be a great example of “self-overhearing”.

    Hamlet is a play that portrays performative utterance in a way where we can see decisions made throughout the thoughts and actions of the characters. Speech/vocal power is a key part of this idea. This key part had a great impact on the play. Another key part was “self-overhearing” which in a way goes with speech.