![]() The audience and the King know that the Queen’s death is imminent even before the Queen herself knows it. Queen: I will, my lord I pray you pardon me. The Queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet. Queen: He’s fat and scant of breath.-Here, Hamlet, take my napkin rub thyīrows. This is at its most extreme when the Queen accidentally poisons herself: The senselessness of the violence is exacerbated by the fact that the audience can anticipate it. This use of dramatic irony makes the audience feel powerless as they watch the various characters unknowingly stumble into their own deaths. What's more, Laertes has already vowed to enhance his odds in the duel by poisoning the tip of his sword, saying "I'll touch my point / With his contagion, that if I gall him slightly / It may be death." Because of this information, the play's final scene is rife with dramatic irony, as the audience knows important details that not all of the characters are aware of. But before the characters gather, the audience watches as the King poisons the cup with the intention of killing Hamlet. Ultimately, it is a scene of great violence, and nearly everyone present dies. In this case, the secrets kept have deadly consequences. ![]() ![]() That lack of clarity also affects the audience and makes it difficult to determine what is actually motivating Hamlet.Īs is the case with many of the scenes in which groups of characters are present, the question of what information is known by whom becomes very relevant. Most of the dramatic irony in Hamlet stems from his decisions to conceal his real mental state from those around him. The dramatic irony is important to this scene because it fosters an environment in which dangerous misunderstandings can take place. His attempts to conceal his knowledge from the other characters in the play create dramatic irony, when the audience understands things about Hamlet’s behavior that other characters cannot. However, the audience has knowledge that Polonius and Ophelia don’t, and their understanding of Hamlet’s behavior creates tension in the scene.Įarlier in the play, Hamlet vows to start acting crazy, and the audience therefore understands that the source of his anger and confusion is the news that his father was murdered. Because Polonius had previously encouraged Ophelia to spurn Hamlet’s advances, they see his behavior as evidence that he has become more invested. Polonius and Ophelia both conclude that Hamlet is behaving strangely because he has fallen madly in love with Ophelia.
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