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Stage time is not real time. This reminds the audience that they are watching a play, not real life.
Structure
As with all of Shakespeares plays Hamlet is divided into 5 acts. Act 1 Character exposition Act 2 Conflict Act 3 Crisis Act 4 Counterstroke Act 5 - Catastrophe They are presented in a linear fashion and are constructed by means of contrast. Contrast helps to maintain suspense and audience interest.
Contrast is particularly offered via characterisation, for example the parallelism of Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras.
Juxtaposition/Contrasts
Contrast between characters is structuring device used by Shakespeare. Shakespeare establishes foils to Hamlet, that is he sets up characters who further illuminate Hamlets character via contrast.
Humour
Humour is offered via such characters as the gravediggers and Osric.
Hamlet ridicules characters such as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and we laugh at the ironic statements of Polonius.
Language
Language is largely poetry or blank verse. Rhyming couplets may be offered at the end of speeches to give a culmination to the speech. Characters of lower status, such as the gravediggers, speak in prose. Prose is also the language of madness and is used by Ophelia to signal her loss of reason.
Soliloquies
Character is revealed through the use of soliloquy. It heightens the intimacy between the protagonist and the audience. Soliloquies are used in Hamlet to offer philosophical musings. The complex imagery that also characterises the soliloquy further adds to the layers of the play. Hamlets soliloquies signal his path from darkness to light. All are in verse. We are able to empathise with Hamlet more strongly through his use of soliloquy.
Imagery
Shakespeare makes use of many motifs in Hamlet. The prolific imagery brings out the contrasting themes of goodness and corruption, of reason and instinct. Dominant motifs include disease, war, clothes, time, appearances and acting. Sexual imagery is used to berate women.
Metatheatrical Conventions
Shakespeare frequently draws our attention to the fact that we are watching a play. In this way Hamlet can be described as metatheatrical. Metatheatrical elements include the use of soliloquy and the play-within-a-play(and the subsequent discussion about the role of drama).
Word Play
Word play is used extensively in Hamlet since words are Hamlets natural weapon. Hamlets use of language shows him to be intelligent and witty. He is a scholar and something of a philosopher. Much of the word play is dark and springs from frustration and angst.