The Open Question

  "By their deeds shall ye know them." Without actions, characters are nothing to a reader but words on a page. Through characters actions readers develop an admiration or hatred towards the character; they make connections with the characters. Characters can be misunderstood, loved, and admired all at the same time, like Hamlet. The development of Hamlet's character was such a complex development, but it was successful because of Shakespeare's use of performative utterance, imagery, and foreshadowing.
  Hamlet is, in a lot of ways, a typical teenager. He is moody, indecisive, and even a little bit annoying. However, we see Hamlet develop into a man through performative utterance. We see him initially whining about how bad his life is, then changing into a person who ways the pros and cons of a situation. Shakespeare showed the growth of Hamlet. Performative utterance is what made Hamlet share his thoughts and feelings with the audience. We were right there with him as Hamlet grew from a boy to a man, someone all readers could respect.
    Shakespeare's use of imagery along with foreshadowing also helped the development of the play. Right off the bat the play opens with an eerie clock striking midnight. This lets the reader know that this will most likely be an ominous play. The dark night also adds to the mystery of both the story and Hamlet. The imagery in a sense not only described the world around Hamlet, but also described Hamlet himself. Shakespeare also foreshadowed death in the play which made the reader want to continuously turn the page. Not only did the reader want to know the outcome of the story, but this use of foreshadowing made the reader want to know how Hamlet would handle all of this. Hamlet was able to handle this unfortunate future gracefully and led me to gain respect for his character.
  Shakespeare's use of performative utterance, imagery, and foreshadowing made Hamlet the respected character known today. I never really doubted or disliked Hamlet, but throughout the story I grew to like him even more. Many other reader's would probably find Hamlet a disgrace at first, but because of Shakespeare's successful use of literary techniques Hamlet is a character that has gained respect.