Hamlet/Beowulf language Essay

Shakespeare was a writer far ahead of his time, he wrote his literature in such a way that differentiated his writing language greatly from the common way of writing or writing used before him such as Beowulf. Shakespeare uses Hamlet’s language in a way that was much different then the language used in Beowulf. In Hamlet, Shakespeare focuses tremendously on having Hamlet's character be formed through self overhearing. Where as Beowulf’s Character is not much of a deep thinker, like Hamlet, Beowulf is more focused on his reputation and honor thus lacking a sense of formation in his character through his language.

Shakespeare formed Hamlet’s character in a way that was not used during that time, he was not formed through his actions like most epic heroes were but instead through his thoughts and language. Shakespeare did that through the use of self overhearing consistently used by Hamlet when faced with a dilemma. Hamlet’s “To be, Or not to be” soliloquy is a prime example of Hamlets use of self overhearing. In the soliloquy Hamlet not only debates on taking revenge on Claudius (even though he has already made up his mind to kill him) but also he contemplates whether or not to commit suicide,
“To die, to sleep--
No more--and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to.”
Shakespeare lets the audience form their own opinion of Hamlet by showing them through self overhearing what Hamlet’s true intentions are, something never before used by a writer/poet.

Beowulf unlike Hamlet is a character completely formed by his actions and epic battles. Beowulf’s character is seen by the audience only by what his actions are and how he performs in battle. If he defeats the monster Grendel (which he does) then he is seen by the audience as honorable, brave, and noble. However if he does not succeed in his battles he would not be seen as such an honorable character. Thus further explaining how Beowulf’s character is completely based on his actions not at all by how he uses his language to describe what he is feeling, like Hamlet.

Shakespeare formed his characters in a way no other writer/poet had ever done in the past. He used the language of the character to define themselves, rather than having their actions do the talking like many of the epic heroes from Beowulf and The Odyssey. The use of self overhearing by the character Hamlet gave great depth to his character, the audience got to see inside of Hamlet and what he was thinking something that had never be used before. The audience got to decide how they felt about Hamlet instead of having the image put in their heads by the characters actions like the writers/poets of Beowulf did.