Hamlet Essay

 Topic: Using what you've learned about Hamlet the character and Hamlet the play, evaluate the impact of performative utterance on Hamlet and your own sense of self. How does the way Hamlet speaks constitute action in itself? How does it impact the characters and the plot? How does this compare with your own "self-overhearing"? How does the way you reflect on your experience create a sense of memory, expectation, and real-world results? Use the text, your reading/lecture notes, the experience of memorizing the "To be, or not to be" soliloquy, de Boer's paper (and Bloom's/Austin's theoretical frameworks), and the many online and offline discussions we've had.

Essay Re-Do

     J.L Austin, philosopher of language, said that performative utterance is a statement that creates something in the world, for example, an action, rather than describe something. With J.L Austin's paper and the memorization of "To be, or not to be" soliloquy I have concluded that performative utterance allowed Hamlet, the character, to go forth and act upon things that started as only thoughts. In comparison, performative utterance allows me to reflect on experiences and creates a schemata to hold memories, certain expectations and real-world results.  

     J.L Austin's most prominent work titled, "How To Do Things With Words" divides the performative ability into three, locutionary, perlocutionary and illocutionary. Locutionary is "the ability of language to deliver a message". Hamlet makes use of this ability through his famous 'To be or not to be' soliloquy. He reflects between two thoughts he has and he must choose which one to follow through with action. His thinking out loud gives him the opportunity to listen to himself talk about the advantages and disadvantages that each of his choices will bring. Hamlet can either commit suicide and go into a world not known of or keep living and make the best of the life he has. An everyday example of when I talk out loud is when I go about my everyday choices and I basically narrate to myself.
     By talking out loud Hamlet reflects to himself. Hamlet was able to give orders to others and make things work out in his favor through the perlocutionary ability. Perlocutionary is "what is achieved by being said" For example, giving an order. Hamlet leads all of his actors in the play-with-in-a-play to act out the crime his uncle has committed. Through treachery and his ability of giving orders he also escaped death when his Uncle Cladius had sent him to get killed. An example of how I use perlocutionary everyday is when I wake up and tell myself , "I will go to school today." and as a result I attend school. It's an order have given myself and obeyed.
     In his paper  J.L Austin states that illocutionary is the way things are said. For example, tone, posture or gestures that are made. Hamlet uses a lot of sarcasm when speaking to his supposedly so called "friends", Guildenstern and Rosencrantz. He knows the King has put up them on his side and convinced them to spy on Hamlet. Hamlet makes uses of the illocutionary ability when the King questions him about the whereabouts of Polonius body after he has killed him. Hamlet is sarcastic, uses humor and rhetorical language. An example of when I put to use the illocutionary part of performative utterance is when I am having a conversation with my friends. I can say something in a very hype tone and they will get the point that I am content.
     DeBoer in his essay "The Performative Utterance in William Shakespear's Hamlet" he states that Hamlet's performative utterance affected his development of thought when planning how and when to get revenge on his Uncle Cladius, the King. Hamlet is confused about how it will end up affecting him in the end and speaking out loud gives them the opportunity to reconsider his options.
      My own performative utterance affects my life everyday because it's like a screen that helps me sort out my thoughts out better and think before I act. it affects my learning because it causes me to question myself but this only helps me expand on my learning. The simplest questions lead me into a search full of learning to do along the way. Talking out loud to myself is not always a positive though, it makes me increase my decision making process and being an indecisive person already doesn't help either.
     In conclusion, DeBoer and J.L Austin helped me understand into depth the affects that performative utterance had on Hamlet. He had a hard time making up his mind but with great intelligence and a way with language. My own out loud talking affects me everyday but I believe that it's for the better because it gives me numerous moments to reflect on on-going things.