Scansion: Hamlet Act III, Scene ii
HAMLET
(This text is featured in our interview with John Douglas Thompson)
Scansion-Hamlet-32Additional Notes
——————–
● Assonance – the long e sound.
● Line 59 is highly irregular – mid line ending. Funky meter – is it a bit of prose…or is it an aside?
● Line 60 is irregular…
● Line 62 mid line stop, mid foot (this happens a lot in this speech.) – still scans.
● Line 63 why mistress – look it up? Lots of feminine endings and alliteration.
● Line 74 – he backs off. New beat here starts with an irregularity after full stop – trochee.
● Line 80 mid stop at explanation of Horatio’s task. Elision on occulted?
● Line 82 “we” – repeats his rogue and peasant slave speech, but uses we not I.
● what is depth of feeling between hamlet and horatio?
● why this speech? no new information, except his feeling for horatio.
● Line 84 “vulcan’s stithy” nice solid metaphor.