Some manifestations of metaphor in hamlet by shakespeare

SOME MANIFESTATIONS OF METAPHOR IN “HAMLET“ BY SHAKESPEARE Vinh university Foreign language department =====@&?===== Vâ PH¦¥NG MAI SUMMARY OF GRADUATION THESIS SOME MANIFESTATIONS OF METAPHOR IN “HAMLET” BY SHAKESPEARE (MéT Sè BIÓU HIÖN CñA NGHÖ THUËT ÈN Dô TRONG "HAMLET" CñA SHAKESPEARE) Field : English Literature Vinh, May 2007 Vâ Ph¬ng Mai 1 SOME MANIFESTATIONS OF METAPHOR IN “HAMLET“ BY SHAKESPEARE Vinh university Foreign language department =====@&?===== SUMMARY OF GRADUATION THESIS SOME MANIFESTATIONS OF METAPHOR IN “HAMLET” BY SHAKESPEARE (MéT Sè BIÓU HIÖN CñA NGHÖ THUËT ÈN Dô TRONG "HAMLET" CñA SHAKESPEARE) Field : English Literature Supervisor : M.A Lª §×nh Th¶o Student : Vâ Ph¬ng Mai Class : 44B1 - English Vinh, May 2007 Vâ Ph¬ng Mai 2 SOME MANIFESTATIONS OF METAPHOR IN “HAMLET“ BY SHAKESPEARE Acknowledgment After a long time to study this thesis with great attempt, I’ve finally finished. Now I would like to express my gratitude to all who have helped me fulfill it. Without their help and encouragement, I could not finish my graduation thesis. Firstly, I would like to express my deep thanks to my supervisor M.A Le Dinh Thao, who has helped me very enthusiastically. Secondly, I am grateful to my family for their great help and encouragement Finally, I want to send my special thanks to my friends on internet forum and my classmates for their great aids in my study. Due to the limitation of knowledge of literature and lack of materials, as well as experience; mistakes are unavoidable even though I have done my best. I am very glad to receive remarks and comments from my teachers and friends on the shortcomings I may have. Vinh, May 2007 Vâ Ph¬ng Mai 3 SOME MANIFESTATIONS OF METAPHOR IN “HAMLET“ BY SHAKESPEARE TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 PART I: INTRODUCTION 4 1. Rationale for choosing the subject 4 2. Aims of the study 4 3. Scope of the study 4 4. Methods of study 4 5. Format of the study 4 PART II: INVESTIGATION 6 CHAPTER I: Definition; history and etymology; purposes, parts and types of metaphor 6 1.1 Definition 6 1.2 History 7 1.3 Etymology 7 1.4 Parts of metaphor 7 1.5 Purposes of metaphor 8 1.6 Types of metaphor 8 1.7. Relationship to Other figures of speech 10 Chapter II Metaphor in literature 11 2.1 The term metaphor in literature 11 2.2. Literary metaphor 11 2.2.1. Poetic metaphor 11 2.2.2. Discussions on literary metaphor 13 Chapter III Some Manifestations of Metaphor in “Hamlet” 15 3.1 An overview on “Hamlet” 15 3.1.1 The renaissance background 15 3.1.2 William Shakespeare (1564-1616) 15 3.1.3 A brief on the tragedy of Hamlet the prince of Denmark 15 3.1.4 The content and device values of the tragedy 16 3.2. Shakespearean metaphor 16 3.3 Some Manifestations of Metaphor in “Hamlet” 18 3.3.1 Hamlet’s famous soliloquy 18 Vâ Ph¬ng Mai 4 SOME MANIFESTATIONS OF METAPHOR IN “HAMLET“ BY SHAKESPEARE 3.3.2 Mousetrap 22 3.3.3 Nunnery 24 3.3.4 Fishmonger 25 3.3.5 A rat 25 3.3.6 Daggers 25 3.3.7 Seas of trouble 26 3.3.8 Metaphors within some themes in Hamlet 28 3.3.9 Some other figures of metaphors in Hamlet 31 3.4 The hallmarks William Shakespeare left in using metaphor for Hamlet 33 3.4.1 Language beauty of Shakespeare 33 3.4.2 Hamlet- a masterpiece of international stature 35 3.5. The lessons from metaphors in “Hamlet” 35 3.5.1. In developing thought in the creativity of writer 35 3.5.2. Analysis of metaphor in language teaching and learning 36 3.5.3. Examples of some literary metaphors 37 PART III: CONCLUSION 39 REFERENCES 40 Vâ Ph¬ng Mai 5 SOME MANIFESTATIONS OF METAPHOR IN “HAMLET“ BY SHAKESPEARE PART I: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale The two greatest discoveries are human beings and space, in which the discovery of human beings stays in “Hamlet, the prince of Denmark” by Shakespeare- one of the works I like best in world literature. I must say “I love Hamlet” and I have wondered about what makes us recognize Hamlet such a wonder of literature as well as of the world and what makes my heart deeply touched. The answer is language of the writer and the dominant device in it that must be reckoned is metaphor and its poly-semantic aspects in literature. Thanks to it, I got a chance to discern the value of the work’s content and feel its profound stature of all values in the world and the talent and heart of Shakespeare- the greatest writer as well. Therefore, I decided to get deeper into the work by finding out and do a research on some interesting manifestations of metaphor in “Hamlet” to touch the beauty within man’s soul , language and literature themselves through that device. 2. Aims of the study - to discern metaphor in literature - to analyze the manifestations of metaphor in Hamlet ; hence, to understand the depth of the characters, the content, and language beauty of Shakespeare - To recognize the stature of the work “Hamlet” and the writer in World literature. - To learn to apply the use of metaphor 3. Scope of the study - Studying the theory of metaphor as linguistics in general and metaphor in literature in particular - Studying some manifestations of metaphor in “Hamlet” (metaphors are abundantly, literarily and even philosophically used, poly-semantic…) 4. Methods of the study - studying documents dealing with the thesis - Using analysis and contrastive methods - Making use of help of my supervisor- teacher Le Dinh Thao (M.A) and my friends’ ideas 5. Format of the study This graduation thesis consists of three main parts: Vâ Ph¬ng Mai 6 SOME MANIFESTATIONS OF METAPHOR IN “HAMLET“ BY SHAKESPEARE Part I: Introduction In this part, I give my background: the rationale for choosing the theme, the aims, the scope, methods and format of the study Part II: Investigation This part encounters three chapters: Chapter 1 entitled “Definition; history and etymology; purposes, parts and types of metaphor” gives the necessary theories of metaphor as linguistics. Chapter 2 “Metaphor in literature” deals with the term metaphor in literature and some discussions on it. Chapter 3 has the title “Some Manifestations of Metaphor in ‘Hamlet’”, I analyze some metaphors in the work such as Hamlet’s famous soliloquy, mousetrap, nunnery, fishmonger, a rat, daggers, seas of trouble, some other figures of metaphors and metaphors in some themes and through them ,display some hallmarks of Shakespeare and necessary lessons Part III: Conclusion In this part, I give a brief summary on what I have studied above and have a further overview on values of metaphor in Shakespeare’s work in particular and literature in general. Vâ Ph¬ng Mai 7 SOME MANIFESTATIONS OF METAPHOR IN “HAMLET“ BY SHAKESPEARE PART II: INVESTIGATION CHAPTER I: DEFINITION; HISTORY AND ETYMOLOGY; PURPOSES, PARTS AND TYPES OF METAPHOR 1.1 Definition Meanings, as Turner states in Literary Mind, are not mental objects bounded in conceptual places but rather complex operations of projection, binding, linking, blending, and integration over multiple spaces" that is, "meaning is parabolic and literary" (1996 : 57). Many researches on transference of meaning in which metaphor is included show those semantic characteristics. In language, a metaphor is a rhetorical trope where a comparison is made between two seemingly unrelated subjects. Typically, a first object is described as being a second object. In this way, the first object can be economically described because implicit and explicit attributes from the second object can be used to fill in the description of the first. Some (particularly in cognitive linguistics) see metaphor as a basic cognitive function, while others prefer the term analogy for this concept. However, metaphor is not always used for practical description and understanding; sometimes it is used for purely aesthetic reasons. Metaphors are commonly confused with similes. This device is known for poetry, where with few words, emotions and associations from one context are associated with objects and entities in a different context. In cognitive linguistics, according to Barcelona (2000:3), metaphor is the cognitive mechanism whereby one experimental domain is partially mapped or projected onto the different experiential so that the second domain is partially understood in terms of the first one. Metaphor, as we see below, is a conceptual projection whereby one experiential domain (the source) is partially understood in terms of another experiential domain. For example, we can liken something to something else on certain grounds. For example a dangerous and hidden person is commonly referred to as a snake. R. Scaife (2004) in a Glossary of Rhetorical Terms defines metaphor as an implied comparison achieved through a figurative use of words; the word is used not in its literal sense, but in one analogous to it. For instance: “Life’s but a walking shadow; a poor prayer, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage”. (Shakespeare, Macbeth) Vâ Ph¬ng Mai 8 SOME MANIFESTATIONS OF METAPHOR IN “HAMLET“ BY SHAKESPEARE In brief, metaphor is the transference of word meaning from one thing to another based on the similarity between the two things. It means a new meaning appears as a result of associating two objects/phenomena/qualities, etc. and it is extended on the basis of resemblance/feature is common, which produce aesthetic values for language by and large as well as literature in particular. 1.2 History Metaphor is present in written language back to the earliest surviving writings. From the Epic of Gilgamesh: ''My friend, the swift mule, fleet wild ass of the mountain, panther of the wilderness, after we joined together and went up into the mountain, fought the Bull of Heaven and killed it, and overwhelmed Humbaba, who lived in the Cedar Forest, now what is this sleep that has seized you?'' - (Trans. Kovacs, 1989) In this example, the friend is compared to a mule, a wild ass, and a panther to indicate that the speaker sees traits from these animals in his friend. Even before this example, it is arguable that the stylized cave paintings in the Chauvet- pont-d'arc caves in southern France are a form of visual metaphor. Their highly stylized animal shapes evoke hierarchical relationships and human connections that are not part of the literal depiction. The first writers to discuss metaphor were the Greek philosophers. ''The greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor. It is the one thing that cannot be learned from others; it is also a sign of genius, since a good metaphor implies an eye for resemblance.”( Aristotle, De Poetica, 322 BCE). While this might arguably be an exaggeration, there is evidence that fundamental aspects of human intelligence, pattern recognition and inference drive the human use of metaphor. 1.3 Etymology Originally, metaphor was a Greek word meaning “transfer”. The Greek etymology is from meta, implying “a change” and pherein meaning “to bear, or carry”. Thus, the word metaphor itself has a metaphorical meaning in English, “a transfer of meaning from one thing to another”. In modern Greek the word metaphor also means transport or transfer. There are broad categories of figurative language which are classified as metaphorical The more common meaning of metaphor is a figure of speech that is used to paint one concept with the attributes normally associated with another. Vâ Ph¬ng Mai 9 SOME MANIFESTATIONS OF METAPHOR IN “HAMLET“ BY SHAKESPEARE 1.4 Parts of metaphor A metaphor, according to I.A. Richards in The Philosophy of Rhetoric (1936), consists of two parts: the tenor and vehicle. The tenor is the subject to which attributes are ascribed. The vehicle is the subject from which the attributes are derived. ''All the world's a stage,’’ ''And All the men and women merely players’’ ''They have their exits and their entrances;'' -William Shakespeare (from “As you like it” 2/7) This well known quote is a good example of a metaphor. In this example, "the world" is compared to a stage, the aim being to describe the world by taking well-known attributes from the stage. In this case, the world is the tenor and the stage is the vehicle. "Men and women" are a secondary tenor and "players" is the vehicle for this secondary tenor. The third line begins selecting the attributes to ascribe from the vehicle onto the tenor. The selection of similar attributes is called the ground. In the play, Jaques continues this metaphor for another twenty lines beyond what is shown here - making it a good example of an extended metaphor. 1.5 Purposes of metaphor Newmark (1995:104) states that the purpose of metaphor is basically twofold: referential and pragmatic. Referential purpose is to describe a mental process or state, a concept, a person, an object, a quality or an action more comprehensively and concisely than is possible in literal or physical language. By this, metaphor’s goal is cognitive. Pragmatic purpose, which is simultaneous, is to appeal to the senses, to interest, to clarify “graphically”, to please, to delight, to surprise. This makes metaphor aesthetic as an end. Metaphor, both purposes, always involves illusion. It conceals an intention which creates and sublimates the significance of the targets above. 1.6 Types of metaphor An extended metaphor is one that sets up a principal subject with several subsidiary subjects or comparisons. The quote from As you like it is a good example. : ''All the world's a stage,” ''And All the men and women merely players” ''They have their exits and their entrances;” - William Shakespeare (from As you like it 2/7) Vâ Ph¬ng Mai 10