Question

bethan drama: <i>the the tragedy of hamlet, prince of denmark act iii. scene i. a room in the castle. enter claudius, gertrude, polonius, ophelia, rosencrantz, and guildenstern. claudius: and can you, by no drift of circumstance, get from him why he puts on this confusion, grating so harshly all his days of quiet (5) with turbulent and dangerous lunacy? rosencrantz: he does confess he feels himself distracted; but from what cause he will by no means speak. guildenstern: nor do we find him forward to be sounded, but, with a crafty madness, keeps aloof, (10) when we would bring him on to some confession of his true state. gertrude: did he receive you well? rosencrantz: most like a gentleman. guildenstern: but with much forcing of his disposition. (15) of question, but of our demands the speech. when viewed through a formalist lens, the point of shakespeare’s structure is to contrast hamlet’s speaking style with that of king claudius. introduce a new motif that focuses on the inevitability of death. illustrate hamlet’s confusion about his relationship with king claudius. emphasize hamlet’s indecision that recurs throughout the play.

Explanation:

When analyzing the scene from a formalist perspective (focusing on structure, style, and literary elements), the dialogue here shows others trying to understand Hamlet's confused, distracted state. Hamlet's indecision (about avenging his father, his feelings, etc.) is a recurring theme. The structure here, with characters discussing his unwilligness to reveal his true state and his "crafty madness" keeping him aloof, serves to highlight this recurring indecision, rather than just contrasting speaking styles, introducing a new death - focused motif, or only illustrating his confusion about Claudius specifically.

Answer:

emphasize Hamlet’s indecision that recurs throughout the play.