AP exam worthy essay

It is evident that the language in Hamlet differentiates from epics such as Beowulf and/or the Iliad. Hamlet is recognized through performative utterances and self over-hearing. Where as Beowulf, Gilgamesh, and the Iliad are distinguished for their illustration of the cultural values of their time era in which they were created. Another big factor that separates Hamlet from epics is the absence of a narrator.

 Due to the fact Hamlet does not have a narrator and is a play performative utterances and self over-hearing are a must. Performative utterances create the basis for the plot in Hamlet without it the characters would have no livelihood and obviously no plot. If self over-hearing were to disappear the audience would loose their connection to Hamlet in which the audience wouldn't see Hamlet's thought process like in the "To be or not to be" soliloquy  fundamentally ruining the play. As for Beowulf, all of his actions are told through another person; a narrator. In which performative utterances and self over-hearing are impossible to create.

Although they are from different eras Hamlet does however share a similar quality to Beowulf and the Iliad. It is the sense that they all seem to be selfish. Hamlet seeks revenge for his father and will do anything to attain it. Beowulf wants eternal glory and with the lost of his friends he achieves it, the same goes for Achilles in the Iliad. In the end they all achieve their goal, but at the cost of other lives and their own lives. This could be because of cultural values from 1000 a.d. to around 1599.

Another thing that separates Hamlet from the epics is language.  Hamlet is one of the first plays to be written in early Modern English. Where as Beowulf is written in Old English. This is due to the 600 year gap in between the two.

Hamlet, Beowulf, and the Iliad may be very different in sense of style and language, but they also share many small similarities. If Hamlet weren't a play the tragedy may look very similar to the epics. However there is such a huge gap in between them that the language has changed and literary works were sought to entertain large audiences. Making the tragedy and the epic very different.