Question

Explain the strategies and techniques Shakespeare uses to quicken the pace of Hamlet in act 4.

Answer 1

For the answer to the question above, Shakespeare was a master of rhetoric and Act IV of Hamlet features many interesting examples.

First, we can see an instance of parallelism in IV.iii as Claudius hurries Hamlet off to England.  As he explains that Hamlet's ship is ready to depart, Claudius creates a sense of urgency by placing similarly structured phrases in parallel with each other in lines 47 - 50:

"Therefore prepare thyself;"The bark is ready, and the wind at help.Th' associates tend, and everything is bentFor England!

Secondly, when Hamlet has departed, Claudius uses synecdoche (pronounced sine do kee) to emphasize the Danish power over England.  He describes the Danish army as "the Danish sword" (line 68), giving an image of a huge threatening sword held over England's "raw and red" scarred body.  It seems that Denmark has inflicted military damage on England in the past, so Claudius is confident that the English king will do his bidding and execute Hamlet when Hamlet arrives on English shores.

Thirdly, as Hamlet begins his journey to England, he uses arhetorical question whilst he is alone to vent his frustration that he has still not enacted his revenge against Claudius.  He asks himself

 " What is a man,"If his chief good and market of his timeBe but to sleep and feed?

It is not his intention that someone nearby should answer this.  He merely uses it to express his exasperation that he is doing little more with his time than sleeping and eating. I hope this helps