Question

Read act II of Hamlet. Then explain how Shakespeare uses indirect characterization in act II, scene I, as a device to develop Hamlet’s pretended insanity?

Answer 1

He describes how people are behaving and what they are doing, including Hamlet and how his actions are perceived in the eyes of others. Direct would be if he directly told us things about Hamlet and his insanity, but this way he doesn't tell us but we understand the implications from the descriptions of what is going on.

Answer 2

Shakespeare uses indirect characterization in act II, scene I in Ophelia's conversation with Polonius, when she describes Hamlet’s behavior toward her. She relates Hamlet's apparent insanity in detail:

My lord, as I was sewing in my chamber,

Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbrac'd;

No hat upon his head; his stockings foul'd,

Ungart'red, and down-gyved to his ankle,

Pale as his shirt, his knees knocking each other,

And with a look so piteous in purport

As if he had been loosed out of hell

To speak of horror she comes before me.

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