Question

Hamlet says, "Denmark’s a prison.” Write two to three sentences in which you identify the type of figurative language Hamlet uses here and analyze its meaning and effects

Answer 1

When he says "Denmark's a prison", Hamlet is using a metaphor. A metaphor is a word or expression that means something different from their literal meaning. This figurative language is telling us that, like a person who is in prison, Hamlet also feels as if he were trapped and watched the whole time.

Two other sentences that are using figurative language as well, are the following:

"To be or not to be", is a parallel structure, that is, when we are using the same pattern of words, to show that those words or ideas bear the same importance.

"Despised love", is an oxymoron, which is a kind of speech containing words that seem to contradict each other.

Answer 2

Hamlet is using a metaphor to compare Denmark, his home, to a prison. This metaphor shows that, like someone in prison, Hamlet feels as if he is trapped and being watched all the time.