Hamlet: Prose style
17 lenses on prose style for Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 H6 H7 H8 H9 H10 H11 H12 H13 H14 H15 H16 H17
H1. Readability score per chapter. Count
Flesch reading ease for the whole book is about 86 (higher is easier; 60 to 70 is plain English).
Reading ease per chapter, chapter by chapter
H2. Vocabulary range. Count
4,777 different words. On average 51 in every 100 words are new within a 500 word stretch. 2,846 words appear only once.
H3. Signature words: what this author uses far more than others. Count
hamlet, lord, king, queen, clown. See the full lens on the book page.
H4. Adverb and adjective rates. Count
About 5.64 words ending in 'ly' and 7.44 likely adjectives per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
'ly' words per 1,000, chapter by chapter
H5. Share of weak verbs such as "was" and "had". Count
'Was', 'were', 'had', 'is' and 'are' make up 2.0% of all words.
H6. Passive voice rate. Count
About 1.1% of sentences use a passive form such as 'was taken'. (rough estimate from word lists)
H7. Variety of sentence openings. Count
The five most common first words start 23% of sentences: hamlet, i, horatio, king, o.
| First word | Sentences |
|---|---|
| hamlet | 367 |
| i | 165 |
| horatio | 113 |
| king | 103 |
| o | 92 |
| polonius | 87 |
| what | 83 |
| but | 81 |
| the | 81 |
| queen | 69 |
H8. Rhythm: how much sentence length varies. Count
Sentence length varies by 1.34 of its mean on average (higher means a more varied rhythm).
Variation per chapter, chapter by chapter
H9. Similes and metaphors: how many, and of what kind. Both
52 likely similes ('like a', 'as ... as'): 1.64 per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
Ch 1, para 34: BARNARDO. In the same figure, like the King that’s dead.
Ch 1, para 36: BARNARDO. Looks it not like the King? Mark it, Horatio.
Ch 1, para 48: MARCELLUS. Is it not like the King?
Ch 1, para 54: BARNARDO. I think it be no other but e’en so: Well may it sort that this portentous figure Comes armed through our watch so like the King That …
Ch 1, para 67: HORATIO. And then it started, like a guilty thing Upon a fearful summons. I have heard The cock, that is the trumpet to the morn, Doth with his …
Ch 2, para 14: QUEEN. Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted colour off, And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark. Do not for ever with thy vailed lids Seek for …
Hamlet uses similes and metaphors extensively, especially comparing moral corruption to poison, madness to disease, and death to sleep. Examples include the ghost as 'guilty thing' (1), Claudius as 'serpent' (5), and Denmark as 'rotten' (4).
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1, Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 10, Scene 11, Scene 14
And then it started, like a guilty thing Upon a fearful summons. (Ch 1, para 67)
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. (Ch 4, para 37)
The serpent that did sting thy father’s life Now wears his crown. (Ch 5, para 17)
H10. Senses used: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste. Both
Share of sense words. sight 46%, sound 29%, taste 15%, touch 9%, smell 1%. (rough estimate from word lists)
| Sense | Words |
|---|---|
| sight | 144 |
| sound | 90 |
| taste | 48 |
| touch | 29 |
| smell | 4 |
All five senses appear throughout. Sight dominates (ghost, play, duel). Sound matters in the ghost's silence and Hamlet's words. Touch in the duel. Smell and taste are minimal but present in decay imagery.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1, Scene 5, Scene 9, Scene 19, Scene 20
And then it started, like a guilty thing Upon a fearful summons. (Ch 1, para 67)
Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue. (Ch 9, para 2)
Alas, poor Yorick. I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy. He hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! (Ch 19, para 83)
H11. Repetition, lists of three and other patterns. Both
62 lists of three in the pattern 'a, b and c': 1.95 per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
Repetition of 'revenge' and 'madness' threads through the play. Lists of three appear in Polonius's advice and the final duel deaths. Patterns of spying, poison, and deception recur across acts.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 5, Scene 6, Scene 7, Scene 11, Scene 12, Scene 18
Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. (Ch 5, para 13)
By indirections find directions out. (Ch 6, para 20)
A bloody deed. Almost as bad, good mother, As kill a king and marry with his brother. (Ch 11, para 28)
H12. Old words that may trip modern readers. Count
Old forms that may trip a modern reader: thou, thy, hath, thee, doth, nay.
| Word | Times |
|---|---|
| thou | 105 |
| thy | 86 |
| hath | 64 |
| thee | 58 |
| doth | 27 |
| nay | 26 |
| art | 17 |
| thine | 14 |
| ere | 12 |
| wilt | 8 |
H13. Showing against telling, with examples. AI
The play shows action directly on stage rather than reporting it. The ghost appears rather than being described; the play-within-play reveals guilt through reaction; the duel happens before us, not off-stage.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1, Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 9, Scene 20
And then it started, like a guilty thing Upon a fearful summons. (Ch 1, para 67)
The play’s the thing Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King. (Ch 7, para 186)
The Mousetrap. Marry, how? Tropically. This play is the image of a murder done in Vienna. (Ch 9, para 87)
H14. How much description comes before action. Both
Description is minimal and woven into action. The ghost's appearance drives plot immediately. Settings are named in scene headings but rarely described in detail before action begins.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1, Scene 2, Scene 4, Scene 5
H15. Filter words such as "saw", "felt", "heard". Count
Filter words ('saw', 'felt', 'heard' and so on): 1.35 per 1,000 words.
| Word | Times |
|---|---|
| heard | 14 |
| thought | 12 |
| saw | 12 |
| knew | 5 |
H16. Shifts in tone. AI
Tone shifts from ominous (ghost scenes) to bitter (Hamlet's rejection of Ophelia) to dark comedy (gravediggers) to tragic finality (duel). The play moves from mystery to madness to death.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1, Scene 8, Scene 19, Scene 20
But I have that within which passeth show; These but the trappings and the suits of woe. (Ch 2, para 17)
Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? (Ch 8, para 40)
Alas, poor Yorick. I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy. He hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! (Ch 19, para 83)
H17. How the comedy works. AI
Comedy is dark and verbal, using wordplay and mockery. Hamlet's riddles about Polonius's body (14), the gravediggers' banter (19), and Hamlet's insults to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (13) provide relief amid tragedy.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 13, Scene 14, Scene 19
That I can keep your counsel, and not mine own. Besides, to be demanded of a sponge—what replication should be made by the son of a king? (Ch 13, para 11)
Hide fox, and all after. (Ch 13, para 19)
Not where he eats, but where he is eaten. A certain convocation of politic worms are e’en at him. Your worm is your only emperor for diet. (Ch 14, para 14)
Ask Hamlet a question about its craft (free beta)
Answers cite chapter and paragraph, and every quote is checked against the text. (3 free questions a day).
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