article œThe Alphabetic Mind: A Gift of Greece to the Modern World, Eric A. Havelock argues that that oral societies differ from alphabetic ones not only in the way they use language, but also in the way they structure their thinking and social life. However, Havelock thinks the difference is not absolute:
The alphabetic mind is the Greek mind as it in time became, but not as it originally was. Greece created it, but Greece also preserved the oralist mind. The history of Greek culture is the history of the confrontation of these two minds, or more accurately their creative partnership as it developed over three and one-half centuries to the point of their amalgamation"something which has endured in the alphabetic cultures that inherited the Greek invention (139).
Thinking back on the play we have studied, how does it reflect this œcreative partnership between the oral and the alphabetic mind inherited from the Greeks? What elements in ShakespeareTMs drama remind us of Homer, and what elements make it a product of alphabetic culture? More importantly, how do these elements combine?
In a four page (1,000 word) paper, explore oral elements in Hamlet.
The paper should contain a discussion of the differences between oral and alphabetic cultures based on the Havelock article; an analysis of several examples from Hamlet where the characteristics of oral expression apply, such as use of formulaic language, use of stock epithets, meter and rhyme, proverbs and common sayings, and/or character as hero or not; possible comparisons with examples from The Odyssey; and a conclusion establishing the role of orality in the play.