The narrator wanted to know if he was mad, or not. Phrases such as "I heard all things in the heaven and in earth" (62), tells the reader that the narrator indeed is mad, yet the narrator thinks himself not. In the following statement, "If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body" (64). This sequentially helps the reader form their opinion that this man is mad .Poe brilliantly manipulates first person point of view to his advantage in this story. It brings out many emotions in the readers mind.
Passion there was none. I loved the old man…Now this is the point. You fancy me mad”(37). As a result of this specific first person style of writing, the audience assumes insanity. By the narrator already assuming psychological judgment from the reader, the reader can also feel to question and doubt his sanity through just the first-person perspective.
Thus we can see that his arrogance and ego reached such a level that he thought of himself as god and forgot that he was a mere mortal. His disdainful challenge to the mighty of the world, allude to his excessive arrogance and pride. This bottomless pit of pride, arrogance, haughtiness and self-consuming narcissism is so apparent that it has been used by many an author as a metaphor when comparing and analyzing characters as illustrated by Allison (2012: 106) for the character of “Daniel Dillion” in “The Cinema of Michael Winterbottom”. The poet uses this juxtaposition in order to add vividness and to enhance the contrast
How does Edgar Allan Pow use language to create suspense and terror in The Tell Tale Heart? An unnamed narrator opens the story by addressing the reader and claiming that he is nervous but not mad; of this he is certain shown by the quote “TRUE! Nervous very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why WILL you say that I am mad?”, directly challenging the reader before anything else. He says that he is going to tell a story in which he will defend his sanity yet confess to having killed an old man. Atmosphere and tension are created by using short, sharp sentences such as “I heard many things in hell.”.
The most contradictory figure of speech used is the phrase “For Brutus is an honorable man” which is repeated many times throughout the text. By saying this, Antony at first seems that he is justifying the crime and showing that it was legitimate. This one sentence however is the key to turning around the crowd because the repeated phrase scales up the sarcasm with each time it is repeated. This one repeated phrase creates the doubt in the people’s minds which will change everything. In order to give reason to his point of view Antony needs to give proof of Caesar’s moderate ambition.
Hamlet’s ‘madness’ shows through in this conversation in other ways also. Sudden topic change (‘Where’s your father?’), erratically differing the length of his utterances and Ophelia’s obvious surprise and misery at Hamlet’s state (‘O, help him, you sweet heavens!’) all help to build up a picture of an unbalanced mind. Also significant are Hamlet’s rambling loose metaphors ‘I have heard of your paintings too, well enough.’), tick-like repetition (‘well, well, well’) and change in politeness levels from line to line (‘I humbly thank you’ as opposed to ‘Ha, ha’). This adds a dramatic unpredictability to the scene and provides shows of emotion with which the audience should be easily able to attach to. This inconsistent way of speaking contrasts with the beautifully worded and formed soliloquy, as does the verse format contrast with the adjacency pairs written in prose form.
His attitude makes the reader start to question himself/herself and, instead of having sympathy for the Duke, the reader is also pulled to a point where you don’t know whether you should believe him. His jealousy and arrogance is demonstrated through his use of derogatory language to describe others. The Duke’s personality is further progressed through the use of dramatic irony. “This grew; I gave commands. Then all smiles stopped together.” What sort of commands did he give?
Gas! Quick, boys! !” this achieves the sense of haste the writer was trying to achieve by using short sentences and exclamation marks to grab the attention of the reader, also this contrasts with the first verse describing the sense of exhaustion to the one of extreme panic and anger. “Owen’s fear of the ‘haunting flares’ creates the impression that war is a nightmarish and horrific experience. The simile that compares the soldiers with coughing ‘hags’ emphasises this and the corrupt, unhealthy connotations
While Shakespeare does use Iago’s soliloquy to encourage the audience to admire him, the soliloquy also highlights his incredible aptitude for malice. The continued metaphor of Iago’s jealousy being an ailment to him, “doth, like a poisonous mineral, gnaw my inwards” and expressed further on where he vows to give Othello “a jealousy so strong/that judgment cannot cure”, brings a sense of paranoia and mania to him. This paranoid side to Iago is further emphasized when he alleges Othello of having “leaped into my [his] seat”, his
In the opening of Hamlet, Shakespeare quickly establishes a sense of ambiguity and mystery, in which the audience is immediately consumed. Through the initial exchange between Barnado and Francisco - ‘Who’s there?’ to which Francisco replies ‘Nay answer me. Stand and unfold yourself.’ - Shakespeare secures this dominant mood of uncertainty and fear. The men’s verse do not flow, and so their broken fragments of speech emphasise this atmosphere of unease. Francisco’s unexplained phrase of ‘I am sick a heart’ further generates a sense of anxiety, and it spreads amongst the audience.