THE SIGNIFICANCE AND POSITIONS OF POISON IN SHAKESPEARE’S HAMLET’S PLOT

Abstract

       This research has two objectives. The first is to reveal the significance of poison in Hamlet’s plot. The second is to show the positions of poison’s emergences in Hamlet’s plot. This research applies New Criticism theory. The researcher used qualitative analysis. This research’s main data were expressions in dialogues taken from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. According to qualitative analysis, the technique that the researcher used to analyze the data was textual analysis. This is a technique of identifying and interpreting the verbal and non verbal signs of the text. That statement signified the relation between the author and the readers was allowed to interpret the story. The main instrument of this research was the researcher herself. To enhance trustworthiness of the data, triangulation was applied. The first result of this research is poison in Hamlet’s plot has three significance, they are setting-up the plot, triggering confrontation, and being the “solution” of the problems. The second result shows the poison’s emergences in each act of the plot. Those acts are exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement. The number of poison’s emergences in each act is quite different. Poison appears once in the exposition, once in the climax, twice in the falling action, and four times in the denouement.

Keywords: New Criticism, significance of poison, positions of poison, plot, Shakespeare’s Hamlet