| “To die, to sleep – to sleep perchance to dream” | Hamlet speaks ittheme of deathAct 3 Scene 1 (soliloquy)considering what happens after death, the reason we fear death is because we might be leaving a place where we are unhappy for something worse, no one knows what happensthought prevents us from acting |
| The soliloquy about suicide | Hamlet speaks itTheme of deathAct 3 scene 1considering the meaning of lifeconsidering the nobility of death in sleep and by suicide |
| “To be or not to be” | Hamlet speaks itTheme of deathThe Act 3 Scene 1 soliloquyexistential, meaning of life etc |
| “… Against a sea of troubles” | Hamlet speaks itTheme of deathThe Act 3 Scene 1 soliloquya metaphor for hamlet feeling overwhelmed |
| “To die, to sleep” repetition | Hamlet speaks itTheme of deathThe Act 3 Scene 1 soliloquythe contemplation of suicidereflects the nagging thought and hamlet’s constant uncertainty towards death |
| “Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth to dust…” and so on | Hamlet speaks itTheme of deathAct 5 Scene 1Hamlet’s constant obsession with deathcomes to a head in this scenemore mature approach to death*The age thing |
| Hamlet’s obsession with death (the stages that this can be seen in) | – first with the ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy- Act 4, Scene 3 with his murdering of polonius and the following rant about the physical realities of death- and finally the graveyard scene in act 5 scene 1 |
| Yorick’s skull | Act 5 Scene 1Theme of deathSymbolises the inevitability of deathprecedes the ‘returneth to dust’ lines about Alexandermature realisation about death |
| The mature realisation about death | Act 5 scene 1we learn hamlet’s 30, much older that we originally thoughtoriginally a university studentnow the clown has been a gravedigger since “the very day that young hamlet was born”we learn later he has been a gravedigger for 30 years |
| “I am thy father’s spirit” | Theme of deathGhost says itAct 3 scene 1Drives Hamlet’s revengeintroduces the theme of death |
| “Your sister’s drowned, Laertes” | Gertude says itact 4 scene 7Theme of deathophelia’s deathsuicideraises the question of the christian burial with the gravediggers in Act 5 scene 1incites laertes’ revenge |
| “To cut his throat i’th’church” | Laertes Act 4, Scene 7Laertes’ response to Claudius’ manipulation, and the result of his father’s death |
| “Laertes, was your father dear to you? / Or are you like the painting of a sorrow, / A face without a heart?” | Claudius evildeathapp vs realityAct 4, Scene 7manipulation |
| How did elizabethan audiences react to death in hamlet? | Elizabethan and Jacobean audiences revelled in shocking drama. The violence and theme of death throughout Hamlet is a key reason as to why the play was so popular during these times. |
| “Goodnight sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest” | Horatio speaks itdeathAct 5 Scene 2horatio is hamlet’s foil |
| How has the reception of evil in hamlet changed? | tended to be very religiously based ie no work on sundaysthe murder and death throughout ‘Hamlet’ tends to sicken modern audiences, where Elizabethan audiences reveled in it. |
| “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life / now wears the crown” | Ghost evilAct 1, Scene 5symbolism of the serpent |
| Symbolism of the serpent | evilact 1 scene 5refers to the garden of eden thingthe evil snake |
| “An unweeded garden / the grows to seed. Things gross and rank in nature / possess it merely” | Hamlet evilAct 1, Scene 2symbolic of the garden of edengarden referred to multiple timesHamlet recognises that Claudius’ evil nature not only affects him, but is also corrupting all of DenmarkThe evil murder of Old King Hamlet has repercussions that result in the death of eight people |
| ‘Not so, my lord, I am too much in the sun” | Hamlet evilAct 1, Scene 2punThe sun represents king ClaudiusRefers to the fact that the sun, as with king (elizabethan beliefs) Claudius, is the source of all life on earth yet still spreads evil. |
| “The king, the king’s to blame” | Laertes evilAct 5, Scene 2the difference in evil intent between laertes’ actions and claudius’ |
| “What would he do, had he the motive and cue for passion that I have?” | Act 2 Scene 2 Soliloquyby HamletTheme of revengeaction vs inaction |
| “Am I a coward?” | Act 2 Scene 2 Soliloquyby HamletTheme of revengeaction vs inaction |
| “Bloody, bawdy villain! Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain! Oh vengeance!” | Act 2 Scene 2 Soliloquyby HamletTheme of revengeaction vs inactionassonance, alliteration and sibilance emphasise hamlet’s building revenge |
| “The play’s the thing, wherein i’ll catch the conscience of the king” | Act 2 Scene 2 Soliloquyby HamletTheme of revengeaction vs inactiondrives him to action |
| “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” | The Ghost speaks itrevengeAct 1 scene 5drives hamlet’s revenge |
| play within a play technique | The mousetrapAct 3 Scene 2revengeadvances the play by providing hamlet with the evidence he needs to act and carry out his revengeIt is also a form of revenge on his mother by showing the death in front of her and making her question her choices and loyalty. |
| Literary devices | Assonance, sibilance and alliteration, accumulation, rhetorical questions in Hamlet’s soliloquy Act 3 Scene 1 help to communicate hamlet’s thoughts and allow the audience to empathise with him |
| Soliloquies and Asides | Such as Hamlet’s soliloquy in Act 3 Scene 1Advance the play as well as allowing for the communication of characters inner thoughts to only the audiencemakes the audience feel as though they’re part of the play |
| “Our son shall win” | Act 5 scene 2appearance vs realityhe’s actually plotted hamlet’s death |
| “Why seems it so particular with you?” – Gertrude”Seems, madam? Nay, it is. I know not ‘seems'” – Hamlet | Act 1 Scene 2These lines indicate both that Gertrude is only appearing to mourn for Old King Hamlet’s death, and that Hamlet truly does mourn for his father’s death |
| “O villain, villain, smiling damnèd villain! … That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain” | Hamlet Act 1, Scene 5appearance vs realitywhen hamlet finds out about his uncle |
| “To put an antic disposition on” | Hamlet Act 1, Scene 5appearance vs realityhamlet will pretend to be mad |
| “My lord, as I was sewing in my closet … he comes before me” | Ophelia Act 2, Scene 1Visual imagery of hamlet’s feigned madness |
| “My words fly up, my thoughts remain below, words without thoughts never to heaven go” | ClaudiusAct 3 Scene 3He appears to be repenting, but in reality he is not truly sorry |
| Appearance vs reality soliloquy | Act 3 Scene 3Claudius’ confession”I am still possessed of these effects for which I did the murder” He did do the murder in reality, although throughout the play he pretends to me mournful of old hamlet’s death |
Advanced English : Hamlet Quotes
September 9, 2019