Hamlet Act 1, scene 2, important quotes and techniques

‘Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death’ ClaudiusHe tells the court of the death of Old Hamlet. The words that follow this lack sincerity and ensures that the grief he describes is not genuine. This may be interpreted that he’s the culprit behind this regicide, or that as a diplomat he refrains from showing any form of weakness via grief or deep emotion.
‘Therefore our sometimes sister, now our queen’ Claudius He tells the court that he’s married Gertrude, Old Hamlet’s widow. Conveys ancestral nature and the potential affair that the two had – this creates speculation associated to the motivations behind Claudius’s murder of his brother.
Pleonasm Used by Claudius a lot. Reflects that his words lack sincerity/his diplomatic status, as he uses too many words to describe something that doesn’t require that many words.
‘A little more kin, and less than kind.’ Hamlet – I’m a little more than a relative but less than an actual son.Sarcastic wordplay that conveys his bitterness towards Claudius. He uses clever, bitter puns to disassociate himself from the King.
‘Thou know’t ’tis common – all that lives must die’ Gertrude She pleads to her son to stop mourning his father’s death – death is natural and he doesn’t need to grieve so much. Dramatic irony created though, as Old Hamlet didn’t die naturally.
’tis unmanly grief’ Claudius to Hamlet. He tells Hamlet to stop grieving because it’s not manly to do so. Tries to reinforce gender stereotypes that Hamlet is breaking.
Soliloquy One of the first of many within the play. Mainly used by Hamlet to express his thoughts aloud and can be linked to Hamlet’s indecision and feelings of emotional turmoil and conflict.
‘Everlasting had not fixed/His canon ‘against self-slaughter.’ Hamlet He wants to commit suicide because he’s so depressed about his father’s death.
‘With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!’ Hamlet – very guttural sounding words – also why is a son thinking about his mother’s sex life?He is distraught and feels betrayed by Gertrude’s marriage to Claudius.
‘Foul deeds will rise/Though all the earth o’erwhelm them to men’s eyes.’ Hamlet Foreshadows events and creates dramatic irony; adds to the tension created in the previous scene. Reference to the Ghost via the use of ‘earth’. Reference to incest ‘foul deeds’.
September 4, 2019