| “Now Hamlet, where’s Polonius? At supper. Not where he eats, but where he is eaten. A certain convocation of politic worms are e’en at him. Your worm is your only emperor for diet. We fat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots. Your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service- two dishes but to one table. That’s the end. A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm. Nothing but to show you how a king may go a progress through the guts of a beggar. | Speaker: Hamlet Situation: Hamlet speaking to Claudius after the murder of PoloniusNotice the political diction Hamlet uses as he describes Polonius’s body being eaten by worms: “convocation”- formal assembly of officials; “politic”- shrewd or artful in a political sense; “emperor,” and the idea of a grand banquet. Death is seen as the great equalizer. Be able to explain literally how a King can go “a progress” (another political idea- Kings and Queens would go from one castle to another in a long, spectacular parade) through the guts of a beggar. The worm eats the king. A beggar baits the hook and then the fish eats the worm, The worm eats the King. The beggar eats the fish and everything the worm has eaten. A worm is higher than a king on the food chain. The beggar-fisherman uses the worm for bait and catches a fish and then eats it. The king can go “a progress” through the guts of a beggar. |
| “How all occasions do inform against me and spur my dull revenge. What is a man if his chief good and market of his time be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more. Sure He that made us with such large discourse, looking before and after, gave us not that capability and godlike reason to fust in us unused.” | Speaker: HamletSituation: After Hamlet sees the army of FortinbrasBe able to discuss these lines: Hamlet recognizes that the actions of Fortinbras show how inactive he has been. (Both seem to be attempting to set things right concerning their fathers, as Laertes will attempt to do as well.) He questions what value human beings possess if they behave like animals, merely eating and sleeping. Certainly God did not give us such power of thought not to be used. So Hamlet feels guilty that he has not acted, but he also recognizes that human beings cannot just behave instinctively. They must think about their actions. |
| “Lord we know what we are, but know not what we may be.” | Speaker: Ophelia Situation: She is talking to Claudius and Gertrude in her first mad scene.We know who we are but we don’t know how great we could be. Human beings may develop some capacity for self-knowledge, but we are less able to recognize the greatness we may be capable of or what we could accomplish. |
| “When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.” | Speaker: ClaudiusSituation: After Ophelia’s first mad sceneWhen bad things happen, they don’t occur singly, but in a series of disastrous events. (Notice the spying metaphor- a motif in the play) cliché= when it rains it pours. |
| “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies, that’s for thoughts. There’s fennel for you, and columbines. There’s rue for you, and here’s some for me; we may call it herb of grace o’ Sundays. You must wear your rue with a difference. There’s a daisy. I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died. They say he made a good end.” | Speaker: OpheliaSituation: Ophelia’s second mad scene with LaertesKnow the symbolism of the flowers and who would be the legitimate recipients of each:Rosemary (remembrance) and she gives them to Laertes so he remembers their fathers death and Pansies (thoughts) to make him think about what happened. – to LaertesFennel (adultery) and Columbines (lust)- to Gertrude Rue (repentance and pity) to Gertrude for repentance- to herself for pityDaisy (faithlessness and trickery) to ClaudiusNo Violets (faithfulness)- They all died when her father died. |
| “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio- a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy. He hath bore me on his back a thousand times, and now how abhorred in my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now? Your gambols? Your songs? Your flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table on a roar? Not one now to mock your own grinning? Quite chapfallen? Now get you to my lady’s chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to his favor she must come. Make her laugh at that.” | Speaker: HamletSituation: In the graveyard- to HoratioHere Hamlet describes Yorick, the King’s jester, a man who had been a playful clown in Hamlet’s youth. He asks the skull where all his playfulness has gone. Now he has no one around to laugh at him, and his jaw seems to have fallen off, so he is “Chop-fall’n”- a term that meant sad (“down in the mouth”). Hamlet tells the skull to go to Gertrude’s room (“my lady’s chamber” could also refer to the rooms of all women) and inform her that she can put on all the heavy makeup she wants to, she will still become a skull. See if she thinks that’s funny. This conversation with Hamlet holding the skull is one of the most famous in all of literature. |
| “Our indiscretion sometime serves us well when our deep plots do pall; and that should learn us there’s a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will.” | Speaker: HamletSituation: To Horatio- after Ophelia=s funeralHamlet explains that at times it’s a good idea not to be restrained when our plans don’t seem to be working out, which should teach us that God affects what happens in our lives, no matter how we mess things up. God is going to shape our plans. |
| ” ‘Tis dangerous when the baser nature comes between the pass and fell incensed points of mighty opposites.” | Speaker: HamletSituation: To Horatio before the duelHamlet is explaining why he doesn’t feel guilt at the deaths of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. It’s risky for commoners (in terms of nobility and character) to come between the thrust and fiercely angry sword points of great opposing forces. Here, Hamlet is describing his mission of revenge against Claudius as a duel (which Osric will soon announce). The “mighty opposites” are the forces of good and evil. The everyday folks better stay out of it. Baser not nature= common not noble, and also means immoral. |
| “Not a whit. We defy augury. There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, ’tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all.” | Speaker: HamletSituation: To Horatio before the duelHere Hamlet says he will pay no attention to omens. He realizes that God is concerned even with little birds. If his opportunity to revenge his father’s death is to happen now, it won’t happen in the future. If it is not to happen in the future, it will happen now. If it is not now, it will happen. All we can do is be ready to do God’s will. Hamlet is now demonstrating a new steadiness and confidence that all is in God’s hands. It doesn’t all depend on him, as he thought when he said he hated having “to set things right” at the beginning of the play. |
| “So shall you hear of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts, of accidental judgments, casual slaughters, and, in this upshot, purposes mistook fall’n on th’ inventors’ heads.” | Speaker: HoratioSituation: After Hamlet’s death- Horatio addresses Fortinbras, his army, and the assembled nobles of the courtThe reputation of a person was seen as very important, a legacy that would live on long after the person was dead. It is Horatio’s duty to explain what has happened so that Hamlet will be remembered correctly. Be able to give examples of each category of events: Sample examples: “carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts”- Claudius killing his brother”accidental judgements”- mistaken theories of Hamlet’s madness”casual slaughters”-Hamlet killing Polonius “deaths put on by cunning and forced cause”- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s deaths”purposes mistook/Fall’n on th’ inventors’ heads”- Laertes’ and Claudius’ deaths |
Hamlet Acts 4-5
July 2, 2019