| Gertrude: “all that lives must die, passing through nature to eternity” – A1, S2 | Cyclical nature of the universe. Links to humanist ideas, as people began to explore the power of the human mind. Link to Hamlet’s speech about Alexander and Caesar |
| Hamlet: “The undiscovered country from whose bourn No traveler returns” – A3, S1 | The reformation left many confused and anxious about the fete of their souls after death. Death appeared to be mysterious and frightening. |
| Priest: “Her death was doubtful… She should in ground unsanctified have lodged Till the last trumpet. For charitable prayers Shards, flints and pebbles should be thrown on her” – A5, S1 | Suicide was condemned by the Church- God’s mandate against self-slaughter meant technically Ophelia’s burial went against the sacred rites of the church. Suicide was equal to murder, a rebellion against the will of God |
| Claudius: “But you must know, your father lost a father, That father lost, lost his, and the survivor bound In filial obligation for some term To do obsequious sorrow” – A1, S2 | … |
| Ghost: “Doomed for a certain term to walk the night, And for the day confined to fast in fires, Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature Are burnt and purged away”- A1, S5 | Protestants did not believe in purgatory. Shakespeare introduced Catholic beliefs to illuminate the ever present power of Catholicism and the confusion caused by the reformation. |
| 6. Clown: “For here lies the point: if I drown myself wittingly, it argues an act, and an act hath three branches – it is to act, to do, to perform. Argal, she drowned herself wittingly” A5, S1 | Link back to the doctrine against self slaughter This may also link to the theme of meta theatre- three branches of acting, Hamlet’s inability to do so. |
| Vindice: “O, shall I knill him o’ th’ wrong side now? No! Sword, thou wast never a back- biter yet. I’ll pierce him to his face” – A2, S2 | The church forbade blood feuds and revenge, yet Vindice remains adiment that he will murder. Link to Hamlet refusing to kill Claudius whilst he prays |
| Ambitioso: “Nothing is sure in mortality but mortality” A3, S6 | Link to Gertrude’s quote: “All that lives must die…” The universe will continue to reoccur infinitely. Widely accepted in Christianity during the renaissance. Eternal return. |
Hamlet and RT: Death & The Afterlife- key quotes with tiny context links
September 7, 2019