| A little more than kin, and less than kind – Hamlet | Hamlet on his relationship with Claudius – uncle and nephew but not men of the same kind, no affection between themhis first words |
| O villain villain smiling, damned villain – Hamlet | Hamlet on Claudius having found out his crime |
| cast thy nighted colour off – Hamlet | Gertrude telling Hamlet to remove his sombre clothes and sombre mood |
| all lives must die, passing through nature to eternity – gertrude | Gertrude on theme of of how life and death are interlinked – relating to Old Hamlet’s death |
| inky cloak – Gertrude | Description of Hamlet wearing black – he is the only one in mourning, implication that he is the only one who is truly sad |
| – Why seems it so particular with thee? – Gertrude- Seems madam? Nay it is; I know not ‘seems’ – Hamlet | Gertrude accusing Hamlet of acting and his response |
| They are actions that a man might play – Hamlet | Hamlet describes outwards signs of grief that a man could act – heavy sighs, crying and a sad expression |
| ‘Tis sweet and commendable in your nature – Claudius | Claudius briefly ‘commending’ hamlet’s mourning |
| ’tis unmanly grief; it shows a will more incorrect to heaven – Claudius | Claudius accusing Hamlet of being weak and feminine |
| think of us as a father – Claudius | Claudius to Hamlet about accepting him as a father |
| I shall in all my best obey you madam. – Hamlet | Hamlet showing his loyalty to his mother, directly addressing her and refusing to respond to Claudius’ specious reasoning |
| O that this too too solid flesh would melt, thaw and resolve itself into a dew – Hamlet | Hamlet first line of first soliloquy- wishing to stop existing |
| How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of the world! – Hamlet | Hamlet expressing his almost suicidal melancholy, bleak outlook of what he sees the world as – empty. First soliloquy |
| frailty, thy name is woman – Hamlet | Hamlet damning the entire female sex, brackets ophelia into the condemnation of women because he becomes to enraged by G’s actions |
| Like Niobe all tears – Hamlet | Description of Gertrude’s reaction to Old Hamlet’s death, Niobe wept herself to death and was changed into a stone from which water flowed |
| O most wicked speed, to incestuous sheets. – Hamlet | Hamlet describing his disgust at the speed at which Gertrude married her husbands brother after his death- hissing sibilants convey his repulsion at his mother’s actions |
| But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue – Hamlet | Hamlet feels bound to silence at the end of his first soliloquy |
| My father’s brother, but no more like my father than I to Hercules – hamlet | Hamlet putting himself at the other end of the scale to the strong and ingenious man, Hercules – classical reference used to point to extremes which Shakespeare’s audience will understand and ensuring we feel the nature of Hamlet’s emotions |
| my dearest foe – Hamlet | Hamlet opinion of Claudius – his worst enemy |
| was a goodly king – horatio | Horatio describes Old Hamlet |
| Foul deeds will rise, though all the earth o’erwhelm them, to mens eyes – Hamlet | Hamlet’s words having just been informed about the sightings of his father by Marcellus, Bernardo and Horatio. Stating that bad things are to come |
| the trifling of his favour – Laertes | Laertes description of his questioning Hamlet’s affections for Ophelia |
| his greatness weighed, his will is not his own, for he himself is subject to his birth – Laertes | Laertes warning Ophelia that he may not be able to marry Hamlet due to his position |
| on his choice depends the safety and health of this whole state – laertes | Laertes talking about the fact that Hamlet does not have free will because he is a prince |
| he hath made many tenders of his affection to me – Ophelia | Ophelia saying that Hamlet has declared his love for her |
| I do not know my lord what I should think – Ophelia | Submissiveness of Ophelia when addressing Polonius- could be slightly sarcastic tone |
| But two months dead – Hamlet | the period of time that Old Hamlet was dead and Gertrude married Claudius – Hamlet |
| Do not believe his vows, for they are brokers – Polonius | Polonius stating his interpretation that Hamlet is lustful for Ophelia, his words are filled with his present feelings for her but she must not believe him because he is young and a prince.- He should want O to marry H to further her position?- Patriarchal society – father makes the decisions |
| I would not in plain terms from this time forth have you so slander any moment leisure as to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet. – Polonius | Polonius forbidding Ophelia from any contact with Hamlet |
| I shall obey my lord – Ophelia | Ophelia submissiveness, agreeing not to see or speak to hamlet |
| it is a custom more honoured in the breach than the observance… they clepe us drunkards – hamlet | Hamlet stating his dislike of drinking, he resents the impression it gives to other nations. The king is representative of the nation, looks bad on Denmark- shows his outsider status, doesn’t agree with the customs |
| The dram of eale doth all the noble substance of a doubt to his own scandal – Hamlet | Hamlet stating that the smallest drop of evil poisons the whole, the least doubt brings the whole noble enterprise into question- perhaps a reference to Claudius pouring poison into Old Hamlet’s ear |
| I do not set my life at a pin’s fee – Hamlet | Hamlet saying that he values his life at the cost of a pin |
| petty artery – Hamlet | shows Hamlet considers himself useless, even his arteries are petty |
| Something is rotten in the state of Denmark – Marcellus | Marcellus – imagery of decay and rotting, dragging everything down rotten – begins in a good state, the process is long and drawn out, decomposing |
| confined to fast in firesmy prison-house – Old Hamlet | Claudius confirming that he is Hamlet’s father’s spirit and that we is stuck in purgatory until the sins he was unable to confess have been purged away – quotes about purgatory |
| Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder – Old Hamlet to Hamlet | Old Hamlet instructing Hamlet to avenge his death |
| most foul, strange and unnatural – Old Hamlet | Old Hamlet description of his death |
| I with wings… may sweep to my revenge – Hamlet to Old Hamlet | Hamlet uses metaphor of a bird swooping down to aid Hamlet’s revenge |
| the serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown – Old Hamlet to Hamlet | Old Hamlet describing Claudius as a snake |
| my most seeming-virtuous Queen – Ghost | Ghost implying that Gertrude had an adulterous relationship with Claudius while he was still alive- lust lead her astray |
| O villian, villian, smiling, damned villian! Hamlet on Claudius | Hamlet description of Claudius on learning that he poisoned his father – sadness turns to anger and hatred for him |
| I’ll wipe away all trivial fond records – Hamlet | One of Hamlet’s many ephemeral statements, he will clear everything out of his head concentrating only on seeking revenge |
| This time is out of joint – Hamlet | Hamlet states a sense of a broken, corrupted state. King has been appointed under false pretences. |
| This is the very ecstasy of love – Polonius | Polonius stating his theory for Hamlet’s madness |
| My much too changed son – Gertrude on Hamlet | Gertrude talking about Hamlet being different |
| ’tis an unweeded garden that grows to seed, things rank and gross in nature – Hamlet (on the state of Denmark) | Hamlet expressing the corruption of the state of Denmark through imagery of an unweeded garden |
| to draw on his pleasures – Claudius | What Claudius asks Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to do |
| I hold my duty as i hold my soul – Polonius | Polonius’ overblown loyalty and duty |
| His father’s death, and our o’erhasty marriage – Gertrude | Gertrude’s reasoning behind Hamlet’s madness |
| dear brother – claudius | Claudius addressing Old Hamlet, pretending he cared for him |
| of unimproved mettle hot and full – Horatio | Horatio description of Young Fortinbras |
| I am much too in the sun – Hamlet | Hamlet stating his resentment at being Claudius’ son, also that he is uncomfortable being the centre of attention |
| since brevity is the soul of wit – Polonius | Polonius comically/ironically stating that being brief is a sign of intellect |
| I’ll loose my daughter to him – Polonius | Polonius stating that he sees Ophelia as more like a dog than a daughter, using her as bait to prove his point- added suggestion that ‘loosing’ his daughter like an animal for breeding purposes |
| you are a fishmonger – Hamlet to Polonius | Hamlet insulting Polonius, stating that he is pompous and high-sounding, also another implication that he is a pimp |
| Words, words, words – Hamlet | Hamlet stating words |
| in my youth i suffered much extremity for love, very near this – Polonius | Polonius stating that he felt the madness that comes from being in love |
| Though this be madness, yet there be method in’t – Polonius | Polonius stating that there is a reason behind Hamlet’s madness |
| My excellent good friends – Hamlet to R&G | Hamlet’s which show him to be good friends with R&G |
| Denmark’s a prison – Hamlet | Hamlet’s feelings of imprisonment in Denmark |
| Be even and direct with me – Hamlet to R&G | Hamlet instructing R&G to be honest with him, asking if they were set for by the king and queen |
| My lord, we were sent for – Guildenstern | Guildenstern admitting they were sent for |
| to put an antic disposition on – Hamlet | Hamlet stating his plan to act mad |
| a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours – Hamlet | How Hamlet sees the world – he sees no beauty or awe in anything, it is disease filled air |
| seems to me a sterile promontory – Hamlet | Hamlet stating how the world seems to be a barren, sterile place where there is no future, life or love |
| what is this quintessence of dust? – hamlet | Hamlet questioning what men are but dust? |
| Welcome good friends – Hamlet to Players | Hamlet greeting the players familiarly and in a friendly manner, he feels an affinity with them |
| Pyrrhus and Priam(Pyrrhus, son of the warrior Achilles, comes to Troy in the Trojan horse to avenge the death of his father by killing Priam, King of Troy.) | Who are the references to the Trojan war |
| the Murder of Gonzago | name of the play |
| O what a rogue and peasant slave I am – hamlet | Hamlet resenting himself for not having sought his revenge, compares himself to the player |
| he would drown the stage with tears – hamlet on the player | Hamlet stating that the Player cried when he was imagining being in Hamlet’s situation |
| A dull and muddy-mettled rascal – Hamlet | Hamlet description of himself to be a lifeless ‘rascal’ |
| Am I a coward? Who calls me villain? – Hamlet | Hamlet constant self questioning and searching of himself, self-disgust at his lack of passion – who calls him … is he a … |
| I am pigeon-livered and lack gall – Hamlet | Hamlet suggesting himself to be equivalent to a pigeon, the pigeon was seen to have no gall which is the source of bitterness |
| O vengeance! – Hamlet | Hamlet whipping himself up into a frenzy |
| Why, what an ass am I. – Hamlet | Hamlet stating that he is an ass |
| The son of a dear father murdered.. I must, like a *****, unpack my heart with words – hamlet | Hamlet being angry at himself that despite his circumstances of having a murdered father, he still uses words instead of aggression |
| the play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king – hamlet | Final rhyming cuplet of Hamlet’s 3rd soliloquy – comes to the end of his intellectual process deciding he will use a play – the Mousetrap to see if the ghost is telling the truth |
| turbulent and dangerous lunacy – claudius | Claudius describing Hamlet’s madness |
| But with a crafty madness keeps aloof – Guildenstern | Guildenstern talking about hamlet’s madness – quote relates to ‘method in his madness’ |
| with devotion’s visage and pious action we do sugar o’er the devil himself – Polonius | Polonius talking about how act devoted to god and put on a holy face to hide the our sins |
| I am not what i am – Iago | ‘with devotion’s visage and pious action we do sugar o’er the devil himself – Polonius’ which quote does this relate to in Othello |
| How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience – Claudius | Claudius revealing his guilty feelings to the audience for the first time |
| O heavy burden! | Claudius expressing his guilty conscience |
| the harlot’s cheek, beautied with plast’ring art | Claudius comparing his guilt to a prostitute cheek covered in makeup to look pretty |
| to be or not to be, that is the question – hamlet | Hamlet first line of soliloquy, whether it is better to go one existing or to cease to exist |
| to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles – hamlet | Hamlet questioning whether to suffer slings and arrows or to take action against his problems and die |
| sea of troubles | Hamlet description of his problems in soliloquy |
| to die, to sleep – to sleep, perchance to dream, ay there’s the rub – hamlet | Hamlet welcomes the idea of death until he considers the fact that even in death you suffer the nightmares that one suffers in life |
| rub | the word that shows the hindrance in death for Hamlet |
| when we have shuffled off this mortal coil – Hamlet | Hamlet stating when we have got rid of the business of being alive – ‘shuffle off’ contains a sense of shiftiness, of being evasive |
| When he himself might his quietus make with a bare bodkin – Hamlet | Hamlet questioning why people don’t kill themselves to reach peace |
| bare bodkin | just a dagger |
| thus conscience does make cowards of us all – hamlet | Hamlet stating that our knowledge/consciousness makes us fearful of death |
| the dread of something after death – hamlet | the fear of something after death – hamlet |
| I did love you once – hamlet | hamlet stating that he did love ophelia |
| for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish it – Hamlet | Hamlet stating that we’re all rotten at the core, no matter how hard we try to be virtuous |
| they are technical horticulture terms | where do the words ‘inoculate’ and ‘stock’ come from |
| get thee to a nunnery – hamlet | Hamlet instructing Ophelia to go to a nunnery – either to protect her so she can remain pure and be away from the corruption in society, or because because he resents her |
| Get thee to a nunnery, go farewell… to a nunnery go, and quickly too – hamlet | Hamlet doubly instructing Ophelia to go to a nunnery |
| God has given you one face and you make yourselves another – hamlet | Hamlet chastising women, stating that they are two-faced implying deceit and treachery |
| we are arrant knaves all – hamlet | Hamlet stating that we are all villains |
| O what a noble mind is here o’erthrown! | Ophelia expressing her distress that Hamlet has lost the noble mind that he used to have |
| he shall with speed to england – Claudius | Claudius telling everyone that Hamlet will be sent to England |
| I do believe .. his grief sprung from neglected love | Polonius stating his belief that hamlet’s grief has arisen from the lack of love he received from his mother, his isolation and abandonment |
| Madness in great ones must not go unwatched – Claudius | Claudius expressing that madness in important people must be watched |
| Horatio, thou art e’en as just a man as e’er my conversation coped withal – Hamlet | Hamlet to Horatio – stating his is the best man he has even known – compliment contrasts with Hamlet’s bleak, suicidal view of the world |
| here’s metal more attractive – Hamlet | Hamlet’s response to Gertrude asking her to sit with him, choosing to sit with Ophelia instead |
| As woman’s love – Hamlet | Hamlet infers that women’s love is as short as the prologue of the play |
| Where love is great, the littlest doubts are fear; where little fears grow great, great love grows there | … |
| In second husband let me be accurst – Player Queen | Player Queen vowing to remain loyal to her husband after his death |
| The lady doth protest too much, methinks – Gertrude | Gertrude acknowledging that it is not easy to stay loyal after the death of a husband |
| Give me some light – away! – Claudius | Claudius walking out of the play midway through – mass drama, confirms his guilt |
| Your majesty and we that have free souls, it touches us not – Hamlet | Hamlet stating that the play will not have an effect on people with free souls i.e. those who are not guilty will react |
| By telling Horatio that he should be an actor and he praises himself- ironic that he pretends to be an actor by reciting verse but he has been given the change to be a revenger and he refuses to do it | How does Hamlet celebrate Claudius getting up in the middle of the play and storming out?? |
| Will you play upon this pipe? – Hamlet | Hamlet questioning whether R&G will play on his pipe |
| Why look you now how unworthy a thing you make of me – Hamlet | Hamlet lashing out on R&G for the way that they have ‘played’ him, saying that he is as easy to be picked and played as a musical instrument |
| camel, weasel, whale | Polonius showing his sycophantic behaviour (ingratiating) and the animals he agrees to seeing |
| Now could I drink hot blood – Hamlet | Hamlet using unlikely language to whip himself into being a dutiful avenger – expressing his anger, reference to blood |
| Let me be cruel, not unnatural, I will speak daggers to her, but use none – Hamlet | Hamlet stating that he will not physically hurt Gertrude, but he will use the power of words – to harm his mother would be unnatural and inhumane |
| O my offence is rank, it smells to heaven – Claudius | Claudius expressing how bad his sin is, he knows for sure about Hamlet’s knowledge and is racked with guilt and remorse |
| My crown, mine own ambition, and my Queen – Claudius | Claudius naming the things that he is still benefitting from as a result of his murder |
| corrupted currents of this world – Claudius | Claudius’ view of the world in his soliloquy |
| Now might I do it pat, now he is praying; and now i’ll do’i – and so he goes to heaven; and so i am revenged. That would be scanned – Hamlet | Hamlet trying to convince himself to kill Claudius while he is in the perfect position – standing with his sword above his head while he is supposedly praying |
| to take the purging of his soul when he is fit and seasoned for passage? No. – Hamlet | Hamlet refusing to kill Claudius when he is confessing his sins – decides with no. |
| My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. Words without thoughts never go to heaven – Claudius | Claudius stating that he is not truly praying, they are empty words and it is a fake prayer |
| Now mother, what’s the matter?Hamlet, thou has thy father much offended.Mother, you have my father much offended.Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue.Go go, you question with a wicked tongue | Hamlet and Gertrude’s exchange at the beginning of the closet scene |
| Have you forgot me? | Gertrude asking if Hamlet has forgotten who she is, pulls the mother/queen card |
| You are the Queen, your husband’s brother’s wife – Hamlet | Hamlet replying to Gertrude asking if he has forgotten her stating who she is |
| What wilt thou do, thou wilt not murder me? – Gertrude | Gertrude expressing her fear, thinking Hamlet is going to murder her in the closet scene |
| How now! A rat? Dead for a ducat, dead. – Hamlet | Hamlet just before he kills Polonius, mistaking him for Claudius – indication by the word ‘rat’ that a spy is never far away |
| Thou wretched rash, intruding fool, farewell – Hamlet | Hamlet having just killed Polonius stating his annoyance |
| As kill a king? – Gertrude | Gertrude expressing her surprise of Hamlet stating ‘as kill a king’ – evidence that she is unaware of Claudius’ murder |
| that blurs the grace and blush of modesty – hamlet | Hamlet describing Gertrudes actions in the closet scene.. what do they do |
| O shame, where is thy blush? | Hamlet questioning where Gertrude’s shame is, why she is not embarrassed about her behaviour |
| Thou turn’st mine eyes into my very soul, and there i see such black and grained spots – Gertrude | Gertrude talking about how Hamlet has turned her to look at her soul |
| A mildewed ear | What does Hamlet describe Claudius to be life |
| in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed stewed in corruption – Hamlet | Hamlet talking about gertrude and Claudius’ bed in the closet scene |
| O speak to me no more; these words, like daggers – gertrude | Gertrude telling hamlet that she has had enough, he cannot insult her anymore |
| O cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right – Hamlet | Hamlet cursing his task of having to kill Claudius – not only because he is killing a king and will be damned but because he is not a natural revenger |
| A murderer and a villain, a slave that is not twentieth part the tithe of your precedent lord – Hamlet | Hamlet describing and comparing Old Hamlet to Fortinbras |
| A king of shreds and patches | Hamlet stating that Claudius is a king made up of rags and scraps – opposite to Old Hamlet. |
| to whet thy blunted purpose – ghost | Closet scene – the Ghost’s reason for coming, to remind Hamlet and sharped his revenge |
| confess yourself to heaven, repent what’s past, avoid what is to come, and do not spread the compost on the weeds to make them ranker – hamlet | Hamlet instructing Gertrude to cleanse herself of her sins and stop her sexual relationship with Claudius- metaphor of an unweeded garden |
| O hamlet thou hast cleft my heart in twain – Gertrude | Gertrude expressing the effect that Hamlet’s ‘words like daggers’ have had on her |
| Go not to my uncle’s bed – Hamlet | Hamlet instructing Gertrude not to go to Claudius’ bed |
| I must be cruel only to be kind – hamlet | Hamlet stating that he must be cruel to be kind to Gertrude |
| What shall I do? – Gertrude to hamlet | Gertrude becoming a subservient figure |
| I essentially am not in madness, but mad in craft – Hamlet | Hamlet stating that he is not truly mad, he is acting |
| if words be made of breath, and breath of life, I have no life to breathe what thou hast said to me – Gertrude | Gertrude expressing her devotion and loyalty to Hamlet, she has been so affected by his words that she swears allegiance to him |
| Whom I trust as I will adders fanged – Hamlet | Hamlet showing how little he trusts Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, imagery of snakes in the Garden of Eden |
| hoist by his own petard – Hamlet | Hamlet showing his clear intent to combat and destroy Rosencrantz and Guildenstern |
| I’ll lug the guts into the neighbour room – Hamlet | Hamlet expressing his lack of remorse/regret over killing Polonius by his action of moving the body |
| a foolish prating knave – hamlet | Hamlet on Polonius, saying he was a bumbling old fool |
| Mad as the sea and wind when both contend which is the mightier – Gertrude | Gertrude expressing her view to Claudius that Hamlet is mad – either interpreted as her genuinely thinking that Hamlet is mad or staying loyal to him |
| His liberty is full of threats to us – Claudius | Claudius stating that Hamlet is dangerous to everyone, he is unconcerned about the death of Polonius – protecting himself because he knows Hamlet was intending to kill Claudius when he killed Polonius |
| this mad young man – claudius | claudius stating that hamlet is mad |
| he’s loved of the distracted multitude – Claudius | Claudius stating Hamlet’s popularity, justifying why Hamlet must be sent away to be executed |
| a king may go a progress through the guts of the beggar – Hamlet | Hamlet putting on an antic disposition, reducing the position of the king, showing that even a king can be eaten by a beggar |
| like the hectic in my blood he rages – Claudius | Claudius expressing that hamlet rages like a fever in his brain, shows what an effect hamlet has on Claudius |
| little patch of ground that in it hath no profit but the name – Captain | How does the captain of Fortinbras’ army describe the land in Poland they are fighting for.- implies it to be pointless, risking his life for nothing – purely in the name of honour |
| Two thousand souls and twenty thousand ducats will not debate the question of this straw – Hamlet | Hamlet expressing his belief that Fortinbras’ mission to regain the ‘worthless piece of land’ is a pointless matter- risking two thousand mens lives and twenty thousand coins |
| How all occasions do inform against me, and spur my dull revenge! – hamlet | First line of his soliloquy after speaking to the captain about fortinbras – Hamlet is shocked and embarrassed, his soliloquy is inspired by the actions of Fortinbras (as well as the player) – believes he is a coward |
| I do not know why yet I live to say ‘This thing’s to do’, sith I have cause, and will, and strength, and means to do’t – Hamlet | Hamlet expressing his anger at himself, why he has not sought revenge when he has the cause, will and strength to do it |
| delicate and tender prince – Hamlet | Hamlet description of Fortinbras |
| Rightly to be great is not to stir without great argument, but greatly to find quarrel in a straw when honour’s at the stake – Hamlet | Hamlet stating the importance of honour, it is important to enter a quarrel even for something insignificant because HONOUR is so important |
| Go to their graves like beds – hamlet | how will fortinbras’ army die (Hamlet’s words) |
| O from this time forth, my thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth- Hamlet | Hamlet stating that from now on his thoughts will be completely about revenge or they will be pointless – he wants to be more aggressive, threatening to become a violent revenger |
| I will not speak with her. – Gertrude | Gertrude refusing to see Ophelia (only other woman), expresses her sense of guilt perhaps because she saw Polonius’ death, sense of self-loathing |
| To my sick soul, as sin’s true nature is… so full of artless – Gertrude | Gertrude giving a sense that everything is falling apart, each significant thing that happens seems to be a precursor of something terrible happening- this bodes a strange eruption to our state- foul deeds will rise |
| So full of artless jealousy is guilt, it spills itself in fearing to be spilt – Gertrude | Gertrude stating that trying to contain your guilt destroys you – expresses her sense of guilt, of an affair? Or of her having a part in Hamlet killing Polonius – his anger stems from Gertrude’s marriage thus she feels guilt |
| How do you pretty lady? – Claudius to Ophelia | Claudius asking ophelia how she is when she enters looking mad |
| I cannot chose but weep to think they should lay him in the cold ground – Ophelia | Ophelia expressing her grief about her father’s death, she cannot help but think about him being laid in the ground |
| O this is the poison of deep grief, it springs all from her father’s death – Claudius | Claudius stating that Ophelia’s madness is as a result of polonius’ death, imagery of poison in the court – is it claudius’ responsibility? |
| When sorrows come, they come not in single spies – Claudius | Claudius stating that when bad things happen they do not come alone, they come in several things |
| Antiquity forgot, custom not known – messenger | Quote which shows that the traditions in court have already been ruined, Claudius broke the principle of ‘divine right’ by becoming king- corruption in court |
| Choose we! Laertes shall be king | Mob of Laertes chanting that Laertes should be king because the traditions have already been broken, challenging Claudius’ kingship |
| O thou vile king. Give me my father – laertes | Laertes storming into Claudius’ room thinking that Claudius had killed his father |
| Why thou art thus incensed – let him go Gertrude – Claudius | Claudius showing his lack of intimidation and confidence, adopts she same mantra as Othello – interesting that Gertrude is protecting Claudius? |
| I dare damnation! – Laertes | Laertes stating his willingness to go to hell to revenge his father, relates to ‘to cut his throat in a church’ and ‘i tell thee churlish priest’ |
| O heat, dry up my brains, tears seven times salt burn out the sense and virtue of mine eye. – Laertes | Laertes reaction when he sees Ophelia, evident that she is in a bad state just from her appearence – i.e. destroy my sight |
| This nothing’s more the matter – Laertes | Laertes stating that this nonsense (Ophelia’s words) make a lot of sense, all her words in her song link to infidelity and love and betrayal |
| fennel – flatterycolumbines – infidelitydaisy – violent – faithfulnessrue – repentance and regret | Types of flowers Ophelia gives out |
| his obscure funeral – Laertes | Laertes showing polonius’ rushed and impersonal funeral, it was not a state funeral like he deserved |
| I have words to speak in thine ear will make thee dumb – Hamlet’s letter to Hamlet | Hamlet showing how badly he was treated on the ship with the pirates |
| The Queen his mother lives almost by his looks – Claudius | Claudius showing that Gertrude lives for the sight of Hamlet |
| She is so conjunctive to my life and soul – claudius | Claudius showing that he truly loves Gertrude, she is so closely joined to his life and soul |
| the great love the general gender bear him – claudius | More evidence of Claudius’ popularity, that the common people love him |
| I might be the organ – laertes | Laertes requesting that he can be the means of bringing revenge on Hamlet |
| Laertes, was your father dear to you? or are you like the painting of a sorrow, a face without a heart? – claudius | Claudius manipulating Laertes, questioning whether he truly loved his father, prompting him and making him angier |
| what would you undertake to show yourself in deed your father’s son more than in words? – Claudius | Claudius testing laertes to prove his loyalty |
| To cut his throat i’ th’ church | Laertes showing that nothing will stop him avenging his father, he would even do it in a place of religious sanctuary |
| Revenge should have no bounds | Claudius on revenge, how it should be unlimited |
| How sweet Queen! – claudius | When claudius and laertes are plotting Hamlet’s death he quickly switches the tone to greet his wife – shows his pliance |
| One woe doth tread upon another’s heel, so fast they follow – Gertrude | gertrude stating that bad things keep happening, just before she tells Laertes that Ophelia has drowned |
| pulled the poor wretch from her melodious lay to muddy death – Gertrude | Gertrude showing that Ophelia was singing a tuneful song whilst collecting flowers near the willow bank, before she died a horrific death |
| she wilfully seeks her own salvation – gravedigger | Gravedigger implying that Ophelia commited suicided, thus making her incapable of receiving a christial burial because it is illegal |
| has this fellow no feelings of his business, that ‘a sings at grave-making – Hamlet | hamlet angered that the gravedigger is singing while burying the dead – it is disrespectful |
| the age is grown so picked, that the toe of the peasant comes so near the heel of the courtier he galls his kibe – Hamlet | Hamlet expressing his shock at the tenacity of the gravedigger, shows that the social order of the country is in disarray – there is no division between the peasant and the royal (courtier) |
| Since hamlet was born | How long has the gravedigger been a grave digger |
| Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft – Hamlet | hamlet holding up Yorick’s skull, looking death in the face and contemplating the afterlife. States that he has kissed his lips lots of times |
| To what base uses we may return – hamlet | hamlet stating that when we die we rot and decompose back to dust |
| Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth to dust, the dust is earth – Hamlet | Hamlet references 2 great leaders – Caesar and Alexander – states that Alexander dies and returns to dust just as everyone else does, nothing separates people in death and death doesn’t treat anyone differently depending on who they are |
| Imperious Caesar dead and turned to clay – hamlet | Hamlet talking about how Caesar died and turned to clay |
| What ceremony else? | What question does Laertes repeat multiple times showing his sense of annoyance and injustice that she can’t have a proper funeral |
| Her death was doubtful – Priest | priest stating that Ophelia commited suicide |
| I tell thee churlish priest | Laertes becoming enraged at the priest, attacking his religion – being rule and insulting to a priest relates to ‘o thou vile king’ |
| What the fair ophelia! – Hamlet | Hamlet realising that it is Ophelia who is being buried for the first time |
| Hold off the earth awhile till I have caught her once more in mine arms | laertes jumping in the grave to be with Ophelia in an outpour of emotion, he embraces his dead sister |
| This is I, Hamlet the Dane! | Hamlet identifying himself before jumping into the grave after Laertes, he is spurred into action by laertes |
| my eyelids no longer wag | Hamlet stating that he will fight over Ophelia with Laertes until… |
| I loved Ophelia, forty thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love make up my sum | Hamlet stating that he truly loved Ophelia, shows a sense of remorse and shows he is devastated by her death |
| This is mere madness | Gertrude stating that Hamlet jumping into the grave is madness |
| There’s a divinity that shapes our ends | Hamlet stating that there is a divine power which directs our destiny, shows he is now a changed character set on the idea of fate and destiny perhaps now that Ophelia has died |
| My head should be struck off – (Hamlet’s) | What did the instructions of the letter which Hamlet find on the ship state |
| his father’s signet | How did Hamlet seal the re-written letter |
| They are not near my conscience – Hamlet | Hamlet showing his cruel and heartless self, he has sent R&G off to be killed and shows no remorse |
| They came between two ‘mighty opposites’ (Hamlet and Claudius) | What is hamlet’s reasoning for killing R&G |
| Why, what a King is this – Horatio | Horatio showing his disgust that Claudius would have his own son killed |
| Is’t not to be damned to let this canker of our nature come in further evil? | Hamlet stating that he cannot let the cancer/disease of Claudius spread anymore. Stating that he must save the country from the disease, he will be damned if he doesn’t- shows his mind is no longer troubled by his clear and uncluttered expression |
| All that is wrong with the court, corruption- he is sycophantic, agrees with what hamlet says in the same way that polonius does | What does Osric represent |
| i am constant to my purposes – Hamlet | hamlet showing his development as a character, he is not saying that he will stand by whatever he says |
| the readiness is all | FINAL SCENE- Hamlet showing his fatalistic attitude to death, he has overcome his fear of death – cannot know when it is to come |
| What i have done.. I here proclaim was madness – hamlet | Hamlet stating that his actions of killing Polonius was madness |
| This is too heavy. let me see another – Laertes | Laertes requesting to see another foil because one is too heavy – shows he is searching for the poisoned one |
| The king shall drink to Hamlet’s better breath – Claudius | Claudius stating that he will drink to Hamlet’s staying power in the duel |
| Gertrude do not drink – Claudius | Claudius instructing Gertrude not to drink the poisoned cup, futile effort? Sense of weariness, everything has gone wrong for him |
| I do not think ‘t – Claudius | Claudius telling Laertes not to stab hamlet when his back is turned, sense of giving up and contemplating morality |
| I am justly killed with mine own treachery – laertes | Laertes is killed with his own poisoned foil |
| O my dear Hamlet – the drink, the drink! i am poisoned. – Gertrude | Gertrude calls out to Hamlet in her dying state, that she has been poisoned by the drink |
| the King’s to blame – Laertes | Laertes stating that claudius is to blame for the deaths of Hamlet, Gertrude and Laertes |
| Thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane, drink off this potion – Hamlet | hamlet forcing the poison down Claudius – brutally kills him, stabbing him and then poisoning him – act of justice |
| I am more antique Roman than a Dane. Here’s yet some liquor left – Horatio | Horatio trying to kill himself, doesnt want to live without Hamlet |
| to tell my story | what does hamlet instruct Horatio to do |
| On Fortinbras, he has my dying voice | Hamlet giving Fortinbras his vote, that he should be king in his death |
| The rest is silence | Hamlet’s final words |
| Now cracks a noble heart. Good night sweet prince. – Horatio | Horatio’s last words to Hamlet – shows he truly loved him |
| For he was likely… to have proved most royal | Fortinrbas stating that Hamlet would have made a good king |
Hamlet quotes
August 29, 2019