Utility Quotes Flashcards
Now could I drink hot blood and do such bitter business as the day would quake to look on
Context: Following a performance re-enacting his father’s murder, which confirmed Claudius’ guilt, Hamlet resolves himself to finally take revenge (soliloquy). Hamlet has “[caught] the conscience of the King”.
Imagery of blood:
Shakespeare’s foregrounding of violent and bloody imagery, demonstrated through Hamlet’s contemplation of “[drinking] hot blood” has troubling connotations of the supernatural…
Connotations of blood: violence, death, sacrifice, guilt (bloodstains)
Drink hot blood: In the Elizabethan era, it was believed that witches gained their power/eternal life from drinking blood, most notably, children’s. This action demonstrates Hamlet’s spiritual/moral degradation. Elizabethan’s with Christian ideals would have absolutely rejected … just as modern audiences..
Hamlet does not intend to literally drink hot blood, his new-found confidence inspires him to want to spill it.
Witches murdered children and consumes their freshly spilled “hot blood”.
Spiritual: Witchcraft intrinsically linked with the devil in the Elizabethan era
Moral: Witches drink children’s blood to gain power
If using more than imagery of blood:
Day: nature’s goodness, sun, light, life-giving
quake to look on= shiver/crumble
a strong physical reaction to looking at something so offensive. Extreme form being an earthquake.
Revenge is so offensive that it should be transacted at nighttime when nobody can see it.
Has seismic potential to destroy Hamlet’s morality.
Shakespeare combines violent and geophysical imagery to condemn the destructive nature of revenge…
By foregrounding Hamlet’s bloodlust as a depraved form of Paganism, Shakespeare privileges his criticism of revenge in all of its destructive potential.
Not a whit, we defy augury. There’s a special providence in the fall of a sparrow
Context: Horatio begs Hamlet to make up an excuse not to duel with Laertes, if he has a bad feeling about it.
Augury: Denotations of superstition or divination. Augury was the ancient Roman practice of divination through birds.
Fall of a sparrow: Romans interpreted omens from the observed behaviour of birds
Special providence: The protective care of God
Sparrow: small, seemingly insignificant in shaping of the world
Rejecting individualism in favour of a divine plan.
Hamlet rejects the notion that the will of the gods or fate can be divined and avoided, and asserts that everything unfolds according to an immutable plan. If something is fated to happen, it will happen. For the first time in the play, he finds a sense of acceptance and peace in the face of overwhelming circumstances.
Perhaps out of my weakness and melancholy, as he is very potent with such spirits, abuses me to damn me
Context: Hamlet evaluating his first interaction with the Ghost
Potent/spirits: Diction of inebriation/alcoholism. Alcohol as a depressant, and a thoroughfare to madness.
Abuses me: Alcohol abuse? Addictive nature of it. Spiral of madness, and degeneration that comes along with it.
Damn me: Closer to the devil if drink on melancholy
Therefore, those who are grief-stricken are easy to manipulate and condemn
Blest are those / Whose blood and judgement are so well commingled. That they are not a pipe for for fortune’s finger / To sound what stop she please.
Context: Hamlet’s praise of Horatio’s balanced nature
Blest: religious connotations. Demonstrates how highly Hamlet considers those who are balanced in this way. Blessed people will go to Heaven therefore are inherently Good.
Blood: Imagery of violence, death (action)
Judgement: denotes thought
Therefore: Audiences understand it is good to have a balance between action and thought
Context: Hamlet’s praise of Horatio’s balanced nature
Metaphor of pipe: Pipe is a mouthpiece for the player/manipulator (passive vs active participation)
Pipe uses breath and voice and has no other use
Allusion to Fortune: Roman goddess of fortune/personification of luck. Often depicted as blind.
What stop she please: suggests she is fickle or capricious
Therefore those without balance between action and thought can be manipulated and have no agency.
O, my offence is rank it smells to heaven; it hath the primal eldest curse upon’t
Context: Claudius is trying to pray after Hamlet’s play which re-enacted Old Hamlet’s murder
Offence: crime, regicide/fratricide
Rank: linguistic ambiguity (rank as in smell and rank as in Claudius)
Smell: Connotations of rot, disease (corruptive imagery)
to heaven: God is aware of his moral corruption, Claudius is damned
Primal eldest curse: Allusion to the biblical story of Cain – whose murder of his brother Abel – saw him cast out by God and ordered to wander through the land of Nod for eternity. Effective comparison for Claudius, who will also be damned for his own act of fratricide. Mark of Cain is representative of the eternal stain that deceivers’ actions will have on their souls
Curse: Associations with witchcraft and the supernatural
This physic but prolongs thy sickly days
Context: Hamlet after not murdering Claudius in prayer - of he murdered him here he would not be damned
Physic: medicine- reference to Claudius’ act of praying which is an attempt to absolve himself of regicide. In Elizabethan era physics often involved purging. Therefore Claudius is purging his soul.
Sickly days: Disease imagery. A sick King causes a sick State. Throughout the play imagery of disease is intrinsically linked to/ a metaphor for Claudius’ moral corruption.
Therefore Hamlet is willing to spread corruption to ensure the worst possible consequence for Claudius. Consequences of inaction.
The native hue of resolution/Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought
Context: Hamlet’s self-flagellation due to inaction
Native hue of resolution: blush. Native provokes natural and healthy connotations. Therefore being resolved to action is good.
Sicklied o’er: Disease imagery, what is good is being corrupted/destroyed
Pale cast of thought: Imagery of a blanched face, therefore overthinking is unhealthy
O what a rogue and peasant slave am I
Context: After talking to actors of the play he will put on. Expression of his guilt at not taking revenge yet.
Hyperbolic nature is emphasised as he is Prince of Denmark, decrying if his own weakness.
Rogue: Exists outside society, rebel
Peasant: Lowest level of society
Pair rogue and peasant together.
Slave: Not a part of society, object or possession to Elizabethans, chattle to be owned and controlled by others.
Does not deserve agency
Therefore Hamlet excoriates himself as existing in the lowest possible area of the State.
Pigeon liver’d and lack gall
Symbol of pigeon: Represents peace (procrastination) . Pigeons had no liver - an organ that the Elizabethans linked to courage. Hamlet’s failure to prove his loyalty through taking revenge has caused him to consider himself a coward.
Lack gall - disease imagery?: Gall is bold behaviour, originating from the gallbladder. In the Elizabethan era, gall was one of the four humours - which affect entire being (health, feelings, looks, actions. Good health when humours are balanced, behaviour influences their balance. Having a lack of gall leaves the humours unbalanced and therefore has sickening effects on Hamlet (this unbalance is caused by his procrastination).
That this too too sullied flesh would melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew
Context: Hamlet’s pessimism/outlook on the world as affected by his father’s death (first soliloquy)
Sullied flesh: Imagery of his body as dirtied, soiled, and diseased. Hamlet’s sense of his own damaged and contaminated existence as a result of the corruption caused by his father’s murder.
Melt, thaw, and resolve: Cleansing of the flesh
A dew: Morning dew drop, pure, seen at the start of the day - father as Sun. Linguistic ___ to ‘adieu’ meaning goodbye in French. Once more emphasising wish to join his father.
Muddy mettled rascal
Context: After talking to actors of the play he will put on. Expression of his guilt at not taking revenge yet.
Mettle: Someone’s resilience,
Muddy: Hamlet’s criticism that his own spirit is ‘muddy’ or dirty further reveals the depths of his self-loathing
The courtier’s, soldier’s, scholar’s, eye, tongue, sword
Order of terms are jumbled (courtier-tongue/ scholar-eye/ soldier-sword), suggesting disorder in Hamlet’s mind
Hamlet used to have all these qualities, now he has a disordered mental state
Courtier’s tongue: persuasiveness and charm
Soldier’s sword: courage and fighting ability
Scholar’s eye: wisdom, discernment
Hamlet’s once promising character has since had a downfall → state of Denmark
Hamlet was a polymath
Leperous distillment
Context: the Ghost retelling the story of Old Hamlet’s murder. Describing how Claudius poured poison into his ear.
Leprosy: degenerative disease, corruptive nature
Distillment: the strongest essence of
‘Tis an unweeded garden,
That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature possess it merely.
Context: Hamlet’s pessimism/outlook on the world as affected by his father’s death (first soliloquy)
Unweeded garden: Allusion to the garden of Eden, which was corrupted due to Eve’s deception/disobedience
Rank: linguistic ambiguity references Claudius and connotes disease/rot
Gross: Connotations of disease/rot
Possess: Associations with witchcraft and the supernatural - linked with the Devil
Unweeded/ grows to seed: spread of corruption destroying the garden of Eden
Demonstrating the beginning of corruption has already occurred and is worsening prior to Hamlet is set on the path of revenge
Is it not to be damned to let this canker of our nature come in further evil
Context: Hamlet expressing resentment of Claudius and his ruinous effect on the State to Horatio
Canker: imagery of disease, contagious ulcer
Our nature: human nature and State of Denmark
Damned/evil: closely associated with he Devil in the Elizabethan era
Bodes some strange eruption to our state
Context: Horatio making a comment after the Ghost’s first appearance
Strange: unnatural, associated with witchcraft (goes against God)
eruption: volcano/boil. disease imagery or pathetic fallacy. Signalling that the natural order has been disturbed
our state: the state of Denmark
Think yourself a baby
Context: Polonius discussing Ophelia’s relationship with Hamlet
Connotations of baby: no agency - survival is completely dependent on a provider. Cannot eat, drink, move. Babies have no cognitive abilities.
Think yourself: must impose these gender norms on even herself
A beast that wants discourse of reason would have mourn’d longer
Context: Hamlet’s misogynistic thinking is evident in his first soliloquy, where he casts puritanical shame on his mother
imagery of a “beast”: an unnatural creature without the cognitive or emotional abilities of humans casts Gertrude as not only insensitive, but sub-human, thus exposing the extreme degree to which Hamlet excoriates her actions as immoral
Elizabethan audiences – with their understanding of beasts as beings without souls - would be aware of the true hyperbolic intensity of Hamlet’s condemnation of his mother’s marriage and realise his perception of her betrayal has led to the misogynistic assumption of women as immoral.
In the rank sweat of an enseamed bed, stewed in corruption, honeying and making love over the nasty sty
Context: The imagery of beasts is further used to exemplify Hamlet’s misogynistic criticism of her allegedly offensive sexuality and reveals his belief that it has led Gertrude to become complacent in her own corruption. Finally confronting her about this conviction, Hamlet, with both speed and severity, accuses her
Linguistic ambiguity of “rank”: connotes a grossness, and also references the King.
Gertrude has become “stewed” in his corruption through the act of “making love”, Hamlet’s utter rejection of her sexuality, and conviction of it as condemning, is revealed.
Hamlet situates these seemingly deplorable acts in a “sty” – a place which homes pigs and thus holds filthy connotations – Elizabethan’s realise that Hamlet’s misogynistic attitude has developed so far that he views his own mother as a dirty and obscene beast and now holds the misogynistic assumption of women as immoral
Pigs enjoy their own filth.
Spur my dull revenge
Context: Hamlet watching Fortinbras and his army march to Poland, where they will go to war over a worthless piece of land. Hamlet exalts Fortinbras revealing degradation
Diction of swords:
Spur: Attached to a riders horse and used to encourage it. Going against the horse’s will
Dull revenge: metaphor of revenge as a blade. As Hamlet’s is dull it is ineffective (demonstrated by his inaction)
Hyperion to a satyr
Context: Hamlet is comparing Claudius to Old Hamlet after celebrations of marriage between Gertrude and Claudius.
Allusion to Greek God Hyperion: A sun-god, the virtuous Hyperion was considered the source of all life and light. Deification of his father. . Gods are all-powerful and immortal (Hamlet’s loyalty remains even after his death).
Allusion to satyr- a companion of the god Dionysus - God of wine/partying/revelry. Satyr is a half-man half-goat and is believed to live a life of licentiousness (impure, lewd behaviour) Stating Claudius is a subhuman/inhuman creature. Biblical reference: Goats are associated with the devil.
Hamlet is loyal to/deifies his father to the detriment of all others
Thy commandment all alone shall live within the book and volume of my brain
Hamlet responding to Ghost
Commandment: religious allusion (Elizabethans). A commandment is a divine rule which must be strictly followed. Hamlet is bound to revenge.
Book and volume of my brain: linguistic ambiguity of volume. Volume as in part of a book series (re-emphasising book aspect) but also as in the amount of space revenge will occupy in Hamlet’s mind.
Hamlet being reduced
personification: parasitic suggestions
**good to pair with my thoughts be bloody or nothing worth … this is bore out by Hamlet’s absolution by the end of the play
The biblical allusion to a “commandment” – a divine rule set by God, and thus a rule to be strictly followed – reveals Hamlet’s deification of revenge and willingness to submit himself and ensure its completion. Elizabethan audiences, who lived in a society defined by Christianity, would appreciate the true extent to which Hamlet’s consideration of revenge now extends, and the way in which he is bound to fulfill it. Further, the personification of revenge holds parasitic connotations. Through the suggestion that revenge “[lives]” in Hamlet’s “brain”, Shakespeare casts it as the catalyst for Hamlet’s mental degradation, and audiences can understand that Hamlet will be literally eaten from the inside out by each thought that feeds this parasite and allows it to grow.
Exposing what is mortal and unsure
To all that fortune, death, and danger dare,
Even for an eggshell.
Context: Hamlet’s final soliloquy as he is watching Fortinbras and his army march to Poland, where they will go to war over a worthless piece of land. Hamlet exalts Fortinbras revealing degradation. Self-castigation for inaction. Shades his earlier inaction more positively.
mortal and unsure: body, his person (Prince, Great Chain of Being). In Elizabethan era, Kings no longer ran in front line of a battle, knew value of a monarch and didn’t want them to be killed in battle. Body of the King is sacred. Rendering vulnerable the body of royalty shows perspective is warped. Dangerous choice and not the best for the nation. Showing caution/willingness to protect is good. Not NOBLE. Warped perspective.
Metaphor of an eggshell: Eggshell is refuse, hollow or pyrrhic victory
Egg is of import, of nourishment, nutrients, and sustains life,
My father’s brother, but no more like my father than I to Hercules
Context: Hamlet is comparing Claudius to Old Hamlet after celebrations of marriage between Gertrude and Claudius.
Allusion to Hercules: God of strength and heroes. In the Elizabethan era, Hercules was the embodiment of the male ideal. Hamlet’s deification and worship of his father leads him to condemn all others, and criticise his own masculinity (excoriate alleged femininity).
as a woodcock to mine own springe, Osric.
I am justly killed with mine own treachery.
Context: Laertes’ dying acknowledgement spoken to Osric when he is stabbed with his own poisoned rapier. In this moment, Laertes knows that his death is certain.
Symbol of a woodcock: a small gamebird often caught using snares in the Elizabethan era. Casts Laertes as the victim of circumstance, as woodcocks are merely game to hunters. Woodcocks are bred to be hunted, renowned for their vulnerability and lack of awareness. As an animal they hold a low position within the great chain of being.
Springe: trap used to catch woodcocks
Justly killed: justice/retribution, natural justice
Double possessive of mine/own: Laertes’ role in his own death, his death is a fair punishment for his actions
Bow, stubborn knees, and heart with strings of steel,
Be soft as sinews of the newborn babe!
Context: Claudius is trying to pray after Hamlet’s play which re-enacted Old Hamlet’s murder
Personification of knees: refusing to bow into prayer. Claudius’ body is working against him to ensure he cannot pray, forcing him to face consequences of regicide
Metaphor of strings of steel: Claudius literally has a ‘heart of stone’
Simile of sinews of a newborn: babies are inherently innocent, untainted. Effective juxtaposition to Claudius, a hard-hearted murdered whose own body won’t allow him to repent - the epitome of moral corruption. Moral fault in deception
I have heard of your paintings too, well
enough. God hath given you one face and you make yourselves another
Context: During an angry tirade against Ophelia, Hamlet blames his madness on women, particularly on what he sees as women’s habit of disguising themselves with make-up and feminine behaviour.
Paintings: Metaphor of prostitution, prostitutes in Elizabethans had to use thick, paint-like makeup in order to cover their diseased faces
God: Ophelia disobeying God
Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words
Context: After talking to actors of the play he will put on. Expression of his guilt at not taking revenge yet.
Simile of a whore: In the Elizabethan era female prostitutes were heavily criticised and looked down upon
Unpack my chest: chest as in chaste treasure chest? Chest is where the heart is located. central organ. Connotations of heart: intrinsic to life, associations with feelings of love. Portrays Hamlet’s sentiments as those of true concern for his mother
Hamlet excoriates his alleged femininity as he speaks his true feelings instead of taking action as a man would
