Hamlet Key Quotes Flashcards
(23 cards)
“Oh that this too solid flesh would melt, thaw & resolve itself into dew”
Hamlets first soliloquy, we learn he is truly unhappy, the first time he admits contemplating suicide. A metaphor for how he wishes to no longer be alive, and for his physical self to “melt” into the earth.
“Frailty thy name is woman”
Hamlet is angry at his mother for being disloyal & weak by agreeing to marry Claudius, his anger is not just aimed at his mother, but at all women. Foreshadows how he is frequently let down by women for betraying him. Hamlet believes women personify “frailty” a weakness of body & mind, a typically misogynistic attitude of the period.
“By indirection, find directions out”
Polonius reveals his cunning & sly character by instructing a spy (Reynaldo) to find out information about his son in a devious manner. Polonius’ paradoxical character reveals he is an underhand, deceitful character who would rather manipulatively sneak around to find information he needs than be direct.
“Excellent well, you are a fishmonger”
Hamlet is pretending to be mad implying he doesn’t know Polonius & assuming he is a lowly ‘fishmonger’. Polonius is made out to be not only a figure of fun, but in using his daughter in this way, he is also highlighting his corrupt & deceitful side. Links to his Claudius will use Ophelia as bait to find out about hamlet “I’ll loose my daughter to him” in order to follow the chaos of trust & betrayal.
“Now might I do it, but now he is a-praying”
Hamlet considers killing Claudius but changes his mind when he sees him praying. He justifies this change if heart, explaining that if he kills Claudius in prayer then his soul will go to heaven, but the audience wonder if this is just another one of hamlets inactions. Dramatic irony where he quickly changes his mind.
“Thou turns my eyes into my very soul”
Gertrude had been told of Claudius’ crimes and realised her own sins in trusting & marrying him. Hamlet has forced Gertrude to metaphorically look inwards & reflect on her actions since the death of OKH.
“O, from this time forth, my thoughts be bloody or nothing worth”
Hamlet vows to take action against Claudius, frustrated with himself for not having yet taken revenge, he promises to think of nothing else from now on. The use of noun ‘thoughts’ instead of ‘actions’ continues to reinforce how he is permanently stuck in a state of inaction. The adjective ‘bloody’ reminds us of his rash actions when he murdered Polonius. He is capable of acting violently on impulse which may foreshadow things to come.
“I cannot choose but weep to think they would lay him in the cold ground”
Ophelia is grieving for her father, she is finally able to speak freely in her madness & without worry of dishonouring herself or her family. Her language is passive as she declares she will do nothing “but weep”
“I will, my lord. I pray you pardon me”
Gertrude defies Claudius expectations to not drink the wine & declares herself for hamlet. It’s unclear if she knows she is drinking poison. It could indicate her finally defying her husband & chooing to support her son, if she knows the cup is poisoned, however, she is also seeking redemption for her own role in the tragedy by deliberately taking her own life in order to save Hamlet’s. Her formal language “my lord” & “pardon me” suggest despite knowing the truth about Claudius, she is still bound by conventions of her role as queen & a wife/woman.
“A little more than kin, and less than kind”
Shows Hamlet’s dissatisfaction with Claudius. Appearance v. Reality. Shows he us of his blood.
“Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, Hamlet, To give these mourning duties to your father”.
Claudius looking down on Hamlet pitying his sorrow
“O, most wicked speed, to post with such dexterity to incestuous sheets”
Links to Oedipus complex. And physco-analytical obsession with sex.
“Show me the steep & thorny way to heaven”
Hamlet wants to live a happy life to heaven but has to face the battle with Claudius.
“I could be bounded in a nutshell & count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that u gave bad dreams”
Prison is physcological in a nutshell. Shows hamlet as an over-thinker. Links to Nutshell by Ian McEwan.
“The plays the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king”
Rhyming couplet proving his desire to prove that Claudius is guilty.
“Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind”
She doesn’t treasure his ‘gifts’ thinking he is unkind to her. Misconception
“You would play upon me” (..) “I am easier to be play’s on than a pipe? Call me what instrument what you will, though you can fret me, yet you cannot play upon me”
Themes if trust & betrayal, deception, and the main theme of the ‘play within the play’
Thinks he has been manipulated by Rosencrantz & Guildestern; feels betrayed.
“My stronger defeats my strong intent”
His guilt defeats his intentions. Links to corruption within the play, he is too guilty to even prayer.
“My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. Words without thoughts never to heaven go”.
Couldn’t pray so Hamlet could’ve killed him. Idea of dramatic irony.
“A bloody deed! - almost as bad, good mother, as kill a king & marry with his brother”
Inverts it onto his mother blames her for the consequences.
“This is I, Hamlet the Dane.”
Accepts his own identity, ruler of Denmark. Shows this pivotal shift as he learns to accept responsibility.
“There’s divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will.”
Fate: metaphor for cutting wood. Idea he has left it to fate now
“There is a special providence in the fall of sparrow. If it be not now, ‘it’s not to come, if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come.”
Idea to not defy fate. Everything is controlled by God.
