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Hamlet
Quotations
As you reread and review, reflect in particular upon the following speeches. Record your
answers either in the space provided or on a separate sheet. Be certain your answers are
thorough, since they may be corrected.
Act II
1.
Ophelia:
Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other;
And with a look so piteous in purport
As if he had been loosed out of hell
To speak of horrors, he comes before me.
(II, 1, 81)
What do Ophelia and Polonious (to whom she delivers this speech) think about Hamlet's
behavior? Polonious, in particular, has a theory. What is it? What effect does this speech have
upon the audience? (Remember, we haven't actually SEEN any of this odd conduct)?
2.
Claudius:
Thanks Rosencrantz, and gentle Guildenstern.
Gertrude:
Thanks Guildenstern, and gentle Rosencrantz.
(II, 2, 33)
The king has probably mistaken Rosencrantz for Guildenstern and been corrected by Gertrude.
Or perhaps it's the other way around. Or perhaps neither Claudius nor Gertrude is too certain of
which man is which. What is the effect of this confusion? What do the king and queen want R
and G to do?
3.
Gertrude:
I doubt it is no other but the main;
His father's death, and our o'erhasty marriage.
(II, 2, 56)
What does Gertrude believe is the cause for Hamlet's strange behavior? What does this tell us
about her character?
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4.
Polonius:
Mad let us grant him, then; and now remains
That we find out the cause of this effect,
Or rather say, the cause of this defect,
For this effect defective comes by cause;
(II, 2, 100)
Gertrude has already asked Polonius to stop rambling and get to the point. Why doesn't he do
so? What do we learn about the "advisor"? Compare him to a White House "spin doctor."
5.
Polonius:
Though this be madness, yet there is method in 'it.
(II, 2, 206)
What have Hamlet and Polonius been discussing just prior to this remark? Why does the
audience laugh (or at least smile) at Polonius's comment?
6/
Hamlet:
...this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile
promontory; this most excellent canopy, the air, look you, this
brave o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden
fire, why, it appears no other thing to me but a foul and pestilent
congregation of vapors.
(II, 2, 302)
To whom does Hamlet deliver this speech? Why isn't it in blank verse? What is the effect of
this speech upon the groundlings (who may see the stage as a "promontory" and the painted
"heavens" of the theatre as a "canopy")?
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7.
Hamlet:
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What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! How infinite
in faculty! in form, in moving, how express and admirable! in action how
like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world!
the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?
man delights not me,,,
(II, 2, 307)
How does Hamlet deliver this speech? What is his tone? What is his primary "point"? What
does he think about the characters he is speaking to?
8.
Hamlet:
O! what a rogue and peasant slave am I;
Is it not monstrous that this player here,
But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,
Could force his soul so to his own conceit
That from her working all his visage wann'd,
Tears in his eyes, distraction in 's aspect,
A broken voice, and his whole function suiting
With forms to his conceit? and all for nothing?
For Hecuba!
What's Hecuba to him or he to Hecuba
That he should weep for her?
(II, 2, 553)
What has Hamlet just witnessed? In comparing himself to the person playing Hecuba, what
"reproach" is he making of himself?
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9.
Hamlet:
I'll have these players
Play something like the murder of my father
Before mine uncle; I'll observe his looks;
I'll tent him to the quick: if he but blench
I know my course.
(II, 2, 599)
Is the theatre this powerful? How about the movies? If a criminal sees a movie in which a crime
similar to his own is portrayed, will he feel guilty and remorseful? Or will he react in some other
way?
10.
Hamlet:
The play's the thing
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king.
(II, 2, 609)
Why is this "strategy" so convenient for Shakespeare?
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Act III
11.
Claudius:
How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience!
The harlot's cheek, beautied with plastering art,
Is not more ugly to the thing that helps it
Than is my deed to my most painted word:
O heavy burden!
(III, 1, 50)
Comment upon Claudius' character. What has silly old Polonius just said? What effect do
Polonius' words have on Claudius? How does this speech add to the complexity of his
personality? What point is Claudius making via metaphor? (Say it in prosaic English). How is
Claudius's mental state "appropriate" for Hamlet's plan?
12.
Hamlet:
To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?
(III, 1, 56)
Undoubtedly the most famous lines in the English language. Hamlet thinks he is alone, but he
isn't. Who else is present? What is "odd" or "unusual" about the first line of this speech? What
are "slings". How can one "take arms" against a "sea"?
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13.
Hamlet:
To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause.
(III, 1, 64)
Hamlet very wisely uses parallel structure! Parallel with what? What does Hamlet worry about
in this section of the soliloquy? In the lines "For....pause", what is the subject? What is the
verb? Try to rearrange the syntax so that you have a more prosaic, but perhaps more intelligible
sentence.
14.
Hamlet:
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.
(III, 1, 83)
What is Hamlet's central metaphor? What is compared to what? What point does Hamlet make?
It is often considered the most important theme of this play. Can you remember any other lines
where Hamlet makes a similar point?
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15.
Hamlet:
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Get thee to a nunnery, go; farewell. Or, if thou wilt needs marry,
marry a fool; for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of
them. To a nunnery, go; and quickly too. Farewell...
(III, 1, 138)
What has Ophelia brought to give back to Hamlet (just a few lines earlier)? What tone has
Hamlet adopted? Why does Hamlet believe that the best place for the beautiful Ophelia is a
nunnery? What happens to beautiful women in the "world"? When Hamlet speaks of
"monsters," he means "men with horns" or--cuckolds. If you don't know what a cuckold is, look
up the word. What observations about men and women is Hamlet making? Is he thinking
ONLY of Ophelia? Who is observing all of this scene, hidden behing the arras? (Does Hamlet
know or suspect?)
16.
Ophelia:
O! what a noble mind is here o'erthrown:
The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's, eye, tongue, sword;
The expectancy and rose of the fair state,
The glass of fashion and the mould of form,
The observ'd of all observers, quite, quite down!
(III, 1, 153)
To whom does Ophelia address these lines? Why doesn't Ophelia react with bitterness or anger
to Hamlet's insulting tongue-lashing? What is she feeling? What has she just done?
16.
Claudius:
Love! his affections do not that way tend;
Nor what he spake, though it lack'd form a little,
Was not like madness. There's something in his soul
O'er which his melancholy sits on brood;
(III, 1, 165)
What is Claudius beginning to suspect? What does this speech tell us about Claudius's
character?
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17.
Hamlet:
Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the
tongue; but if you mouth it, as many of your players do, I had as lief the
town-crier spoke my lines.
(III, 2, 1)
To whom is Hamlet speaking? What makes Hamlet such an expert on theatre? In what way is
he, too, an actor--a player in a "show"?
18.
Hamlet:
Give me that man
That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him
In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of heart,
As I do thee.
(III, 2, 72)
Hamlet is speaking to Horatio. With whom is Hamlet comparing Horatio? These words are in
fact a kind of profession of love. How does the audience react to the knowledge that Hamlet
genuinely and deeply loves his friend? A few lines later, what does Hamlet reveal to Horatio?
19.
Hamlet:
O heavens! die two months ago, and not forgotten yet?
Then there's hope a great man's memory may outlive his life
half a year;
(III, 2, 133)
To whom is Hamlet speaking? What is his tone? What subtle accusation is he making to the
person he is speaking to?
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20.
Gertrude:
The lady doth protest too much methinks.
(III, 2, 234)
What is Gertrude reacting to here? Why have her words become famous? What do they reveal
about Gertrude? What do we mean nowadays when we say "she doth protest too much".
21.
Hamlet:
'Sblood, do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe?
Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you
cannot play upon me.
(III, 2, 374)
To whom is Hamlet speaking? What is the double meaning of the verb "fret"? What is Hamlet
revealing about his attitude towards his interlocutor(s)?
22.
Hamlet:
'Tis now the very witching time of night,
When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out
Contagion to this world: now could I drink hot blood,
And do such bitter business as the day
Would quake to look on.
(III, 2, 393)
Comment upon the poetry. Comment upon the imagery. Comment upon Hamlet's frame of
mind.
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23.
Claudius:
O! my offence is rank, it smells to heaven;
It hath the primal eldest curse upon 't;
A brother's murder! Pray can I not,
Though inclination be as sharp as will:
My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent;
And like a man to double business bound,
I stand in pause where I shall first begin,
And both neglect.
(III, 3, 37)
Claudius makes a biblical reference? What is it? (the "primal endest curse"). What does the
audience think about Claudius? Does he earn any sympathy?
24.
Hamlet:
Now might I do it pat, now he is praying;
And now I'll do 't: and so he goes to heaven;
And so I am reveng'd. That would be scann'd:
A villain kills my father; and for that,
I, his sole sone, do this same villain send
To heaven.
Why, this is hire and salary, not revenge.
(III, 3, 74)
Where is Hamlet? What is he observing? What is his argument? What is the effect of the
enjambment ("To heaven")--a line all by itself?
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25.
Hamlet:
Ha! have you eyes?
You cannot call it love, for at your age
The hey-day in the blood is tame, it's humble,
And waits upon the judgment; and what judgment
Would step from this to this?
(III, 3, 67)
Hamlet is speaking to Gertrude. What perhaps "false" argument does he make (in which he
reveals the thinking of a child toward a parent)?
26.
Hamlet:
Good night; but go not to mine uncle's bed;
Assume a virtue, if you have it not.
(III, 4, 159)
What is Gertrude's reaction to Hamlet's tongue-lashing? What is she feeling?
27.
Hamlet:
There's letters seal'd; and my two schoolfellows,
Whom I will trust as I will adders fang'd,
They bear the mandate; they must sweep my way,
And marshal me to knavery. Let it work;
For 'tis the sport to have the enginer
Hoist with his own petard: and 't shall go hard
But I will delve one yard below their mines,
And blow them at the moon.
(III, 4, 202)
To have one "hoisted" with his own petard has become a general metaphor for "blowing up"
someone with his own "device" or "plan". What is Hamlet planning here?
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Now, proceed independently (i.e., without “guiding” questions). Write a brief commentary
about each of the following quotations. Indicate to whom the speech is addressed and what its
thematic, literary, stylistic, linguistic, symbolic significance is. You MAY paraphrase the speech
in modern English, but that is NOT ENOUGH. You MUST make a comment about how the
speech matters. Try to get at Shakespeare's ART.
Act IV
Hamlet:
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.
(IV, 3, 22)
Captain:
Truly to speak, and with no addiction,
(Norwegian) We go to gain a little patch of ground
That hath in it no profit but the name.
To pay five ducats, five, I would not farm it;
(IV, 4, 17)
Hamlet:
Rightly to be great
Is not to stir without great argument,
But greatly to find quarrel in a straw
When honor's at the stake.
(IV, 4, 53)
Ophelia:
I hope all will be well. We must be patient:
but I cannot choose but weep, to think they
should lay him i' the cold ground. My brother shall
know of it: and so I thank you for your good counsel.
Come, my coach! Good-night, ladies; good-night
sweet ladies; good-night, good-night.
(IV, 5, 68)
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Ophelia:
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,--For bonny sweet
Robin is all my joy.
(IV, 5, 182)
Gertrude:
There, on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds
Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke,
When down her weedy trophies and herself
Fell in the weeping brook.
(IV, 7, 172)
Act V
Hamlet:
Let me see. Alas! poor Yorick. I knew him,
Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent
fancy; he hath borne me on his back a thousand times;
and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! My
gorge rises at it.
(V, 1, 190)
Hamlet:
To what base uses we may return, Horatio! Why
may not imagination trace the noble dust of
Alexander, till he find it stopping a bung-hole?
(V, 1, 210)
Gertrude:
Sweets to the sweet: farewell!
I hop'd thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife;
I thought thy bride-bed to have deck'd, sweet maid,
And not have strew'd thy grave.
(V, 1, 253)
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Hamlet:
I lov'd Ophelia: forty thousand brothers
Could not, with all their quantity of love,
Make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her?
(V, 1, 279)
Hamlet:
But I am very sorry, good Horatio,
That to Laertes I forgot myself;
For by the image of my cause, I see
The portraiture of his: I'll court his favors:
But, sure, the bravery of his grief did put me
Into a towering passion.
(V, 2, 75)
Hamlet:
Not a whit, we defy augury; there's 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. Since no man has aught of what
he leaves, what is 't to leave betimes?
(V, 2, 221)
Claudius:
Stay; give me drink. Hamlet, this pearl is thine;
Here's to thy health. Give him the cup.
(V, 2, 286)
Laertes:
In thee there is not half an hour of life;
The treacherous instrument is in thy hand,
Unhated and envenom'd. The foul pracgtice
Hath turn'd itself on me; lo! here I lie,
Never to rise again. Thy mother's poison'd
I can no more. The king, the king's to blame.
(V, 2, 319)
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Horatio:
I am more an antique Roman than a Dane:
Here's yet some liquor left.
(V, 2, 345)
Horatio:
Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night sweet prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!
(V, 2, 363)
Fortinbras:
Take up the bodies: such a sight as this
Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss.
Go, bid the soldiers shoot.
(V, 2, 406)
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