Hamlet Quotes

OP

Yeh thats all good, OK, my memories a bit rubbish but heres what i can think of at the mo:

"Oh that this too too sullied flesh might melt" -start of a soliloquy where H expresses sadness @ his position, preference for death over living even.

"Do you doubt it?" Ophelias first line, possibly affectionate rhetorical question, but alternatively Laertes swift moving on to the topic of Hamlet portrays his preoccupation with his own matters and intentions on leaving and lack of real interest in what Ophelia has to say. Also, that her first line is a question, a response to Laertes, rather than a statement of her own, reflects how throughout the play she is merely reacting to others actions, Shakespeare is conveying how her position as a woman gives her little ability to be anything other than passive.

"Not so my Lord; I am too much in the sun." Is this Hamlets first line...no that is said aside, but this line is his first said aloud to the court and it reflects his lack of power in the court, Shakespeare conveys Hamlets intelligence through his clever use of wordplay, his sadness in his choice of words, his inability to expres his true feelings in such an environment due to the repressed nature of his implication...

"together with remembrance of ourselves" throughout Claudius first speech he moves swiftly from condolences for the dead king to his own plans, advances and gains, in this way Shakespeare immediately makes Claudius gains in his new position, and potential motives for murder of the previous king, apparent and gives him a suspicious cxharacter in that he is not more sympathetic to Hamlet's sadness.

"Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice" Shakespeare immediately conveys Polonius hypocritical tendencies and sets him up as a foolish character, keen to advise but lacking true understanding of his advice in that he himself does not follow it.

"my lord" Ophelia consistantly addresses Polonius with this phrase, conveying her obedience to him, her dependance on him and her own lack of power. With each repetition the audience are aware of a sense of repression in that she has no freedom to act as she may choose.

"I know not what i should think" Ophelia here is asking what she should think, conveying that while she does have thoughts she does not know what thoughts would be appropriate according to Polonius and the Court and almost asking to be told what to think, what to do...

"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so" Shakespeare conveys Hamlets frustration a his own inaction aswell as his awareness that thinking is not helping him to resolve the issue. - I can't remember exactly where this quotes from though, need to find out to figure out its relevance...

"My words fly up, my thoughts remain below;
Words without thoughts never to heaven go" Shakespeare conveys the predicament Claudius is caught in, he cannot repent so he is aware he will go to hell...his regret that this is his end is shown in his thoughts and a more vulnerable side to claudius is exposed.

"Theres a divinity that shapes out ends" Hamlet seems to resign himself to fate at the end of the play...placing his trust in God
"There's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow...Let be."

"The rest is silence." Shakespeare is either showing how there is no need for Hamlet to say anymore and has found peace, in which case the end of the play is resolved, or else there is a sense that Hamlet has given up in meeting his end, that his battle with conscience, morality and justice has merely resulted in death and loss...not sure how to justify this second idea better.

Anyway, i'm trying to learn more and i'll post them soon as i think of them without looking them up, can anyone help with quote analysis/ ideas/ more quotes?

Reply 3

OP

Ooo, glitz, my Best friends off to Lincoln to do Law...with criminology i think :smile:

Reply 4

here are the quotes i learnt when i took the exam in january:

Hamlet:
We are arrant knaves all
Rose of the fair state
Free from all contriving
Hamlet the Dane
I shall win at the odds
Punish me with this, and this with me (talking about Polonius’ death to Gertrude)
Wounded name

Claudius:
Dear mother
You are the most immediate to our throne
With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage
Smiling, damned villain
Painted word (describing his own guilt)
Pray can I not
Slander…may miss our name (Polonius’ death)
I must commune with your grief
I will work him to an exploit
He is justly served (Laertes)

Gertrude:
Imperial jointress
Thrift, thrift
Thou hast thy father much offended
What have I done?
I will not speak with her
Follow my mother
Black and grained spots (in my soul)
What shall I do?
But not by him
Let me wipe thy face

Ophelia:
Chaste treasure
Pretty lady (Claudius)
Her speech is nothing
Great folk should have countenance…more than their even-Christian
I do not know my lord what I should think
I never gave you aught / you know right well you did
How should I your true love know
Let in the maid, that out a maid, never departed more
I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died

Women:
Frailty, thy name is woman
Such a gain-giving as would perhaps trouble a woman
Like a whore, unpack my heart with words
Get thee to a nunnery
What monsters you make of them (women are responsible for men’s inadequacies)
Do you think I meant country matters? / I think nothing my lord
‘Tis brief / As woman’s love
With a larger tether may he walk
The woman will out

Fathers:
If thou didst ever thy dear father love
Hyperion to a satyr
To thine own self be true
Put on him what forgeries you please (Polonius to Reynaldo)
I would not...have you so slander any moment leisure
I’ll loose my daughter to him

Love:
Incestuous sheets
O’erhasty
At your age the hey-day in the blood is tame
I could not but by her (Claudius about Gertrude)
Gertrude do not drink
I did love you once
Before you tumbled me, you promised me to wed
Eat a crocodile? I’ll do’t (Hamlet professing his love)
In the middle of her favours

Appearance vs Reality:
Seems madam?
Seeming-virtuous
Assume a virtue if you have it not
This is the very ecstasy of love (Polonius about Hamlet’s madness)
The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King
Deliberate pause (sending Hamlet away must seem)
So much was our love
It well appears (Laertes on Hamlet’s guilt of killing Polonius)

Death:
Freeze thy young blood
With all my imperfections on my head
‘Tis common (Gertrude describes death)
Let her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must come
A sea of troubles
To be, or not to be
Canon ‘gainst self-slaughter
Custom hath made it in him a property of easiness
My gorge rises at it
The undiscovered country
But ‘tis not so above (Claudius acknowledges he can’t deceive heaven)
The rest is silence
No man knows aught of what he leaves
Outlive his life half a year (memory may)
A king may go a progress through the guts of a beggar

Madness:
Antic disposition
Who does it then? His madness
This is mere madness (Gertrude describing Hamlet’s exaggerated professions of love)
Marvellous distempered / With drink? (Guildenstern talking about Claudius)
Crafty madness (Guildenstern about Hamlet)
Madness in great ones must not unwatched go
Not your trespass, but my madness speaks
Lawless fit
Toy (Gertrude describes Ophelia’s madness)
This nothing’s more than matter (Laertes describes Ophelia’s madness)
The poison of deep grief (Claudius about Ophelia’s madness)
Incapable of her own distress

Corruption:
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark (Marcellus)
The stamp on one defect (Hamlet)
The whole ear of Denmark is…rankly abused
It is a massy wheel (Rosencrantz)
He has my dying voice
With sorrow I embrace my fortune

Reply 5

OP

Thankyou, that is really helpful.

Reply 6

no prob. when's the hamlet exam then? if there's anything you want to ask me, feel free because im a bit of a hamlet expert now lol

Reply 7

OP

I have tonnes of Hamlet questions, i keep getting stuck in essays because i think of Hamlet questions. In my most recent essay...still need to finish:
essay about the ending, whether it was successful and resolved the play or confusing and unsatifactory...I've talked about how everyones deaths in the final scene each seem to resolve an individual plot or subplot but the deaths of Polonius and then of Ophelia do not seem particularly resolved except that Hamlet dies...then how Laertes death seems deserved and how his fast desire for vengeance is shown as a contrast to Hamlets hesitation, and how because fortinbras was as a result manipulated to follow Claudius whim, Hamlets delay is made to seem wiser. Yet there is satisfaction in the ending as Fortinbras does avenge his fathers death on the right person...I suppose Polonius death is needed to make the ending seem more satisfactory in that respect.
Anyway, i'm going to tie it off with a conclusion along the lines of the imperfection of the ending reflects Hamlets humanity and mistakes aswell as the imperfection of life and makes the play easier to relate to or something...but overall i found the essay a bit of a muddle, particularly with why polonius and ophelia died, and i wondered if you coul;d help at all with this? Do you have an opinion as to why they died..or am i reading too much into it? Any help is so appreciated, thankyou :smile:

Exams 19th June but i still need to write a decent essay to time without the novel for reference...fingers crossed i'll get there.

Reply 8

oh man, hamlet seems so long ago already. i guess opehlia dies to heighten the sense that the play is a tragedy; she seems to be the only genuinely 'good' character in the play but she still dies, and in a slightly ambiguous manner.

polonius' death is used as a plot device because it gives an incentive for laertes to seek his revenge against hamlet. mind you, there are only my opinion so really, you can read into their deaths however you want.

what was the essay title? perhaps i could bullet-point some points i would make and then you could see what you'd missed out

Reply 9

OP

The ending of the play: "successful and resolves the play" or "confusing and unsatifactory". But what you've said already is enough, thats the conclusion i weas steering towards but i jjust wondered if there was more to it i guess. It took me surprisingly long to actually get to thgis conclusion with this essay but i'm hoping its because i'm just understanding the play and it won't take me this long again...thanks for your help :smile:

I know what you mean about it being so long ago, I can't remember anything i learnt for january exams anymore...

Reply 10

hippygirljess

diamonds_glitter_trauma_tears

here are the quotes i learnt when i took the exam in january:

Hamlet:
We are arrant knaves all
Rose of the fair state
Free from all contriving
Hamlet the Dane
I shall win at the odds
Punish me with this, and this with me (talking about Polonius’ death to Gertrude)
Wounded name

Claudius:
Dear mother
You are the most immediate to our throne
With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage
Smiling, damned villain
Painted word (describing his own guilt)
Pray can I not
Slander…may miss our name (Polonius’ death)
I must commune with your grief
I will work him to an exploit
He is justly served (Laertes)

Gertrude:
Imperial jointress
Thrift, thrift
Thou hast thy father much offended
What have I done?
I will not speak with her
Follow my mother
Black and grained spots (in my soul)
What shall I do?
But not by him
Let me wipe thy face

Ophelia:
Chaste treasure
Pretty lady (Claudius)
Her speech is nothing
Great folk should have countenance…more than their even-Christian
I do not know my lord what I should think
I never gave you aught / you know right well you did
How should I your true love know
Let in the maid, that out a maid, never departed more
I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died

Women:
Frailty, thy name is woman
Such a gain-giving as would perhaps trouble a woman
Like a whore, unpack my heart with words
Get thee to a nunnery
What monsters you make of them (women are responsible for men’s inadequacies)
Do you think I meant country matters? / I think nothing my lord
‘Tis brief / As woman’s love
With a larger tether may he walk
The woman will out

Fathers:
If thou didst ever thy dear father love
Hyperion to a satyr
To thine own self be true
Put on him what forgeries you please (Polonius to Reynaldo)
I would not...have you so slander any moment leisure
I’ll loose my daughter to him

Love:
Incestuous sheets
O’erhasty
At your age the hey-day in the blood is tame
I could not but by her (Claudius about Gertrude)
Gertrude do not drink
I did love you once
Before you tumbled me, you promised me to wed
Eat a crocodile? I’ll do’t (Hamlet professing his love)
In the middle of her favours

Appearance vs Reality:
Seems madam?
Seeming-virtuous
Assume a virtue if you have it not
This is the very ecstasy of love (Polonius about Hamlet’s madness)
The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King
Deliberate pause (sending Hamlet away must seem)
So much was our love
It well appears (Laertes on Hamlet’s guilt of killing Polonius)

Death:
Freeze thy young blood
With all my imperfections on my head
‘Tis common (Gertrude describes death)
Let her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must come
A sea of troubles
To be, or not to be
Canon ‘gainst self-slaughter
Custom hath made it in him a property of easiness
My gorge rises at it
The undiscovered country
But ‘tis not so above (Claudius acknowledges he can’t deceive heaven)
The rest is silence
No man knows aught of what he leaves
Outlive his life half a year (memory may)
A king may go a progress through the guts of a beggar

Madness:
Antic disposition
Who does it then? His madness
This is mere madness (Gertrude describing Hamlet’s exaggerated professions of love)
Marvellous distempered / With drink? (Guildenstern talking about Claudius)
Crafty madness (Guildenstern about Hamlet)
Madness in great ones must not unwatched go
Not your trespass, but my madness speaks
Lawless fit
Toy (Gertrude describes Ophelia’s madness)
This nothing’s more than matter (Laertes describes Ophelia’s madness)
The poison of deep grief (Claudius about Ophelia’s madness)
Incapable of her own distress

Corruption:
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark (Marcellus)
The stamp on one defect (Hamlet)
The whole ear of Denmark is…rankly abused
It is a massy wheel (Rosencrantz)
He has my dying voice
With sorrow I embrace my fortune

This seems like a fantastic list of quotes. Just out of interest, what did u get in the exam knowing these?
Thanks!
Jess x

Reply 11

Ann.

ChocolateCherry

overall i found the essay a bit of a muddle, particularly with why polonius and ophelia died, and i wondered if you coul;d help at all with this? Do you have an opinion as to why they died..or am i reading too much into it? Any help is so appreciated, thankyou :smile:

Exams 19th June but i still need to write a decent essay to time without the novel for reference...fingers crossed i'll get there.

I agree with the point that Polonius and Ophelia die in order to heighten the sense of the play as a tragedy but I think their deaths also add to the portrayal of their character traits and the repercussions of behaving in this way.

Polonius dies whilst spying on Hamlet behind the curtain. His interfering, self-important and meddling ways bring about his downfall.

There is confusion as to whether Ophelia committed suicide. Even if she did not, she let the river drown her. This could be seen as further evidence of her female passivity. "Like a creature native and endued unto that element". It is only once she is dead that she is valued:
1. Gertrude says that she had wanted her for a daughter in law
2. Hamlet and Laertes have a vain contest, each professing that they loved her more.
Shakespeare could be commenting again on how women are passive and taken for granted.
Alternatively, if Ophelia purposefully committed suicide this would have been her only 'action' within the play. It could be argued that her social situation within the court forced her to take this action and that as a female born into a man's world she was doomed from the start. Also, the fact that she had the 'courage' to commit suicide contrasts with Hamlet's own inability... "fixed his canon against self slaughter". He wanted to take his own life many times but his propensity to think as opposed to act and to be caught up in moral dilemas disallowed him to end his own life. In this way, the character of Ophelia could be seen to act as a foil or a comparative device to show up Hamlet's character further.

Reply 12

hippygirljess

This seems like a fantastic list of quotes. Just out of interest, what did u get in the exam knowing these?
Thanks!
Jess x

i did blake as well for this exam and got 90/90 :biggrin:

. if anyone needs any help on blake, just ask because i absolutely LOVE blake. it was favourite text out of all those iv studied

Reply 13

Kidders

15

Why are all you people trying to learn quotes? It is totally unnecessary... You get given the extracts and comment upon those.. why don't you just familiarise yuorself with what will be asked, not quotes that aren't really relevant.

PS. If you are not doing AQA lit and lang exam and are reffering to another exam then i'm sorry what you are doing may be needed for that

Reply 14

OP

Kidders

Why are all you people trying to learn quotes? It is totally unnecessary... You get given the extracts and comment upon those.. why don't you just familiarise yuorself with what will be asked, not quotes that aren't really relevant.

PS. If you are not doing AQA lit and lang exam and are reffering to another exam then i'm sorry what you are doing may be needed for that

OK, even if you do the extract question you still need to refer to the wider text with quotes to back up your points to get all of the marks. I didn't realise you were given an extract (am doing aqa). Nonetheless i get the strong impression it is important to know quotes from the whole play. Also, the quotes i'm learning are ones that can be applied to many different questions as they reflect on key characters/themes throughout the play. I'm sorry if that is entirely wrong but i'm pretty sure you have to know quotes.

Reply 15

OP

sorry, quotations. Thanks for all your help ann. what you've said is really helpful.

Reply 16

Kidders

15

I still think we may be reffering to differnt exams as the one i am sitting we are give two extracts to write about.. I am talking about the AQA Lit AND lang combined exam... i have a feeling you guys may be on about the Lit exam?

Reply 17

Mccarroll

im doing lit and my teacher said its neccessary to have quotes but not that many. the examiners wont expect u to learn loads, she sed u can an A with only 5 quotes used.

Reply 18