Choose a quote from Act IV or V and reflect on its importance to the rest of the text, how it develops character, or what continuing theme it is an example of.
Act4Sc.5 Gentlemen "Her Speech is nothing Yet the unshaped use of it doth move The hearers to collection." This is when the Gentleman is talking about Ophelia. He is explaining to the Queen and King what is going on with Ophelia. Wow they do believe that she is Crazy because she is just reciting words with no meaning whatsoever. She is also singing songs to kind of explain what's going on. This helps shape Ophelia's new Character because it explains how she is going crazy and not making any sense at all.
Hamlet: "Compounded it with dust, whereto 'tis kin" (Act 4, Scene 2, Line 6)
Hamlet is speaking with Rosencrantz about Polonius' death. Rosencrantz asks what Hamlet did with the body and Hamlet explains that Polonius' body is now dust. This reference to dust is similar to Hamlet's discussion with Rosencrantz in Act 2, Scene 2. Hamlet says that humans are the "quintessence of dust" (Line 332). These two quotes support Hamlet's view that humans are created from dust and will eventually return to dust after their death. The location of Polonius' dead body holds no significance because it will eventually turn to dust anyways.
"He keeps them like (an ape) an apple in the corner of his jaw, first mouthed, to be last swallowed. When he needs what you have gleaned, it is but squeezing you, and, sponge, you shall be dry again." Act IV Sc. 2 17-21
In this text Hamlet is talking to Guildenstern and Rosencrantz about how King Claudius treats people. Hamlet refers to him as an ape, and states that he uses men only to gather infromation that will better himself. Hamlet also refers to both Guildenstern and Rosencrantz as sponges because they do whatever the king tells them to do, soak up the information, and then let the king drain (or squeeze) all of the information out of them so that they are all dried up again. This makes Claudius look like a bad king and makes Guildenstern and Rosencrantz seem unintelligent.
"The body is with the king, but the king is not with the body. The king is the thing-" Hamlet Act 4 Scene 2
I think that this quote is probably a pun or maybe has some hidden meaning. I think it means that the King still views the dead person as a thing, but to the dead person the King will not exist. Also Hamlet may have been using two different "Kings" as in King Hamlet and King Cladius. He could have been saying The body is with my father Old King Hamlet because he also with the dead. But then the King is not with the body because King Cladius is not there, he has not died and is not with the body..
Hamlet: "In heaven. Send thither to see. If your messenger find him not there, seek him i' th' other place yourself. But if, indeed, you find him not within this month, you shall nose him as you go up the stairs into the lobby." Act 4 Scene 3 Lines 37-41 This is when Hamlet the king asks Hamlet where Polonious is. Hamlet is basically telling king Claudius that he can go to hell. Throughout the story Hamlet has disliked Claudius very much, and has not tried to hide this fact. The fact that Hamlet tells Claudius to go to hell is not only emphasizing the fact that Hamlet wants Claudius dead, but also the fact that Hamlet knows what king Claudius has done, and that he deserves to go to hell for the sins he has committed.
"One woe doth tread upon another's heel, so fast they follow. Your sister's drowned, Laertes." Queen Act 4 scene 7 ln 187-188
This quote is basically saying that when one sadness comes, it follows closely behind another sadness. This reflects one of the central themes that problems don't come in a single form but them come in a group. This can be seen through the fact that first King Hamlet was murdered, then Hamlet went crazy, Polonius was killed, Ophelia went crazy, and finally Ophelia drowned.
Laertes: "How came he dead? I;ll not be juggled with. To hell allegiance! Vows, to the blackets devil! Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit! That both the world I give to negligence, Let come what comes, only I'll be revenged most throughly for my father." This quote shows the contrast between heaven and hell and how Laertes want to have revenge for his fathers death, much like Hamlet. It is interesting to see all of the characters evolove throughout the entire play. Hamlet and Ophelia go crazy, and Hamlet and Laerties want to revenge their fathers death. You see many of the characters mirror the actions Hamlet takes as if Shakespear wanted his characters to evolve into the main character.
"To his good friends thus wide I'll ope my arms And, like the kind life-rend'ring pelican, Repast them with my blood" Act 4 Scene 5
In this quote Laertes is talking about opening his arms to that the people can have all of him and he will put them first before himself. Much like the pelican who pecks her own chest to feed her babies. This is also a symbol of Jesus because Jesus sacrificed himself for others and said my body will be bread and wine will be my blood.
"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."
--Act 4, Scene 4 Hamlet talking to himself
Hamlet speaks to himself after meeting with Fortinbras. Fortinbras had told him his men were preparing for battle over land that wasn't worth anything nor protected by Poland. Hamlet does not understand why Fortinbras would risk the lives of his men over nothing. He says that to be truly great doesn't mean that you'd only fight for a good reason. It means that you'd fight over nothing if you honor was at stake. He means that Fortinbras isn't fighting for honor, but rather to fight becasue he wants too. This confuses Hamlet, and even angers him.
King- "Follow her close; give her good watch, I pray you. O, this is the poison of deep grief. It springs All from her father's death, and now behold! O Gertrude, Gertrude, When sorrows come, they come not single spies, But in battalions: first, her father slain; Next, your son gone, and he most violent author Of his own just remove..." Here the King is speaking to Gertrude about the horrible time Ophelia was having after the death of her father preceded by the abusiveness of Hamlet. The bad things come to her all at once, is the point he is trying to make. And this idea not only applies to Ophelia but to the entire kingdom. He feels they are all threatened by Hamlet's actions.
Ophelia: "There's rue for you, and here's some for me; we may call it herb of grace o' Sundays. You (must) wear your rue with a difference. There's a daisy. I would give you some violets, they they withered all when my father died. They say he made a good end."
Ophelia is speaking to Laertes. At this point in the play she is going mad, especially after the death of Polonius. She is upset, and I think she realizes that she has been wrong about Hamlet all along, and now Hamlet has turned into the murderer. I think that her conversation with Laertes is important, because she refers to violets which represent faithfulness, and rue which is a feeling of sorrow or repentance. These go along with the theme of opposites. These lines also remind me from earlier in the play when Hamlet was speaking to her about beauty and being faithful. I think she is feeling guilty now about her secret relationship. She then talks about a daisy, which brings back the idea of laying fresh flowers on the Kings grave earlier in the play. These lines may have an indication Ophelia may commit suicide, and coincidently she drowns later in the play.
Horatio (reading a letter from Hamlet): "Eve we were two days old at sea, a pirate of very warlike appointment gave us chase. Finding ourselves too slow of sail, we put on a compelled valor, and in the grapple I boarded them".
I think that this quote is important to the play, because like so many other scenes and lines themselves, the quote can be interpreted different ways. Above all, the quote is important because it is notifying everyone in the court that Hamlet is alive and well and that soon he will be returning back to the kingdom. One may think that Hamlet was actually just making up the pirate story, and that he paid friends of his to scare of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Or one may think that this was all good timing for Hamlet to be able to return. If indeed he is making up this story, the quote would fall under the central theme of the play, which would be lies and deception, because obviously, he has done both in this letter.
Laertes says this and I found it very interesting that it is the exact opposite of Hamlet and his idea of revenge. Hamlet decieded not to kill Claudius in the church because he wanted to help damn the mans soul by killing him while he was sinning. However, when Laetres seeks revenge for HIS fathers death at the hands of Hamlet he would kill him in the church with a chance that at the time of the happinging Hamlet have a clean soul. This shows that Leartes (although not honorable in wanting to aid his revenge with cheating poison) still has enough sense to kill Hamlet in a way that would have honour and give him a chance for heaven. It shows that one is filled with complete and utter hate while the other simply is seeking justice. Revenge Vs honour.
"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 tow'ring passion" Act 5, Scene 2
This quote is when Hamlet is talking to Horatio, and he beings to realize that he and Laertes do have something in common, and he is finally understanding why Laertes was so angry with him, because they both have lost their fathers. He also realized that he and Laertes have something in common, they live to avenge the death of one's father. This helps develop the understanding of the actions of both Hamlet, and Laertes, and it explains the process of grief that each character goes through.
"Will you ha' the truth on't? If this had not been a gentlewoman, she should have been buried out o' Christian burial." Act V Scene I
This is when the two gravediggers are discussing why Ophelia is given a Christian buriel instead of being thrown to a crossroads and covered in rocks. They are basically saying that since she is a gentlewoman she gets a Christian buriel versus if she was not a gentlewoman she would be thrown to a crossroads. They also talk about how her death cannot be proved as a suicide which is why she is given the Christian buriel.
Act 5 Scene 1 "Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth to dust; the dust is earth; of earthwe made loam; and why of that loam whereto he was converted might they not stop a beer barrel? Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to clay, Might stop a hole to keep the wind away. O, that that earth which kept the world in awe Should patch a wall t' expel the winter's flaw!"
This continues the dust to dust, ashes to ashes biblical theme, the idea that it doesn't matter who you are everyone will become worm food. This passage pushes the idea that Hamlet is a reflection on what life means.
"How all occasions do inform against me and spur my dull revenge. What is a man if his chief good and market of his time be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more, sure he that made us with such large discourse, looking before and after, gave us not that capability and godlike reason to fust in us unused. Now whether it be bestial oblivion or some craven scruple of thinking too precisely on th'event (a thought which, quartered, hath but one part wisdom and ever three parts coward)..." (lines 34 - 46).
Hamlet is venting,l in this quote about how he is incapable of seeking revenge of his father's death on Claudius. With the statement, 'his chief good and market of his time be but to sleep and feed', Hamlet is saying that he must take action. He then states 'looking before and after, gave us not that capability and godlike reason to fust in us unused' with which Hamlet is referring to a person's ability to reminisce and recall events from the past and there is the concept of the future, which is predestined. In a way he's saying, why let my fate go to 'waste' or fust. Later, in line 69 he mentions 'my thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth', or basically Hamlet's saying that if he doesn't take action and get revenge on his father's death, he will be completely worthless and will therefore he will 'fust'.
This is saying that Laertes is going to kill Hamlet in the church, but then he would be doing it right after Hamlet had been forgiven for his sins, which is why Hamlet did not kill the King when he was confessing in the church. Hamlet wants the King to die with out being able to confess his sins, just like his father was killed. This would be the ultimate punishment. Laertes is not really thinking about what will happen, all he wants to do is kill Hamlet, and he doesn't care where. This is different than what Hamlet wants.
ACT 5 Sc. 1 HAMLET "How the knave jowls it ti the ground as if 'twere Cain's jawbone, that did the first murder!"
This quote is yet another reference to Cain and Able. Hamlet is infering that the bodies of all human beings, large or small, great or evil, are essentially destined to the same fate, death and decomposition. No matter whom the body belonged to before the death, their bones are subject to the same fate, from Julius Cesar to Alexander the Great.
"Not a whit. We defy augery. There is 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."
Act 5 sc. 2
This is when Hamlet is talking to Horatio right after Horatio tries to convince Hamlet not to fight Laertes in the fencing match. This "special providence in the fall of a sparrow," quote is a biblical reference to the fact that god watches over everyone and that what will be will be (the outcome of the fight). This is important because it is one of the few examples of when Hamlet actually believes that there is a such thing as fate and that we aren't just born nothing into a nothing world like he says earlier in the book. This shows how his thoughts about life are changing.
"There's a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will—"
-Hamlet, Act V Scene II
I think it's odd that Hamlet says this, as he seemed to have been so against things going well. It almost seems if, even just before the end, he has made his peace with god.
I also find it strange, because he seems to have matured a large amount. In the same respect, he is shown more immature in the later scene where he lets his mother wipe the sweat from his face.
"I tell thee she is. Therefore make her grave straight. The crowner hath sat on her and finds it Christian burial."
Act 5
This quote is said by the grave diggers after Ophelia dies. The first gravedigger doesn't want to bury Ophelia like a Christian would because he thinks that she committed suicide which is considered a sin. So he wants her to be buried as if she died a sinner. However, since she is of the higher class the second gravedigger says she must have a Christian burial because the king commanded that it must be done.
"That skull had a tonge in it and could sing once. How the knave jowls in to the ground as if 'twere Cain's jawbone, that did the first murder! This might be the pate of a politician which this ass now o'erreaches, one that would circumvent God, might it not?" Hamlet Act5sc.1
This quote makes a biblical reference again to Cain and Abel and the first murder,a brother killing a brother. The quote all together is sort of a question directed towards the meaning of life which seems to be a question that Hamlet contunuously ponders. In this scene Hamlet is pointing out that no matter what one was in life, we will all end up the same, as skulls in the ground and retourning to dust.
"My mother. Father and mother is man and wife, man and wife is one flesh, and so, my mother -come, for England." -Hamlet Act 4 sc. 4
Hamlet is saying that a man and wife are of one flesh. A man and wife are the same and are bound together when married. Hamlet uses this to call Claudius a women or his mother to come to England. Hamlet could also be mad because if man and wife are the same flesh and should be bound together then Hamlet has another reason to be mad at his mother. Who she seemed to not care about old Hamlet by getting married again so quickly after his death.
Act5 Sc.2 Hamlet to Horation: "Rashly- And praised be rashness for it: let us well When our deep plots do pall; and that should learn us There's a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hem them how we will-" P259--line6-12
Hamlet is now realizing that there is a God, which means that we are divined with faith and destiny; there is a purpose to life and living. Also, "our end" is determined by the outcome of our actions, but our faith and destiny has determined how we will die, because "Rough-hem them how we will" is that no matter how roughly we shape ourselves, we will end just the way we shall be ended.
Queen: To draw apart the body he hath kill'd: O'er whom his very madness, like some ore Among a mineral of metals base, Shows itself pure; he weeps for what is done. (Act IV Scene I)
Here it is shown that the queen understands the deed that her current husband has committed, and is looking for a way to justify it. She does this by stating that the King weeps for what he has done, and therefore he understands and should be forgiven.
"To his good friends thus wide I'll ope my arms and, like the kind life-rend'ring pelican, repast them with my blood." -Laertes (Act 4, scene 5)
It is legend that the pelican draws blood from their chest to save their babies. When Laertes says this, he means that he will be like a pelican for Polonius' family and friends. This is also a biblical reference to the desciples.
Claudius: Stay, give me drink.-Hamlet, this pearl is thine, heres to thy health.
This quote is a demostration of a theme that continues throughout the text. Claudius is a coniving, cheap person that kill someone like a man, he has to do it in a way he can't lose. In this portion of the scene, Claudius poisons the drink, just like he did to Hamlet's father. This also develops the plot because the drink kills the queen instead. This quote shows again what Claudius really is, a scum scaped off the bottom of the Ocean.
Act. 5 Scene 2 There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. Hamlet
This quote Hamlet is speaking about his final realization and acceptance of fate that one day everyone is going to die and a time will come. In the bible section Mathew refers to the fall of a sparrow the sign of fate. And in this quote Hamlet realizes that fate is going to come at some point and he will face it openly now rather than with a closed heart.
Hamlet: "(Compounded) it with dust, whereto 'tis kin."
Rosencrantz is asking Hamlet where Polonuis' dead body is so they can bring it to the chapel. Hamlet says there is no need to take Polonius' body to the chapel because it will become dust no matter where the body is. This is another refrence to the creation of man and that we are all "quintessence of dust."
Act 5 Scene 1 "Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth to dust; the dust is earth; of earth we make loam; and why of that loam whereto he was converted might they not stop a beer barrel? Imperious Caeser, dead and turned to clay..."
This speech by Hamlet shows once again the biblical theme of man coming from dust and returning to it after death. The quote makes a depressing statement that Man and the soil in which he grows his food are one in the same. He says that no matter how far you come in life, we all end up in the same place after death. Alexander was ruler of the entire known world when he died, and now he is an insignificant pile of dust, a truly disheartening thought that shows the depth and depravity of Hamlet's depression.
"There's a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will-" Act V, Scene II
Hamlet says this quote and is saying that he finally believes that there is a greater being. This is important because this is the first time that Hamlet shows he believes in a greater power. The reasons that he now has changed his mind could be one of many things and I think it is an important question to explore.
"Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to clay, Might stop a hole to keep the wind away. O, that that earth which kept the world in awe Should patch a wall t' expel the winter's flaw." Act 5 Sc 1 Hamlet. In this quote Hamlet is reflecting on how even the mightiest of rulers is reduced to nothing more than dust which can be used as clay, when they die. He knows that everyone is reduced down to nothing more than a patch for a wall or a bung in a barrel. He is lamenting that everyone is so soon forgotten and so easily disrespected. He knows that his father is already forgotten by his mother and it pains him to see the dead treated like this by a lowly grave digger.
Act4 Scene5 King:When sorrows come, they come not as single spies but as battalions.
This is when the king is talking to Ophelia. He is saying that when bad things happen it is usually more than one thing bad that happens. In this case Ophelia has had her dad die, and her dad killed. This leads way to more bad things that could happen later in the play.
"When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in Batallions"
Act four Scene five
In this quote the king is speaking of multiple deaths. The king explains that death does not come by itself, but with many deaths following. This means that death, sadness, sorrow and such dreadful things have a way of sickly multiplying. This is a powerful quote that foreshadows the many sorrows and deaths in the last scenes of the play.
Hamlet: "My mother. Father and mother is man and wife, man and wife is one flesh..." Act 4 Scene 3
This passage is a biblical reference. God created Eve from Adam, and the the thought was when they were married, husband and wife they would be become one flesh again. This bond would hold them together forever. However, in the context of this passage Hamlet is using this as an "insult." King Claudius tells Hamlet he is going to England and Hamlet responds by saying "farewell, dear mother." Claudius strikes back saying I am you loving father, but Hamlet uses this biblical reference to tell Claudius that since he married Ophelia they have become one, so he is also Hamlet's mother. This is an example of the continuing theme of biblical references Shakesphere makes.
Act 5 Scene 2 "I sat me down and wrote a new commission, wrote it fair-" This is the scene where Hamlet is telling of how he wrote a new commission, that stated who ever reads this should be "put to sudden death". Hamlet has turned against Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He knows that the origanal commission said somthing about him and he also knows that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern knew as well. This is Hamlet's almost revenge to them. They were not true frieinds to him and have betrayed him so therefore he has betrayed them back.
37 comments:
Act4Sc.5
Gentlemen "Her Speech is nothing Yet the unshaped use of it doth move The hearers to collection."
This is when the Gentleman is talking about Ophelia. He is explaining to the Queen and King what is going on with Ophelia. Wow they do believe that she is Crazy because she is just reciting words with no meaning whatsoever. She is also singing songs to kind of explain what's going on.
This helps shape Ophelia's new Character because it explains how she is going crazy and not making any sense at all.
Hamlet: "Compounded it with dust, whereto 'tis kin"
(Act 4, Scene 2, Line 6)
Hamlet is speaking with Rosencrantz about Polonius' death. Rosencrantz asks what Hamlet did with the body and Hamlet explains that Polonius' body is now dust. This reference to dust is similar to Hamlet's discussion with Rosencrantz in Act 2, Scene 2. Hamlet says that humans are the "quintessence of dust" (Line 332). These two quotes support Hamlet's view that humans are created from dust and will eventually return to dust after their death. The location of Polonius' dead body holds no significance because it will eventually turn to dust anyways.
"He keeps them like (an ape) an apple in the corner of his jaw, first mouthed, to be last swallowed. When he needs what you have gleaned, it is but squeezing you, and, sponge, you shall be dry again." Act IV Sc. 2 17-21
In this text Hamlet is talking to Guildenstern and Rosencrantz about how King Claudius treats people. Hamlet refers to him as an ape, and states that he uses men only to gather infromation that will better himself. Hamlet also refers to both Guildenstern and Rosencrantz as sponges because they do whatever the king tells them to do, soak up the information, and then let the king drain (or squeeze) all of the information out of them so that they are all dried up again. This makes Claudius look like a bad king and makes Guildenstern and Rosencrantz seem unintelligent.
"The body is with the king, but the king is not with the body. The king is the thing-"
Hamlet Act 4 Scene 2
I think that this quote is probably a pun or maybe has some hidden meaning. I think it means that the King still views the dead person as a thing, but to the dead person the King will not exist. Also Hamlet may have been using two different "Kings" as in King Hamlet and King Cladius. He could have been saying The body is with my father Old King Hamlet because he also with the dead. But then the King is not with the body because King Cladius is not there, he has not died and is not with the body..
Hamlet: "In heaven. Send thither to see. If your messenger find him not there, seek him i' th' other place yourself. But if, indeed, you find him not within this month, you shall nose him as you go up the stairs into the lobby." Act 4 Scene 3 Lines 37-41
This is when Hamlet the king asks Hamlet where Polonious is. Hamlet is basically telling king Claudius that he can go to hell. Throughout the story Hamlet has disliked Claudius very much, and has not tried to hide this fact. The fact that Hamlet tells Claudius to go to hell is not only emphasizing the fact that Hamlet wants Claudius dead, but also the fact that Hamlet knows what king Claudius has done, and that he deserves to go to hell for the sins he has committed.
"One woe doth tread upon another's heel, so fast they follow. Your sister's drowned, Laertes." Queen Act 4 scene 7 ln 187-188
This quote is basically saying that when one sadness comes, it follows closely behind another sadness. This reflects one of the central themes that problems don't come in a single form but them come in a group. This can be seen through the fact that first King Hamlet was murdered, then Hamlet went crazy, Polonius was killed, Ophelia went crazy, and finally Ophelia drowned.
Laertes: "How came he dead? I;ll not be juggled with. To hell allegiance! Vows, to the blackets devil! Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit! That both the world I give to negligence, Let come what comes, only I'll be revenged most throughly for my father."
This quote shows the contrast between heaven and hell and how Laertes want to have revenge for his fathers death, much like Hamlet. It is interesting to see all of the characters evolove throughout the entire play. Hamlet and Ophelia go crazy, and Hamlet and Laerties want to revenge their fathers death. You see many of the characters mirror the actions Hamlet takes as if Shakespear wanted his characters to evolve into the main character.
"To his good friends thus wide I'll ope my arms And, like the kind life-rend'ring pelican, Repast them with my blood" Act 4 Scene 5
In this quote Laertes is talking about opening his arms to that the people can have all of him and he will put them first before himself. Much like the pelican who pecks her own chest to feed her babies. This is also a symbol of Jesus because Jesus sacrificed himself for others and said my body will be bread and wine will be my blood.
"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."
--Act 4, Scene 4
Hamlet talking to himself
Hamlet speaks to himself after meeting with Fortinbras. Fortinbras had told him his men were preparing for battle over land that wasn't worth anything nor protected by Poland. Hamlet does not understand why Fortinbras would risk the lives of his men over nothing. He says that to be truly great doesn't mean that you'd only fight for a good reason. It means that you'd fight over nothing if you honor was at stake. He means that Fortinbras isn't fighting for honor, but rather to fight becasue he wants too. This confuses Hamlet, and even angers him.
Act 4 Sc. 5
King- "Follow her close; give her good watch, I pray you. O, this is the poison of deep grief. It springs All from her father's death, and now behold!
O Gertrude, Gertrude, When sorrows come, they come not single spies, But in battalions: first, her father slain; Next, your son gone, and he most violent author Of his own just remove..."
Here the King is speaking to Gertrude about the horrible time Ophelia was having after the death of her father preceded by the abusiveness of Hamlet. The bad things come to her all at once, is the point he is trying to make. And this idea not only applies to Ophelia but to the entire kingdom. He feels they are all threatened by Hamlet's actions.
Ophelia: "There's rue for you, and here's some for me; we may call it herb of grace o' Sundays. You (must) wear your rue with a difference. There's a daisy. I would give you some violets, they they withered all when my father died. They say he made a good end."
Ophelia is speaking to Laertes. At this point in the play she is going mad, especially after the death of Polonius. She is upset, and I think she realizes that she has been wrong about Hamlet all along, and now Hamlet has turned into the murderer. I think that her conversation with Laertes is important, because she refers to violets which represent faithfulness, and rue which is a feeling of sorrow or repentance. These go along with the theme of opposites. These lines also remind me from earlier in the play when Hamlet was speaking to her about beauty and being faithful. I think she is feeling guilty now about her secret relationship. She then talks about a daisy, which brings back the idea of laying fresh flowers on the Kings grave earlier in the play. These lines may have an indication Ophelia may commit suicide, and coincidently she drowns later in the play.
Act4Sc.6
Horatio (reading a letter from Hamlet): "Eve we were two days old at sea, a pirate of very warlike appointment gave us chase. Finding ourselves too slow of sail, we put on a compelled valor, and in the grapple I boarded them".
I think that this quote is important to the play, because like so many other scenes and lines themselves, the quote can be interpreted different ways. Above all, the quote is important because it is notifying everyone in the court that Hamlet is alive and well and that soon he will be returning back to the kingdom. One may think that Hamlet was actually just making up the pirate story, and that he paid friends of his to scare of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Or one may think that this was all good timing for Hamlet to be able to return. If indeed he is making up this story, the quote would fall under the central theme of the play, which would be lies and deception, because obviously, he has done both in this letter.
"To cut his throat i' th' church" Act 4 Sc. 7
Laertes says this and I found it very interesting that it is the exact opposite of Hamlet and his idea of revenge. Hamlet decieded not to kill Claudius in the church because he wanted to help damn the mans soul by killing him while he was sinning. However, when Laetres seeks revenge for HIS fathers death at the hands of Hamlet he would kill him in the church with a chance that at the time of the happinging Hamlet have a clean soul. This shows that Leartes (although not honorable in wanting to aid his revenge with cheating poison) still has enough sense to kill Hamlet in a way that would have honour and give him a chance for heaven. It shows that one is filled with complete and utter hate while the other simply is seeking justice. Revenge Vs honour.
"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 tow'ring passion"
Act 5, Scene 2
This quote is when Hamlet is talking to Horatio, and he beings to realize that he and Laertes do have something in common, and he is finally understanding why Laertes was so angry with him, because they both have lost their fathers. He also realized that he and Laertes have something in common, they live to avenge the death of one's father. This helps develop the understanding of the actions of both Hamlet, and Laertes, and it explains the process of grief that each character goes through.
"Will you ha' the truth on't? If this had not been
a gentlewoman, she should have been buried out o'
Christian burial." Act V Scene I
This is when the two gravediggers are discussing why Ophelia is given a Christian buriel instead of being thrown to a crossroads and covered in rocks. They are basically saying that since she is a gentlewoman she gets a Christian buriel versus if she was not a gentlewoman she would be thrown to a crossroads. They also talk about how her death cannot be proved as a suicide which is why she is given the Christian buriel.
Act 5 Scene 1
"Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth to dust; the dust is earth; of earthwe made loam; and why of that loam whereto he was converted might they not stop a beer barrel? Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to clay, Might stop a hole to keep the wind away. O, that that earth which kept the world in awe Should patch a wall t' expel the winter's flaw!"
This continues the dust to dust, ashes to ashes biblical theme, the idea that it doesn't matter who you are everyone will become worm food. This passage pushes the idea that Hamlet is a reflection on what life means.
"How all occasions do inform against me and spur my dull revenge. What is a man if his chief good and market of his time be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more, sure he that made us with such large discourse, looking before and after, gave us not that capability and godlike reason to fust in us unused. Now whether it be bestial oblivion or some craven scruple of thinking too precisely on th'event (a thought which, quartered, hath but one part wisdom and ever three parts coward)..." (lines 34 - 46).
Hamlet is venting,l in this quote about how he is incapable of seeking revenge of his father's death on Claudius. With the statement, 'his chief good and market of his time be but to sleep and feed', Hamlet is saying that he must take action. He then states 'looking before and after, gave us not that capability and godlike reason to fust in us unused' with which Hamlet is referring to a person's ability to reminisce and recall events from the past and there is the concept of the future, which is predestined. In a way he's saying, why let my fate go to 'waste' or fust. Later, in line 69 he mentions 'my thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth', or basically Hamlet's saying that if he doesn't take action and get revenge on his father's death, he will be completely worthless and will therefore he will 'fust'.
Molly Riegel
"To cut his throat i' th' church" Laertes Act 4 Sc. 7
This is saying that Laertes is going to kill Hamlet in the church, but then he would be doing it right after Hamlet had been forgiven for his sins, which is why Hamlet did not kill the King when he was confessing in the church. Hamlet wants the King to die with out being able to confess his sins, just like his father was killed. This would be the ultimate punishment. Laertes is not really thinking about what will happen, all he wants to do is kill Hamlet, and he doesn't care where. This is different than what Hamlet wants.
ACT 5 Sc. 1
HAMLET "How the knave jowls it ti the ground as if 'twere Cain's jawbone, that did the first murder!"
This quote is yet another reference to Cain and Able. Hamlet is infering that the bodies of all human beings, large or small, great or evil, are essentially destined to the same fate, death and decomposition. No matter whom the body belonged to before the death, their bones are subject to the same fate, from Julius Cesar to Alexander the Great.
"Not a whit. We defy augery. There is 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."
Act 5 sc. 2
This is when Hamlet is talking to Horatio right after Horatio tries to convince Hamlet not to fight Laertes in the fencing match. This "special providence in the fall of a sparrow," quote is a biblical reference to the fact that god watches over everyone and that what will be will be (the outcome of the fight). This is important because it is one of the few examples of when Hamlet actually believes that there is a such thing as fate and that we aren't just born nothing into a nothing world like he says earlier in the book. This shows how his thoughts about life are changing.
"There's a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will—"
-Hamlet, Act V Scene II
I think it's odd that Hamlet says this, as he seemed to have been so against things going well. It almost seems if, even just before the end, he has made his peace with god.
I also find it strange, because he seems to have matured a large amount. In the same respect, he is shown more immature in the later scene where he lets his mother wipe the sweat from his face.
"I tell thee she is. Therefore make her grave straight. The crowner hath sat on her and finds it Christian burial."
Act 5
This quote is said by the grave diggers after Ophelia dies. The first gravedigger doesn't want to bury Ophelia like a Christian would because he thinks that she committed suicide which is considered a sin. So he wants her to be buried as if she died a sinner. However, since she is of the higher class the second gravedigger says she must have a Christian burial because the king commanded that it must be done.
"That skull had a tonge in it and could sing once. How the knave jowls in to the ground as if 'twere Cain's jawbone, that did the first murder! This might be the pate of a politician which this ass now o'erreaches, one that would circumvent God, might it not?" Hamlet Act5sc.1
This quote makes a biblical reference again to Cain and Abel and the first murder,a brother killing a brother. The quote all together is sort of a question directed towards the meaning of life which seems to be a question that Hamlet contunuously ponders. In this scene Hamlet is pointing out that no matter what one was in life, we will all end up the same, as skulls in the ground and retourning to dust.
"My mother. Father and mother is man and wife, man and wife is one flesh, and so, my mother -come, for England."
-Hamlet Act 4 sc. 4
Hamlet is saying that a man and wife are of one flesh. A man and wife are the same and are bound together when married. Hamlet uses this to call Claudius a women or his mother to come to England. Hamlet could also be mad because if man and wife are the same flesh and should be bound together then Hamlet has another reason to be mad at his mother. Who she seemed to not care about old Hamlet by getting married again so quickly after his death.
Act5 Sc.2
Hamlet to Horation:
"Rashly- And praised be rashness for it: let us well When our deep plots do pall; and that should learn us
There's a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hem them how we will-" P259--line6-12
Hamlet is now realizing that there is a God, which means that we are divined with faith and destiny; there is a purpose to life and living. Also, "our end" is determined by the outcome of our actions, but our faith and destiny has determined how we will die, because "Rough-hem them how we will" is that no matter how roughly we shape ourselves, we will end just the way we shall be ended.
~~Mea Pen~~
Queen: To draw apart the body he hath kill'd:
O'er whom his very madness, like some ore
Among a mineral of metals base,
Shows itself pure; he weeps for what is done. (Act IV Scene I)
Here it is shown that the queen understands the deed that her current husband has committed, and is looking for a way to justify it. She does this by stating that the King weeps for what he has done, and therefore he understands and should be forgiven.
"To his good friends thus wide I'll ope my arms and, like the kind life-rend'ring pelican, repast them with my blood."
-Laertes (Act 4, scene 5)
It is legend that the pelican draws blood from their chest to save their babies. When Laertes says this, he means that he will be like a pelican for Polonius' family and friends. This is also a biblical reference to the desciples.
Act 5 Scene 2
Claudius: Stay, give me drink.-Hamlet, this pearl is thine, heres to thy health.
This quote is a demostration of a theme that continues throughout the text. Claudius is a coniving, cheap person that kill someone like a man, he has to do it in a way he can't lose. In this portion of the scene, Claudius poisons the drink, just like he did to Hamlet's father. This also develops the plot because the drink kills the queen instead. This quote shows again what Claudius really is, a scum scaped off the bottom of the Ocean.
Act. 5 Scene 2
There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow.
Hamlet
This quote Hamlet is speaking about his final realization and acceptance of fate that one day everyone is going to die and a time will come. In the bible section Mathew refers to the fall of a sparrow the sign of fate. And in this quote Hamlet realizes that fate is going to come at some point and he will face it openly now rather than with a closed heart.
Hamlet: "(Compounded) it with dust, whereto 'tis kin."
Rosencrantz is asking Hamlet where Polonuis' dead body is so they can bring it to the chapel. Hamlet says there is no need to take Polonius' body to the chapel because it will become dust no matter where the body is. This is another refrence to the creation of man and that we are all "quintessence of dust."
Act 5 Scene 1
"Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth to dust; the dust is earth; of earth we make loam; and why of that loam whereto he was converted might they not stop a beer barrel? Imperious Caeser, dead and turned to clay..."
This speech by Hamlet shows once again the biblical theme of man coming from dust and returning to it after death. The quote makes a depressing statement that Man and the soil in which he grows his food are one in the same. He says that no matter how far you come in life, we all end up in the same place after death. Alexander was ruler of the entire known world when he died, and now he is an insignificant pile of dust, a truly disheartening thought that shows the depth and depravity of Hamlet's depression.
"There's a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will-" Act V, Scene II
Hamlet says this quote and is saying that he finally believes that there is a greater being. This is important because this is the first time that Hamlet shows he believes in a greater power. The reasons that he now has changed his mind could be one of many things and I think it is an important question to explore.
"Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to clay, Might stop a hole to keep the wind away. O, that that earth which kept the world in awe Should patch a wall t' expel the winter's flaw."
Act 5 Sc 1 Hamlet.
In this quote Hamlet is reflecting on how even the mightiest of rulers is reduced to nothing more than dust which can be used as clay, when they die. He knows that everyone is reduced down to nothing more than a patch for a wall or a bung in a barrel. He is lamenting that everyone is so soon forgotten and so easily disrespected. He knows that his father is already forgotten by his mother and it pains him to see the dead treated like this by a lowly grave digger.
Act4 Scene5
King:When sorrows come, they come not as single spies but as battalions.
This is when the king is talking to Ophelia. He is saying that when bad things happen it is usually more than one thing bad that happens. In this case Ophelia has had her dad die, and her dad killed. This leads way to more bad things that could happen later in the play.
"When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in Batallions"
Act four Scene five
In this quote the king is speaking of multiple deaths. The king explains that death does not come by itself, but with many deaths following. This means that death, sadness, sorrow and such dreadful things have a way of sickly multiplying. This is a powerful quote that foreshadows the many sorrows and deaths in the last scenes of the play.
Hamlet: "My mother. Father and mother is man and wife, man and wife is one flesh..."
Act 4 Scene 3
This passage is a biblical reference. God created Eve from Adam, and the the thought was when they were married, husband and wife they would be become one flesh again. This bond would hold them together forever. However, in the context of this passage Hamlet is using this as an "insult." King Claudius tells Hamlet he is going to England and Hamlet responds by saying "farewell, dear mother." Claudius strikes back saying I am you loving father, but Hamlet uses this biblical reference to tell Claudius that since he married Ophelia they have become one, so he is also Hamlet's mother. This is an example of the continuing theme of biblical references Shakesphere makes.
Act 5 Scene 2
"I sat me down and wrote a new commission, wrote it fair-"
This is the scene where Hamlet is telling of how he wrote a new commission, that stated who ever reads this should be "put to sudden death". Hamlet has turned against Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. He knows that the origanal commission said somthing about him and he also knows that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern knew as well. This is Hamlet's almost revenge to them. They were not true frieinds to him and have betrayed him so therefore he has betrayed them back.
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