English a level - act 3 hamlet

quotes and summaries of scenes

quote from the king describing Hamlet’s madness to R&G in a3s1

“turbulent and dangerous lunacy”

1 quote from Claudius about deception/playing from a3s1

“the harlot’s cheek, beautied with plast’ring art”

BIG 5 line long quote that opens Hamlet’s a3s1 soliloquy

“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 to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them. To die, to sleep, no more”

3 quotes from Hamlet’s a3s1 soliloquy other than his big opening sentence

“the whips and scorns of time”

“thus conscience does make cowards of us all”

“the native hue of resolution is sickled o’er with the pale cast of thought… and lose the name of action”

3 quotes showing Hamlet describing Ophelia as impure in a3s1

“get thee to a nunnery, why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?”

“be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow”

“marry a fool for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them”

how does Ophelia respond to Hamlet’s madness and aggressive accusations against her in a3s1?

“O heavenly powers, restore him!”

quote that shows Hamlet’s madness may be caused by the loss of all his friends, including Ophelia, from a3s1

“it [thinking on Ophelia’s deception] hath made me mad”

quote from the King showing he plans to watch Hamlet and feels threatened by him at the end of a3s1

“madness in great ones must not unwatched go”

2 quotes showing metatheatre as Hamlet coaches the players in a3s2

“as ‘twere [theatre] the mirror up to nature; to show virtue her own feature”

“this overdone, or come tardy off, though it makes the unskilful laugh cannot make the judicious grieve”

how does Hamlet describe Horatio in a3s2

“a just man”

1 quote showing the influence of passion on behaviour in a3s2 as Hamlet speaks to Horatio

“[man is] passion’s slave”

2 key quotes from Hamlet’s talking to Ophelia before the play

“do you think i meant country matters?”

“then let the devil wear black, for i’ll have a suit of sables” (either means a very grand suit, or some critics interpret it as “sabell” which means flame-coloured)

what word does the player queen repeat 5 times in the play to highlight Gertrude’s sexual immorality in a3s2

“love”

rhyming couplet said by the player queen to highlight Gertrude’s familial betrayal in a3s2

“a second time I kill my husband dead, when second husband kisses me in bed”

quote from Gertrude reacting to the play in a3s2

“the lady doth protest too much, methinks”

quote from Hamlet in a3s2 about his sense of self

“my wit’s diseased”

2 quotes that show Hamlet is hurt by R&G’s betrayal as he confronts them in a3s2

“how unworthy a thing you make of me”

“do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe?”

quote from Hamlet’s a3s2 soliloquy showing his plan to talk to his mother

“i will speak daggers to her, but use none”

quote from Claudius’ conversation with R&G in A3S3 showing his fear of Hamlet’s actions

“we will fetters put upon this fear which now goes too free-footed”

4 quotes from Claudius’ a3s3 soliloquy showing his guilt

“o my offence is rank, it smells to heaven”

“my stronger guilt defeats my strong intent”

“brother’s blood, is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens to wash it white as snow?”

“Help, angels, make assay”

quote from Claudius’ soliloquy suggesting he is not that guilty in a3s3

“my crown, mine own ambition, and my queen. may one be pardoned and retain th’ offence?”

3 key quotes from Hamlet’s a3s3 soliloquy after he finds out Claudius’ is definitely guilty

“and so he goes to heaven; and so I am revenged”

“when he is drunk asleep, or in his rage, or in the incestuous pleasure of his bed”

“then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven”

2 quotes said by Hamlet about his deed of killing Polonius a3s4

“a bloody deed, almost as bad, good mother, as kill a king, and marry with his brother”

“thou wretched rash, intruding fool, farewell”

2 quotes from Hamlet about his mother’s immorality, delivered in a long lecture to her in a3s4

“oh shame, where is thy blush?”

“in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed”

how does Gertrude respond to Hamlet’s long lecture in a3s4? give 2 quotes

“these words, like daggers, enter in mine ears”

“if words be made of breath and breath of life, I have no life to breath”

quote showing Hamlet realising Gertrude cannot see the ghost in a3s4

“do you see nothing there?”

2 quotes about madness/corrupt behaviour said by Hamlet in a3s4

“it will but skin and film the ulcerous place, while rank corruption mining all within”

“I essentially am not in madness, but mad in craft”

how does Hamlet describe R&G in a3s4

“adders fanged”

what role do the audience assume in a3s3

an interlocutor for Claudius