English - Hamlet Quotes

“This bodes some strange eruption to our state.”

• said by Horatio in reference to the ghost of the dead king

• ghost is an omen of chaos

• kings are aligned with divine power, so killing a king would lead to turmoil

  • figurative turmoil - nature is revolting

  • literal turmoil - the people are kingless and preparing for war

• allusion to the religion/science of the time period

“A little more than kin, and less than kind.”

• said by Hamlet in reference to his Uncle, Claudius

• he is now more than just his uncle, he is his stepfather, but he is insincere

“You are the most immediate to our throne, and with no less nobility of love that that which dearest father bears his son do I impart you.”

• said by King Claudius

• tries to console Hamlet, and appear fatherly

“O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, thaw and resolve itself into a dew!”

• said by Hamlet (first soliloquy)

• he is contemplating suicide bc he is upset over his father’s death and that his mother remarried so quickly (he thinks she only wanted to have sex with her brother-in-law)

“Thrift, thrift, Horatio!  The funeral bak’d meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables.”

• said by Hamlet to Horatio

• exaggeration - same food that was used for the funeral was used for their marriage

“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”

• said by Marcellus to Horatio

• refers to the corruption in Denmark

• foreshadows the downfall of Denmark

“The serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown.”

• said by the ghost

• reveals to Hamlet that his uncle killed his father to become king

“But, howsoever thou pursuest this act, taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive against thy mother aught.”

• said by the ghost to Hamlet

• warns him not to seek revenge on his mother

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

• said by Hamlet to Horatio

• after seeing the ghost Hamlet states that there is more to life than we can explain

“The time is out of joint.  Oh, cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right.”

• said by Hamlet

• recognizes that things are corrupt and decides to try and seek revenge

“No, my good lord, but, as you did command, I did repel his letters and denied his access to me.”

• said by Ophelia to her father

• she follows the advice of her father to not contact Hamlet because he thinks that Hamlet is just using her

“I doubt it is no other than the main; his father’s death and our o’erhasty marriage.”

• said by Gertrude to Claudius

• after hearing Polonius’ theory for why Hamlet is acting crazy, she reveals that she thinks he is acting crazy not because of Ophelia, but because of their marriage

“Doubt thou the stars are fire; doubt that the sun doth move; doubt truth to be a liar; but never doubt I love.”

• said by Polonius who is reading a letter from Hamlet to Ophelia

• the letter depicts Hamlet’s love for Ophelia, contrasting it with science that did not seem real at the time

“I have of late - but wherefore I know not - lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory …”

• said by Hamlet to his friends Guildenstern and Rosencrantz

• explains that he feels sad without giving away why

• parallels science and faith with his bubble bursting from the truth about his family

“When she saw Pyrrhus make malicious sport in mincing her husband’s limbs, the instant burst of clamor that she made, unless things mortal move them not at all, would have made milch the burning eyes of heaven and passion in the gods.”

• said by the first player

• even the player begins to tear up while performing Queen Hecuba’s line

• emphasizes that Gertrude should have grieved the Hamlet’s father’s death more

“O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!”

• said by Hamlet (second soliloquy)

• marvels that the actor had an emotional connection to Hecuba without living it

• feels bad that even though his father was murdered he is not taking action

“The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King.”

• said by Hamlet

• he will look for Claudius’ reaction to the play to decide whether or not the ghost was being truthful and he should really seek revenge

“To be, or not to be:  that is the question.

• said by Hamlet (third soliloquy)

• he is contemplating suicide, but recognizes that even though his life is bad, what happens after he commits suicide could be worse

“Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind.”

• said by Ophelia to Hamlet

• she tries to return his gifts because he is acting crazy now

• this is when Polonius and Claudius are spying on them

“There’s something in his soul o’er which his melancholy sits on brood, and I do doubt the hatch and the disclose will be some danger.”

• said by Ophelia to Claudius and Polonius

• Ophelia believes that Hamlet doesn’t love her anymore

• Ophelia thinks that Hamlet hasn’t randomly gone crazy, he is acting crazy out of sadness and he will not reveal why

“It shall be so.  Madness in great ones must not unwatch’d go.”

• said by Claudius

• saying that Hamlet’s madness is dangerous to him and the state

“Give me that man that is not passion’s slave, and I will wear him in my heart’s core, aye, in my hear of heart, as I do thee.”

• said by Hamlet 

• in admiration of Horatio and his ability to think based on reason and logic rather than emotion

• context: Hamlet is asking Horatio to watch Claudius’s reaction to the play because Hamlet thinks his emotions will affect his interpretation of his reaction

“I do believe you think what now you speak, but what we do determine oft we break.”

• said by king in the Murder of Gonzago

• he says that even though her believes that the queen means what she said, she may change her mind later

“Both here and hence pursue me lasting strife, if, once a widow, ever I be a wife!”

• said by one of the actresses

• vowing that if her husband dies she would never marry again

• Hamlet is looking to make his mother feel guilty

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

• said by Hamlet’s mother, the queen, in response to the actresses’ vow

• she thinks the queen in the play is overreacting

“You shall see anon; ‘tis a knavish piece of work; but what o’ that?  your majesty, and we that have free souls, it touches us not.”

• said by Hamlet to king Claudius during the play 

• “knavish piece of work” = deceitful act 

• Hamel saying an insulting comment to Caludius which will not provoke a response from fools too stupid to understand the insult

“I’ll take the ghost’s word for a thousand pound.”

• said by Hamlet to Horatio

• Hamlet fully believes what the ghost said after seeing Claudius’s reaction to the play (running out of the theater)

“O, my offense is rank, it smells to heaven; it hath the primal eldest curse upon ‘t, a brother’s murder.”

• said by Claudius 

• biblical allusion (Claudius compares himself to Cain)

  • God places a curse on Cain for killing his brother Abel, just as Claudius killed his brother Hamlet

“Oh, what a rash and bloody deed is this!”

• said by the Queen to Hamlet

• she is referring to Hamlet killing Polonius without thinking through his actions

“Nothing but to show you how a king may go a progress through the guts of a beggar.”

• said by Hamlet to Claudius

• Hamlet is acting crazy, but his words highlight the idea that once we are dead, nobility is of no use

“And, England, if my love thou hold’st at aught - as my great power thereof may give thee sense, since yet thy cicatrice looks raw and red after the Danish sword, and thy free awe pays homage to us - thou mayst not coldy set our sovereign process; which imports in full …. the present death of Hamlet.”

• said by Claudius

• because Denmark let England march through them, he says that England can repay them taking Hamlet to England and killing him

“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.”

• said by Norway’s captain to Hamlet (and Rosencrantz/Guidenstern)

• The land that Fortinbras is sending a large army to is actually not valuable

“To hell, allegiance!  vows, to the blackest devil!  Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit! I dare damnation!” 

• said by Laertes towards king/queen

• said when he storms the castle wanting to be king 

• wants revenge for his father’s death

• contrast’s Hamlet’s inaction

“O heat, dry up my brain! tears seven times salt, burn out the sense and virtue of mine eye!” 

• said by Laertes in reaction to seeing Ophelia gone mad 

• reacts in horror, he wishes that his tears would make him blind

• wants revenge for Ophelia’s madness

“So you shall; and where th’ offense is let the great axe fall.”

• said by Claudius to Laertes

• Claudius agrees to Laerte’s desire for revenge and justice for his father

• Claudius says the person responsible for the crime will face the ultimate penalty

• axe metaphor for fast and final judgement about the execution of punishment towards Hamlet

“But let him come; it warms the very sickness in my heart, that I shall live and tell him to his teeth, ‘Thus diest though.’”

• Laertes to King Claudius

• When Claudius and Laertes get Hamlet’s letter saying he is returning 

• Laertes is saying he will feel very happy to confront Hamlet and get revenge

• This line leads to C and L plotting Hamlet’s death

“Hamlet comes back: what would you undertake, to show yourself your father’s son indeed more than in words?”

• said by Claudius to Laertes

• asking Laertes how strong is his loyalty and love towards his late father 

• Laertes responds by saying his loyalty and desire for revenge is so strong that he would be willing to cut Hamlet’s throat in the church

“To cut his throat i’ the church.” 

• said by Laertes to Claudius

• shows Laerte’s desire for revenge against hamlet (prove to claudius that he is serious about the plan)

• Laertes would be willing to cut Hamlet’s throat in the church

“Why, here in Denmark:  I have been sexton here, man and boy, thirty years.” 

• said by the Gravedigger to Hamlet in response to Hamlet’s question about the mad prince

• the line reveals that Hamlet is 30 years old, definitely old enough to become king (because gravedigger has been working for 30 years and he started working the day Fortinbras was killed)

“Alas, poor Yorick!  I knew him, Horatio …”

• Said by Hamlet during graveyard speech

• speaking fondly of his jester when he was a young kid 

• Yorick, Alexander, Caesar all eventually become dust after dying, and will be used for things like beer barrels or holes

“I am justly kill’d with mine own treachery.”

• Laertes, to the court after he is wounded by Hamlet using the poisoned foil

• Laertes had the idea to tamper with the foils and kill Hamlet but he died instead (from his own meddling)

“The rest is silence.”

• Hamlet’s final words

• multiple meanings: acceptance of his death OR his task is complete and his struggles are over OR the unknown nature of death and the afterlife can only be described as silence