Hamlet Key Quotes

"One may smile, and smile, and be a villain"

(1:5 - Hamlet)

AF: juxtaposition (smile vs. villainy); irony; soliloquy

Effect: Hamlet positions Claudius as the archetype of false trust; his smile is a mask for regicide

AP: encouraged to mistrust outward shows of loyalty; resonance of political betrayal - even monarchs cannot be trusted

SC/P/R: critique of ambition within monarchy; anxieties about political succession; Divine Right of Kings/disruption to the natural order (Great Chain of Being)

C: appearance vs reality; distrust; corruption; selfhood; Machiavellianism; deception

"Smiling, damned villain"

(1:5 - Hamlet)

AF: oxymoronic epithet (cordiality vs danger); religious diction ("damned" = eternal damnation)

Effect: frames Claudius not only as a political usurper, but as an immoral figure destined for mortal intellectual judgement and then divine judgement

AP: Claudius' characterisation

SC/P/R: literal interpretation of "damned"; aligns kingship with moral legitimacy

C: hypocrisy; appearance vs reality; corruption; madness

"Frailty, thy name is woman"

(1:2 - Hamlet)

AF: apostrophe (personifies and addresses "frailty" as if it were embodied in women"; generalisation; moral diction ("frailty" = weakness, instability, unreliability)

Effect: frames women as inherently deceptive/unreliable, reinforcing gendered distrust; universal misogyny

AP: resonates with the Elizabethan perception of women as morally weaker

SC/P/R: reflects patriarchal attitudes; distrust in Gertrude destabilises Hamlet's trust in the monarchy itself

C: betrayal; madness; patriarchy

"A breeder of sinners"

(3:1 - Hamlet)

AF: hyperbole (reduces all women to vessels of corruption and sin); paradox (birth)

Effect: asserts that even intimacy breeds corruption; positions Ophelia as a threat to moral order simply by existing as a woman

AP: Ophelia's innocence contrasts Hamlet's cruelty, inviting audience sympathy

SC/P/R: implies original sin is inescapable - to "breed" is to perpetuate corruption; Elizabethan anxieties about women's sexuality as dangerous; weaponises misogyny as a rejection of marriage and reproduction (symbols of dynastic continuity)

C: corruption; existentialism

"God hath given you one face, and you make yourselves another"

(3:1 - Hamlet)

AF: religious diction ("God" as the giver of natural truth); metaphor/accusation (cosmetics as a literal and symbolic mask, creating false appearances); parallelism ("one face... another" = duplicity through structural mirroring)

Effect: reinforces distrust in women's constancy

AP: consistency of Hamlet's paranoia about deception

SC/P/R: condemns vanity and cosmetics as ungodly - artificial beauty = sin; Elizabethan anxieties about women using makeup to entrap men or subvert the natural order

C: trust; appearance vs reality; misogyny/gender roles; deception

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark"

(1:4 - Marcellus)

AF: metaphor ("rotten" implies moral decay, corruption, disease); foreshadowing

Effect: anticipation of the revelation of what is "rotten"

AP: aligned with suspicion of political leadership; establishes atmosphere of paranoia

SC/P/R: reflects Elizabethan concerns over succession, usurpation, and unstable leadership; sin (fratricide, incest) contaminates not just individuals, but entire nations; suggests corruption at the top spreads downward, undermining social trust

C: deception; legitimacy; trust; disorder; corruption

"'Tis an unweeded garden that grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature possess it merely"

(1:2 - Hamlet)

AF: extended metaphor; imagery of decay ("rank and gross" conveys disorder, corruption, moral disease); biblical allusion (Garden of Eden corrupted by sin)

Effect: frames Claudius' rule as unnatural and illegitimate; symbolises corrupted political order; positions audiences to see Denmark as spiritually diseased and in need of divine cleansing

AP: sympathise with Hamlet's sense of betrayal and mistrust

SC/P/R: Edenic imagery ties Claudius' sin to original sin; neglect of the "garden" reflects misrule - an unfit leader allows corruption to thrive; Elizabethan audiences viewed gardens as symbols of harmony and order - corruption signals profound societal disorder

C: corruption; disillusionment; destabilisation

"The spirit I have seen may be the devil"

(2:2 - Hamlet)

AF: modal verb "may"; religious allusion; metaphor

Effect: undermines reliability of the Ghost; explores instability of truth

AP: positions to share Hamlet's suspicion

SC/P/R: Ghost as a possible embodiment of Satanic temptation - Protestant teaching warned against trusting apparitions; doubt in Ghost reflects broader doubt in legitimacy of power; anxiety about discerning truth in a society of masks and corruption

C: supernatural; appearance vs reality; moral corruption; religious conflict; trust; intellectualism vs spirituality

"There's a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will"

(5:2 - Hamlet)

AF: metaphor (life as woodwork - humans "rough-hew" plans, but providence "shapes" the final form); religious diction ("divinity" invokes God's providential order); antithesis (human effort vs divine control)

Effect: contrasts with Hamlet's earlier doubt (by Act V, Hamlet accepts providence); suggests that in a corrupt, deceptive society, divine order alone is trustworthy

AP: aligns with Hamlet's growth from paralysing distrust to trust in providence

SC/P/R: Calvinist beliefs in predestination and divine order; implies legitimacy of succession and providential justice (Fortinbras' rise as divinely sanctioned); Elizabethan audience's reliance on God's order in times of dynastic uncertainty

C: fate vs free will; divine intervention; transformation

"Honest ghost"

(1:5 - Hamlet)

AF: oxymoronic epithet; irony; religious paradox (Ghost blurs categories of heaven/hell, salvation/damnation)

Effect: demonstrates Hamlet's initial willingness to trust the supernatural over human beings

SC/P/R: Catholic vs Protestant views of ghosts - purgatorial spirits vs demonic illusions; trust in Ghost undermines Claudius' legitimacy, linking supernatural with political upheaval; anxieties about discerning divine vs intervention

C: uncertainty; truth; revenge; madness

"Seems, madam? Nay it is. I know not 'seems'"

(1:2 - Hamlet)

AF: antithesis (appearance vs reality); rhetoric; wordplay/semantic emphasis

Effect: establishes Hamlet's disillusionment and moral clarity; philosophical tone that foreshadows Hamlet's introspective nature and preoccupation with moral and existential questions

AP: sympathy for Hamlet

SC/P/R: critiques superficiality of royal decorum and quick remarriage (societal expectations around loyalty and propriety); Protestant emphasis on sincerity and inner moral truth over outward display (hypocrisy is more condemnable); fears of corruption in leadership

C: appearance vs reality; corruption/moral decay; selfhood; truth

"I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw"

(2:2 - Hamlet)

AF: metaphor/imagery (compares feigned madness to weather patterns = shifting behaviours); wordplay/double meaning ("know a hawk from a handsaw"); irony

Effect: emphasises that his madness is selective and controlled; dramatic irony that the audience is privy to

AP: positions Hamlet as morally and psychologically complex

SC/P/R: masking of true intentions in courtly politics; moral ambiguity; suggests human intelligence as divinely or naturally bestowed (Renaissance ideals of reason over

C: appearance vs reality; feigned madness; truth

"The plays the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king"

(2:2 - Hamlet)

AF: metaphor (conscience - a moral/psychological concept - as something that can be caught); alliteration; metatheatre

Effect: reframes art as an instrument of truth - performance (appearance) becomes the very means to expose reality

AP: reinforces Hamlet's moral and intellectual agency; consideration of the ethics of manipulation and deception, even for righteous ends

SC/P/R: cultural power of theatre as a medium for reflection, commentary and social critique; use of performance mirrors courtly espionage and strategy; "conscience" invokes ethical and spiritual judgement, suggesting that even kings are accountable to moral law, not just political authority

C: appearance vs reality; revenge/justice; observation; deception

"O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven"

(3:3 - Claudius)

AF: metaphor; sensory imagery; religious allusion; personification of sin

Effect: makes Claudius' inner corruption tangible; reinforces theme of guilt and conscience; humanises Claudius while still condemning him

AP: conflicted sympathy; moral condemnation; reminded of divine accountability - even kings cannot 'escape' God's judgement

SC/P/R: sin was believed to rise before God's notice; political commentary - rulers remain accountable to higher moral and spiritual authority; decay as a symbol

C: corruption; conscience; religion; morality; appearance vs reality; Machiavellianism; guilt

"My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. / Words without thoughts never to heaven go"

(3:3 - Claudius)

AF: antithesis/parallelism ("words fly up" > "thoughts remain below"); personification; vertical spatial metaphor - map moral worth onto direction (up = heaven; down = earth/sin/hell)

Effect: reveals Claudius' lucid self-knowledge (knows his prayers are hollow - not deluded, just unrepentant); tragic irony = Hamlet spared him "at prayer" moments earlier, fearing salvation; fixes moral stakes (repentance requires inward transformation)

AP: condemn Claudius' duplicity; empty piety fails, inert truth is the measure; piety as a tactic - feels guilt but rejects the cost of repentence

SC/P/R: reformation theology (doctrine that prayer needs sincere contrition, outward ceremony alone does not "reach heaven"); monarchs expected to display religious devotion; Great Chain of Being/cosmic order ("up" vs "below" ties ethical worth to cosmic hierarchy; 'earthbound' thoughts announce disordered realm under sinful king)

C: Machiavellianism; conscience; guilt; appearance vs reality/equivocation; corruption; fate (of Denmark); disorder

"With devotion's visage and pious action we do sugar o'er / The devil himself"

(3:1 - Polonius)

AF: metaphor/imagery (sweetening corruption with external mask); antithesis (piety vs the devil)

Effect: meta-theatrical irony (openly states strategy of deception)

AP: critique of hypocrisy; aligns against manipulative statesmanship; corruption made palatable by false piety

SC/P/R: connect to warnings against Pharisaical display; Elizabethan anxieties about surveillance and rulers using religion as a mask for realpolitik; moral didacticism (salvation requires inward truth, not ritual or "face"); Protestant fears of Catholic ritual as mere gilding of corruption (religious polemic)

C: Machiavellianism; deception; corruption; conscience; objectification of women; order vs disorder

"O Hamlet, speak no more! / Thou turn'st mine eyes into my very soul"

(3:4 - Gertrude)

AF: metaphor of vision

Effect: character development = Gertrude's inner conflict contrasting with earlier pragmatism

AP: sympathy for Gertrude and her vulnerability

SC/P/R: Christian imagery of the soul (to look into one's soul evokes confession and judgement); patriarchal dynamics (underscores Gertrude's lack of autonomous voice - selfhood emerges only under male scrutiny)

C: guilt; selfhood; corruption vs integrity; order vs disorder; madness; gender roles

"By indirections find directions out"

(2:1 - Polonius)

AF: paradox/antithesis - contradiction; metaphor of navigation; wordplay/pun (exploits dual meaning of "direction")

Effect: blurs the moral lines between truth-seeking and deceit; exemplifies Polonius' character (presents duplicity as common sense, normalising hypocrisy within the Danish court); foreshadows motif of surveillance; irony - Polonius' "directions ultimately lead to chaos (reliance on spying accelerates disorder)

AP: against Polonius' methods (dubious morality of the act of spying); critical of court culture (Denmark = a place where dishonesty is institutionalised)

SC/P/R: Machiavellian politics (Renaissance fears about advisors who employ cunning over virtue - connect the maxim to Machiavelli's 'The Prince'); court surveillance culture; contrasts Christian virtue with worldly pragmatism - exposes moral compromise; patriarchal control

C: Machiavellianism; deception; conscience and morality; parental interference; corruption; the act of spying

"Though this be madness, yet there is method in't"

(2:2 - Polonius)

AF: paradox/oxymoron (juxtaposes "madness" with "method"); irony

Effect: Polonius' observation partly confirms the truth; suggests Hamlet's actions cannot be dismissed as mere insanity; characterises Polonius (appears shrewd enough to notice patterns, but remains blinded by own assumptions about Ophelia being the cause)

AP: critical of Polonius

SC/P/R: Renaissance views of madness as both frightening and fascinating, often linked to divine inspiration of possession; parallels Christian debates about free will versus divine providence

C: madness (real vs feigned); deception; intellectualism vs irrationality; order vs disorder; Machiavellianism

"I must be cruel, only to be kind"

(3:4 - Hamlet)

AF: paradox/antithesis (cruelty and kindness); irony; ethical inversion

Effect: characterisation; TBC

AP: scepticism on Hamlet's rationalisation

SC/P/R: Christian morality contradicted; duty of filial piety - Renaissance idea of moral correction; humanist debates about whether ends justify means; contemporary anxieties about kingship and justice

C: duty; revenge and morality; conscience; madness; appearance vs reality; order vs disorder

"Haste me to know it, that I, with wings as swift as meditation... may sweep to my revenge"

(1:5 - Hamlet)

AF: simile (likens desire for revenge to wings "as swift as meditation"); imagery of speed/flight (suggests transcendence, urgency, and an almost divine propulsion towards revenge; paradox of "meditation" (suggest slowness, though here it is framed as swift, mirroring Hamlet's action vs inaction)

Effect: characterisation = Hamlet initially embraces archetypal avenger role, paradox of "meditation" foreshadows hesitation;

SC/P/R: revenge tragedy convention (vengeance as both duty and danger - Hamlet momentarily embodies Senecan avenger archetype); Christian values (revenge is sinful)

C: duty; revenge; action vs inaction; conscience; morality; madness; futility/nihiism

"O cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right"

(1:5 - Hamlet)

AF: antithesis (birth set against "cursed spite"); irony - Hamlet positions revenge as a burden; complaint foreshadows his later hesitation and inaction

Effect: positions Hamlet's hesitation in contrast to Fortinbras or Laertes; highlights tension between filial/political duty

AP: Elizabethan audiences, caught between Christian ethics and revenge-play conventions, might see Hamlet's hesitation as a very human response to moral conflict

SC/P/R: Hamlet's reluctance aligns with Christian moral unease about sin; Hamlet inherits not only a personal duty but the responsibility to restore political order to Denmark; fatalism (Elizabethan concerns about destiny and providence)

C: duty; disorder; revenge; action vs inaction; selfhood; fate/destiny; madness

"Let not the royal bed of Denmark be a couch for luxury and damned incest"

(1:5 - Ghost)

AF: symbolism of the "royal bed" (= the state of Denmark); antithesis (royal bed vs couch > fall from nobility to degradation

Effect: lays foundation for Hamlet's perception of his revenge as both a filial and divine obligation; views marriage as illegitimate and sinful

AP: aligns audience with Hamlet's indignation; bodily corruption into the sanction of kingship

SC/P/R: marriage to a deceased husband's brother considered incest = Gertrude's union as sinful; king's marriage is not private > symbolises stability of state; female sexuality linked to virtue (Gertrude's 'lust' positioned as a force destabilising the monarchy)

C: duty; incest and incestuous desires; disorder; corruption; selfhood; religion; revenge

"Do not forget. This visitation is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose"

(3:4 - Ghost)

AF: metaphor (revenge likened to a weapon that is dulled, suggesting Hamlet's delay has corroded his resolve); personification; contrast (sharpness of duty vs dullness of procrastination); symbolism "blunted purpose"

Effect: reasserts supernatural authority (Ghost's reappearance validates that Hamlet's duty is not imagined madness but divinely sanctioned); implies shame > Hamlet is not fulfilling his filial duty

AP: Hamlet's failure to act would have been judged harshly by Elizabethan audiences; belief in supernatural justice

SC/P/R: filial piety as a central expectation; Ghost links Hamlet's duty to the restoration of Denmark's order; suggests human will is corruptible - Renaissance anxieties about the instability of human resolve

C: duty; revenge; action vs inaction; conscience; fate/destiny; corruption

"O, from this time forth, my thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!"

(4:4 - Hamlet)

AF: vow (attempts to discipline thought into action); binary opposition; hyperbole; imagery of blood

Effect: characterisation (marks shift from contemplation to apparent resolution); foreshadows and suggests that Hamlet's identity and worth will be measured in bloodshed

AP: extremity of "bloody or nothing worth" alienates audience by equating moral worth to violence; positioned to question whether true worth lies in bloodshed; interrogates revenge tragedy genre itself

SC/P/R: aligns Hamlet with genre's conventions (vow echoes Senecan avengers who embrace bloodshed as duty); blood vengeance remains sinful; Hamlet abandons reason for violent impulse = Renaissance anxieties about rational thought giving way to bloodlust; frames worth as bound up in avenging political and familial dishonour

C: revenge; action vs inaction; duty; selfhood; fate/destiny; madness

"Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder"

(1:5 - Ghost)

AF: lexical chain of morality ("foul", "unnatural", "murder")

Effect: characterisation of Ghost (blurs whether demand is divine or infernal); tragic inevitability

AP: 'torn' between desiring justice for the "foul" deed and fearing the sinfulness of revenge; horror at the "unnatural" crime of fratricide

SC/P/R: murder is both a mortal sin and violation of the natural order; regicide destabilises the state; Shakespeare complicates the familiar trope by embedding Christian moral dilemmas; familial duty

C: revenge; duty; corruption; selfhood; religion vs vengeance

"O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown!"

(3:1 - Ophelia)

AF: irony of "noble mind"; metaphor (fall of Hamlet's "noble mind" symbolises Denmark's moral collapse); lexical chain of downfall

Effect: characterisation of Hamlet from Ophelia's perspective (potential as noble prince destroyed by corruption/grief/revenge); reveals emotional investment in Hamlet, yet also her passivity; Ophelia interprets largely strategised madness as genuine

AP: grief humanises cost of Hamlet's actions, particularly on women silence or marginalised by male power; recognition of political decay within the state of Denmark

SC/P/R: Ophelia's perspective highlights women's vulnerability in a world shaped by patriarchal influence; political commentary on the "overthrow" of Hamlet's mind as the overthrow of political stability under Claudius' corrupt reign

C: madness; selfhood; corruption; duty vs love; futility of life; tragedy

"Thus conscience does make cowards of us all"

(3:1 - Hamlet)

AF: generalisation ("of us all" - universal truth about the human condition); paradox (conscience framed as the source of cowardice)

Effect: Hamlet's recognition of his paralysis; tragic irony - conscience, meant to preserve virtue, becomes the very thing that drives Denmark further into corruption

AP: sympathises with Hamlet's struggle, recognising universality of hesitation born of moral conflict; consider the extent to which "conscience" shapes capacity for action vs inaction

SC/P/R: "conscience" is inseparable from fear of eternal damnation (Hamlet fears not only earthly consequences but divine judgement); reflects Renaissance philosophical concerns with the nature of man; politics of kingship

C: action vs inaction; selfhood; duty; fate vs free will; human condition; tragedy of thought

"Madness in great ones must not unwatch'd go"

(3:1 - Claudius)

AF: juxtaposition ("madness"/"great") > paradox that power magnifies the danger of instability; modal necessity (political urgency and necessity of control); irony

Effect: portrays Claudius as a shrewd, calculating ruler who recognises threat to power but masks with reasoned language; Claudius' fear reveals both guilt and paranoia; shifts focus from private grief and conscience to political strategy

AP: may acknowledge Claudius' pragmatism; positions Claudius as Machiavellian, concerned only with maintaining power rather than moral or familial ties

SC/P/R: Elizabethan anxieties about succession and instability in monarchy; aligns with Renaissance realpolitik = leaders must monitor and neutralise threats; Renaissance concern that nobility were held to higher standards of order and restraint

C: madness; power; Machiavellianism; corruption; duty; selfhood

"To be, or not to be, that is the question"

(3:1 - Hamlet)

AF: antithesis (juxtaposition of existence and non-existence); philosophical rhetoric

Effect: characterisation of Hamlet (turns inward rather than outward in action)

SC/P/R: Christianity = suicide as a mortal language (anxiety over damnation and the afterlife); socio-political anxiety (survival of the state depends on decisive rulers, yet Hamlet's inaction reflects destabilising introspection)

C: conscience; existentialism; selfhood; action vs inaction; madness; futility of life/nihilism; duty

"The serpent that did sting thy father's life now wears his crown"

(1:5 - Ghost)

AF: metaphor ("serpent" > biblical allusion aligns fratricide with original sin); allegory to Genesis 3 of the Bible (Denmark = fallen Eden corrupted by deceit and temptation); irony (crown as symbol of legitimacy and divine order)

Effect: reorients the play around atypical revenge tragedy; Claudius' betrayal framed as satanic evil; elevates Claudius' regicide into political treachery and religiously charged crime

AP: condemnation of Claudius; suspicion of the Ghost; moral alignment

SC/P/R: biblical "serpent" imagery frames Claudius as satanic, framing regicide as spiritual fall akin to humanity's fall in Eden; Elizabethan ideology > the king was chosen by God (Great Chain of Being); poisoning contrasts with ideals of noble, open combat, emphasising Claudius' dishonour; fears of succession crises and illegitimate rulers destabilising Denmark

C: deception; corruption; revenge; order vs disorder; religion/conscience; selfhood

"That I... must, like a *****, unpack my heart with words"

(2:2 - Hamlet)

AF: simile (Hamlet compares himself to a common prostitute who trades in words and display rather than action); antithesis (words vs deeds)

Effect: characterisation (Hamlet despises his tendency to intellectualise instead of acting); foreshadows the play-within-a-play; contrast > while Claudius acts decisively, Hamlet is 'immobilised' by words

AP: harshness of self-image positions the audience to question whether his paralysis is weakness or moral depth

SC/P/R: insult ***** implies both moral corruption and social degradation (Hamlet equates wordplay with moral debasement); Christian suspicion of rhetoric without sincerity; expectation of leaders to act decisively

C: inaction; selfhood; conscience; madness; futility of life; revenge; duty

"Diseases desperate grown by desperate appliance are relieved, or not at all"

(4:3 - Claudius)

AF: extended metaphor (Claudius frames Hamlet as a 'disease' > pathological threat to the health of Denmark); lexical field of desperation; binary construction (suggests absolutes) > Claudius's Machiavellian mindset; irony

Effect: Claudius' Machiavellian politics; frames Hamlet's 'elimination' as unavoidable; dehumanisation (reduces Hamlet to a disease); hypocrisy - Claudius projects corruption onto Hamlet

AP: alienation at Claudius' rationalisation of murder; positioned to view Claudius as the real "desperate disease", undermining claim to legitimacy

SC/P/R: reflects Renaissance realpolitik (threats to kingship must be 'cured' by any means > Machiavelli's advice to eliminate rivals decisively); illness as a metaphor for disorder

C: Machiavellianism; corruption; duty; order vs disorder; selfhood; madness; inaction

"Nay, but to live in the rank sweat of an enseamed bed, stewed in corruption, honeying and making love over the nasty sty"

(3:4 - Hamlet)

AF: lexical field of corruption and filth (evoke impurity); animal metaphor (reduces Claudius and Gertrude to pigs = equating union with bestiality); juxtaposition (sweetness vs filth)

Effect: transforms Gertrude's marriage from royal legitimacy into grotesque act of corruption, reinforcing Hamlet's obsession with sexuality as moral decay

AP: read Hamlet's outburst as misogynistic and symptomatic of patriarchal norms

SC/P/R: Christian doctrine condemned incestuous unions as sinful; corruption of royal bed symbolises corruption of the state; fixation on Gertrude's sexual behaviour reflects patriarchal anxieties about female chastity (woman's virtue symbolised familial and national honour); marriage both spiritual and political

C: corruption; selfhood; order vs disorder; madness; duty; role of women

"A little more than kin, and less than kind"

(1:2 - Hamlet)

AF: paronomasia (pun); equivocation; antithesis

Effect: positions the court as fractured/corrupt; destabilises legitimacy of Claudius' kingship and marriage, framing him as an unnatural usurper

AP: highlights unnaturalness of Gertrude's marriage; to view Claudius' public image of harmony as hollow, deepening distrust of new king

SC/P/R: marriage considered incestuous; suggests corruption at the heart of kingship (Claudius' kingship is "unnatural"); anxieties about dynastic marriages where familial ties are manipulated for power, not love; exposes disjunction between outer appearance and inner truth

C: corruption; equivocation; selfhood; order vs disorder; madness; role of women

"You speak like a green girl, unsifted in such perilous circumstances"

(1:3 - Polonius)

AF: metaphor ("green" symbolises immaturity/inexperience/naivety); derogatory diction

Effect: devalues Ophelia's voice and autonomy, reinforcing her subordination to a patriarchal order; frames Ophelia as vulnerable

AP: Elizabethan = align with cultural norms that a daughter should obey her father; modern = view Polonius' belittlement as oppressive and symptomatic of patriarchal control

SC/P/R: Elizabethan gender norms; noble families > daughters' marriages were strategic

C: selfhood; objectification of women; duty; corruption; order vs disorder; madness

"To put an antic disposition on"

(1:5 - Hamlet)

AF: metaphor (emphasises performative nature of madness); irony

Effect: reveals Hamlet's manipulation of appearance as a weapon against Claudius; foreshadows descent into real instability

AP: view as self-destructive (by choosing deception, Hamlet contributes to his alienation and eventual downfall)

SC/P/R: madness as either divine affliction or demonic possession (Hamlet complicates this view by making it strategic); Renaissance idea of the 'wise fool' who critiques corruption; deliberate deception is sinful, yet Hamlet justifies it in pursuit of divine justice for regicide

C: madness; deception; selfhood; intellectualism vs performance; duty vs inaction; order vs disorder

"Denmark's a prison"

(2:2 - Hamlet)

AF: metaphor (suggest confinement, oppression); motif of confinement

Effect: suggests the political body of Denmark will, like a prison, implode in corruption and disorder (foreshadowing)

AP: resonates with Elizabethan fears of political instability

SC/P/R: Renaissance concerns about monarchy and surveillance; links to theological notions of earthly life as imprisonment compared to the freedom of heaven

C: corruption; selfhood; order vs disorder; madness; futility/nihilism

"Get thee to a nunnery"

(3:1 - Hamlet)

AF: imperative command (asserts authority, stripping Ophelia of agency); ambiguity/double entendre ("nunnery" = convent vs Elizabethan slang for a brothel > paradoxical insult); repetition

Effect: Hamlet's distrust of women and marriage

AP: Hamlet's condemnation of women reflecting patriarchal suspicion of female sexuality; question whether Hamlet's cruelty is genuine or an expression of his own fractured psyche

SC/P/R: women in the Renaissance era seen as needing male control; convent implies chastity and salvation, while the brothel sense implies sin; suggests impossibility of female selfhood in a patriarchal order

C: objectification of women; selfhood; corruption; madness; futility; deception

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks"

(3:2 - Gertrude)

AF: dramatic irony (Gertrude unknowingly comments on herself); subtle critique/commentary

Effect: highlights Gertrude's naivety and innocence

AP: invites reflection on Gertrude's morality and complicity

SC/P/R: Elizabethan expectations of women emphasises modesty and sincerity; reflects gendered scrutiny and moral standards within the royal court

C: appearance vs reality; self-deception; truth; morality

"That I essentially am not in madness, but mad in craft"

(3:4 - Hamlet)

AF: assertion; juxtaposition/contrast

Effect: distinguishes Hamlet's controlled feigned madness from true insanity

AP: highlights the complexity of Hamlet's psychological state and strategic thinking

SC/P/R: feigned madness as a socially and culturally recognised device for uncovering truth; reflects gendered and social anxieties about public displays of insanity or emotion

C: appearance vs reality; deception; control of self; morality; manipulation; psychological complexity; madness

"All that live must die, passing through nature to eternity"

(1:2 - Gertrude)

"So excellent a king; that was to this Hyperion to a satyr"

(1:2 - Hamlet)

"Or that the Everlasting had not fixed His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God, God!"

(1:2 - Hamlet)

"O that this too solid flesh would melt, thaw and resolve into a dew"

(1:2 - Hamlet)

"Angels and ministers of grace defend us! Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damned..."

(1:4 - Hamlet)

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