The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark - Folger Edition Study Guide

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering textual background, Elizabethan terminology, critical phrases, and key literary concepts across William Shakespeare's Hamlet.

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."

• Themes: Corruption, political disorder, decay, the supernatural\n- Context: Marcellus remarks on the unnatural disturbance indicated by the appearance of the Ghost and Denmark's frantic military buildup.

"O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, / Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew…"

• Themes: Mortality, grief, suicide, physical and moral decay\n- Context: Hamlet expresses deep despair and revulsion toward the physical world following his father's sudden death and his mother's hasty remarriage.

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

• Themes: Family conflict, incest and unnatural kinship, appearance vs. reality\n- Context: Hamlet's first spoken line in the play, rejecting Claudius's attempt to claim him both as nephew and son.

"Frailty, thy name is woman!"

• Themes: Misogyny, betrayal, inconstancy, corruption of virtue\n- Context: Hamlet projects his disgust over Gertrude's hasty remarriage onto all women.

"This above all: to thine own self be true, / And it must follow, as the night the day, / Thou canst not then be false to any man."

• Themes: Authenticity vs. hypocrisy, appearance vs. reality, moral superficiality\n- Context: Polonius dispenses conventional ethical advice to Laertes, ironically contrasting Polonius's own reliance on deceit and spying.

"The time is out of joint. O cursèd spite / That ever I was born to set it right!"

• Themes: Fate vs. free will, revenge, duty, political and cosmic disorder\n- Context: Hamlet laments the heavy moral and social obligation placed upon him to avenge his father and restore order to Denmark.

"By indirections find directions out."

• Themes: Surveillance, deception, manipulation, appearance vs. reality\n- Context: Polonius instructs his servant Reynaldo to use false rumors to uncover the truth about Laertes' conduct in Paris.

"There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so."

• Themes: Existentialism, perception vs. reality, psychological confinement\n- Context: Hamlet explains to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern why Denmark feels like a prison to him.

"What a piece of work is a man… and yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?"

• Themes: Humanism vs. nihilism, mortality, melancholy, disillusionment\n- Context: Hamlet praises the lofty potential of human intellect and form while confessing that all worldly creations seem hollow to him.

"The play's the thing / Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King."

• Themes: Art and theater as truth-telling, guilt, conscience, surveillance\n- Context: Hamlet devises The Mousetrap to observe Claudius's reaction and obtain empirical proof of his father's murder.

"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."

• Themes: Action vs. inaction, mortality, existential dread, the burden of consciousness\n- Context: Hamlet contemplates whether enduring earthly suffering or ending life is the more rational and noble choice.

"Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?"

• Themes: Corruption of innocence, misogyny, disgust with sexuality and procreation\n- Context: Hamlet lashes out at Ophelia during their staged encounter, rejecting romance and societal institutions.

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

• Themes: Guilt and repentance, religious hypocrisy, divine justice\n- Context: Claudius admits that his prayer is ineffective because he remains unwilling to surrender the crown and queen he gained by murder.

"I must be cruel only to be kind. / This bad begins, and worse remains behind."

• Themes: Moral ambiguity, filial duty, corruption, righteousness vs. cruelty\n- Context: Hamlet defends his harsh verbal assault on Gertrude and justifies killing Polonius as a necessary act of discipline.

"How all occasions do inform against me / And spur my dull revenge!"

• Themes: Delay vs. action, honor, self-reproach, revenge\n- Context: Hamlet contrasts Fortinbras's readiness to wage war over a barren patch of ground with his own inability to avenge his father.

"When sorrows come, they come not single spies, / But in battalions."

• Themes: Tragic inevitability, compounding grief, chaos and societal unraveling\n- Context: Claudius reflects on the overwhelming accumulation of crises in the kingdom, including Polonius's death and Ophelia's madness.

"Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio—a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy."

• Themes: Mortality, physical decay, transience of life, death as the great equalizer\n- Context: Hamlet holds the skull of King Hamlet's former court jester, confronting the inevitable physical reality of death.

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

• Themes: Fate, divine providence vs. human planning, surrender of control\n- Context: Hamlet explains to Horatio how unexpected turns of fortune enabled his escape from Claudius's deadly plot in England.

"The readiness is all."

• Themes: Acceptance of fate, mortality, spiritual readiness\n- Context: Hamlet rejects Horatio's warning against the fencing match, expressing calm resignation to whatever fate has in store.

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."

• Themes: Corruption, political disorder, decay, the supernatural

• Context: Marcellus remarks on the unnatural disturbance indicated by the appearance of the Ghost and Denmark's frantic military buildup.

"O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, / Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew…"

• Themes: Mortality, grief, suicide, physical and moral decay

• Context: Hamlet expresses deep despair and revulsion toward the physical world following his father's sudden death and his mother's hasty remarriage.

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

• Themes: Family conflict, incest and unnatural kinship, appearance vs. reality

• Context: Hamlet's first spoken line in the play, rejecting Claudius's attempt to claim him both as nephew and son.

"Frailty, thy name is woman!"

• Themes: Misogyny, betrayal, inconstancy, corruption of virtue

• Context: Hamlet projects his disgust over Gertrude's hasty remarriage onto all women.

"This above all: to thine own self be true, / And it must follow, as the night the day, / Thou canst not then be false to any man."

• Themes: Authenticity vs. hypocrisy, appearance vs. reality, moral superficiality

• Context: Polonius dispenses conventional ethical advice to Laertes, ironically contrasting Polonius's own reliance on deceit and spying.

"The time is out of joint. O cursèd spite / That ever I was born to set it right!"

• Themes: Fate vs. free will, revenge, duty, political and cosmic disorder

• Context: Hamlet laments the heavy moral and social obligation placed upon him to avenge his father and restore order to Denmark.

"By indirections find directions out."

• Themes: Surveillance, deception, manipulation, appearance vs. reality

• Context: Polonius instructs his servant Reynaldo to use false rumors to uncover the truth about Laertes' conduct in Paris.

"There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so."

• Themes: Existentialism, perception vs. reality, psychological confinement

• Context: Hamlet explains to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern why Denmark feels like a prison to him.

"What a piece of work is a man… and yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust?"

• Themes: Humanism vs. nihilism, mortality, melancholy, disillusionment

• Context: Hamlet praises the lofty potential of human intellect and form while confessing that all worldly creations seem hollow to him.

"The play's the thing / Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King."

• Themes: Art and theater as truth-telling, guilt, conscience, surveillance

• Context: Hamlet devises The Mousetrap to observe Claudius's reaction and obtain empirical proof of his father's murder.

"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."

• Themes: Action vs. inaction, mortality, existential dread, the burden of consciousness

• Context: Hamlet contemplates whether enduring earthly suffering or ending life is the more rational and noble choice.

"Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?"

• Themes: Corruption of innocence, misogyny, disgust with sexuality and procreation

• Context: Hamlet lashes out at Ophelia during their staged encounter, rejecting romance and societal institutions.

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

• Themes: Guilt and repentance, religious hypocrisy, divine justice

• Context: Claudius admits that his prayer is ineffective because he remains unwilling to surrender the crown and queen he gained by murder.

"I must be cruel only to be kind. / This bad begins, and worse remains behind."

• Themes: Moral ambiguity, filial duty, corruption, righteousness vs. cruelty

• Context: Hamlet defends his harsh verbal assault on Gertrude and justifies killing Polonius as a necessary act of discipline.

"How all occasions do inform against me / And spur my dull revenge!"

• Themes: Delay vs. action, honor, self-reproach, revenge

• Context: Hamlet contrasts Fortinbras's readiness to wage war over a barren patch of ground with his own inability to avenge his father.

"When sorrows come, they come not single spies, / But in battalions."

• Themes: Tragic inevitability, compounding grief, chaos and societal unraveling

• Context: Claudius reflects on the overwhelming accumulation of crises in the kingdom, including Polonius's death and Ophelia's madness.

"Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio—a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy."

• Themes: Mortality, physical decay, transience of life, death as the great equalizer
• Context: Hamlet holds the skull of King Hamlet's former court jester, confronting the inevitable physical reality of death.

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

• Themes: Fate, divine providence vs. human planning, surrender of control
• Context: Hamlet explains to Horatio how unexpected turns of fortune enabled his escape from Claudius's deadly plot in England.

"The readiness is all."

• Themes: Acceptance of fate, mortality, spiritual readiness

• Context: Hamlet rejects Horatio's warning against the fencing match, expressing calm resignation to whatever fate has in store.

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

• Themes: Appearance vs. reality, authenticity, grief, performativity

• Context: Hamlet rebukes Gertrude for implying his grief is merely an outward show, arguing that his internal mourning far exceeds visible trappings.

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

• Themes: The supernatural, limits of human knowledge, rationalism vs. mystery

• Context: Hamlet reminds Horatio of the boundaries of mortal understanding after they witness the Ghost beneath the earth demanding their silence.

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

• Themes: Madness vs. sanity, perception, deception, hidden intention

• Context: Polonius recognizes shrewd sense and pointed satire behind Hamlet's antic, rambling remarks.

"O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!"

• Themes: Action vs. inaction, self-reproach, passion, art vs. reality

• Context: Hamlet condemns his own hesitation to avenge his murdered father after seeing the First Player display genuine emotion over Hecuba's fictional tragedy.

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks."

• Themes: Guilt, female inconstancy, self-deception, appearance vs. reality

• Context: Gertrude comments on the Player Queen's emphatic vows never to remarry, revealing an uneasy discomfort with the staged parallel to her own life.

"O, my offense is rank, it smells to heaven; / It hath the primal eldest curse upon ’t, / A brother’s murder."

• Themes: Fratricide, guilt, damnation, divine justice

• Context: Claudius soliloquizes alone in prayer, explicitly acknowledging the biblical crime of slaying King Hamlet while realizing he cannot genuinely repent.

"A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm."

• Themes: Mortality, death as the great equalizer, physical decay, inversion of hierarchy

• Context: Hamlet mocks Claudius's royal status by illustrating how the food chain reduces monarchs and beggars to the same bodily fate.

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

• Themes: Revenge, resolution, honor, action vs. delay

• Context: Hamlet vows absolute dedication to bloody vengeance after observing Fortinbras lead thousands of soldiers to risk their lives over a worthless patch of land.

"There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies, that’s for thoughts."

• Themes: Madness, grief, loss of innocence, symbolic mourning

• Context: An emotionally devastated Ophelia hands out symbolic herbs and flowers to the court after Polonius's sudden death.

"I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers / Could not with all their quantity of love / Make up my sum."

• Themes: Love, grief, theatricality, rivalry

• Context: Hamlet confronts Laertes at Ophelia's gravesite, declaring that his profound grief and genuine love surpass any theatrical displays of sorrow.

"The rest is silence."

• Themes: Mortality, tragedy, finality of death, release from suffering

• Context: Hamlet's final dying words to Horatio as he succumbs to the envenomed blade, marking the end of his turmoil.

"Good night, sweet prince, / And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest."

• Themes: Loyalty, grief, nobility, spiritual salvation

• Context: Horatio offers an affectionate farewell to Hamlet just as the prince dies in his arms.