hamlet quote quiz

“whos there?”

bernardo

The play opens with this line as Barnardo challenges someone in the dark, setting a tense and mysterious mood.

“swear!”

(The Ghost) – The Ghost urges Hamlet and his friends to swear an oath to keep what they’ve seen a secret.

“Tush tush twill not appear”

(Horatio) – Horatio doubts the ghost’s existence before it appears to him.

“"All that lives must die, passing through nature to eternity

(Gertrude) – Gertrude tells Hamlet that death is a natural part of life after he mourns his father.

"With mirth in funeral, and dirge in marriage…"

(Claudius) – Claudius admits the awkwardness of celebrating his marriage to Gertrude so soon after the king’s funeral.

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

(Hamlet) – Hamlet makes a bitter joke about Claudius being both his uncle and stepfather.

"Seems, madam? Nay, it is."

(Hamlet) – Hamlet insists his grief for his father is genuine, not just for show.

"’Tis unmanly grief"

(Claudius) – Claudius criticizes Hamlet for mourning too much.

"Frailty, thy name is woman!"

(Hamlet) – Hamlet blames his mother’s quick remarriage on women’s weakness.

"Indeed, my lord, it followed hard upon"

(Horatio) – Horatio agrees that Gertrude’s marriage came right after the king’s death.

"To thine own self be true"

(Polonius) – Polonius advises his son Laertes to always be honest with himself.

"He hath, my lord, of late made many tenders of his affection toward me."

(Ophelia) – Ophelia tells her father that Hamlet has been showing her love.

"Affection! Pooh! You speak like a green girl…"

(Polonius) – Polonius scolds Ophelia for being naïve about Hamlet’s intentions.

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."

(Marcellus) – Marcellus senses corruption in Denmark after seeing the ghost.

"O Hamlet, what a falling off was there!"

(The Ghost) – The Ghost laments how Gertrude fell from his love to Claudius’s betrayal.

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio…"

(Hamlet) – Hamlet tells Horatio that the world holds more mysteries than humans can understand.

"You are a fishmonger."

(Hamlet) – Hamlet mocks Polonius, pretending to be mad.

"I have of late… lost all my mirth…"

(Hamlet) – Hamlet expresses his deep depression and disillusionment with life.

"I have heard that guilty creatures sitting at a play…"

(Hamlet) – Hamlet plans to use a play to catch Claudius’s guilt.

"Ay, there’s the rub…"

(Hamlet) – Hamlet reflects on how fear of the unknown after death makes people hesitate to die.

"My lord, I have remembrances of yours…"

(Ophelia) – Ophelia returns Hamlet’s love tokens after being told to reject him.

"Get thee to a nunnery!"

(Hamlet) – Hamlet angrily tells Ophelia to go to a convent, rejecting her.

"Here’s metal more attractive."

" (Hamlet) – Hamlet mocks Ophelia while flirting cruelly.

"Do you think I am easier played on than a pipe?"

(Hamlet) – Hamlet accuses Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of trying to manipulate him.

"But O what form of prayer can serve my turn?…"

(Claudius) – Claudius tries to pray for forgiveness but knows he still enjoys the rewards of his crime.

"Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio."

(Hamlet) – Hamlet reflects on death while holding the skull of his old court jester.

"There’s a divinity that shapes our ends…"

(Hamlet) – Hamlet accepts that fate controls life more than humans do.

"Let Hercules himself do what he may…"

(Hamlet) – Hamlet says that no one can stop fate from running its course.

"The readiness is all.

(Hamlet) – Hamlet accepts that being prepared for death is all that matters.

"Judgement?"

(Hamlet) – Hamlet questions the fairness and morality of his actions.

"A hit!"

(Osric) – Osric calls out when Hamlet scores a hit during the duel.

"Gertrude… do not drink."

(Claudius) – Claudius tries to stop Gertrude from drinking the poisoned cup.

"Now cracks a noble heart… Good night, sweet prince.

(Horatio) – Horatio mourns Hamlet’s death with love and respect.

"Mother!"

(Hamlet) – Hamlet confronts Gertrude passionately in her chamber.

"What act, that roars so loud and thunders in the index?"

(Gertrude) – Gertrude asks what terrible deed Hamlet accuses her of.

"How now, a rat! Dead for a ducat—dead!"

(Hamlet) – Hamlet kills Polonius, thinking he’s Claudius hiding behind the curtain.

"What judgment would step from this, to this?"

(Hamlet) – Hamlet compares his father’s nobility to Claudius’s corruption.

"Do not forget. This visitation…"

(The Ghost) – The Ghost reminds Hamlet to stay focused on avenging his murder.

"O heavy deed! It had been so with us…"

(Claudius) – Claudius reacts with alarm after Hamlet kills Polonius.

"Do it, England!…"

(Claudius) – Claudius sends Hamlet to England, hoping the king there will kill him.

"Laertes, was your father dear to you?"

(Claudius) – Claudius manipulates Laertes’s anger to turn him against Hamlet.

"To cut his throat in the church!"

(Laertes) – Laertes vows to kill Hamlet anywhere, even in a holy place.

"No place indeed should murder sanctuarize…"

" (Claudius) – Claudius agrees that revenge should have no limits.

"I have a daughter."

(Polonius) – Polonius reminds Claudius that Ophelia is his daughter when discussing Hamlet’s behavior.

"O heavy burden!"

(Claudius) – Claudius privately admits feeling guilty for his crime.

"The play’s the thing / Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king."

(Hamlet) – Hamlet finalizes his plan to test Claudius’s guilt through the play.

"He took me by the wrist and held me hard."

(Ophelia) – Ophelia describes Hamlet’s strange behavior after seeing the ghost.

"Stay, illusion!"

(Horatio) – Horatio calls out for the ghost to stay and speak.

"He was a man, take him for all in all…"

(Hamlet) – Hamlet fondly remembers his father’s greatness.

"I doubt it is no other but the main / His father’s death and our o’erhasty marriage.

(Gertrude) – Gertrude believes Hamlet’s sadness comes from his father’s death and her quick remarriage.