Hamlet quotes yo

“Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted colour off, and let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark”

This line is spoken by Gertude to Hamlet and the context is that Hamlet is still wearing his mourning clothes as he is still grieving his father, his attitude also reflects this. Here Gertude is urging him to take off his mourning clothes and stop acting depressed and be more friendly to the new king Claudius. In terms of plot, this moment establishes the central tension between the royal court and Hamlet, which will then drive Hamlets later actions in the play. This quote also shows that Gertude is insenstive to Hamlet grief over his father which implies that she has gotten over her grief of her husbands death much sooner than Hamlet. Gertude telling him to “cast they nighted color off” is a metaphor that shows that Hamlet balck clothes are related to his pronlonged grief, it also suggets that Hamlets grief can simply be removed if he so wishes. This shows the emotional disconnect between Gertude and Hamlet

“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".

Polonius speak this quote to Laertes as the most imporant advice he gives as Laertes is preaparing to go back to France. (We’ll get to this later, ask Ms. Bonfigli if when doing quote analays, we can refer to things that happens later in the play)

“The time is out of joint; O curs’d spite, That I was ever born to set it right”

This quote is spoken by Hamlet to the audience after the ghost reveals that Claudius killed him and has tasked Hamlet with avenging him by killing Claudius. This quote shows Hamlet is overwhelmed and distressed as the heavy burden of killing Claudius weighs on him. He exclaims “O curs’d spite” to show that it is a cruel fate that he has been chosen for this monumental task. This quote also introduces the them of corruption in the play. In this quote, Hamlet says, “the time is out of joint”, which means that the natural and political order of Denmark has been disrupted due to Claudius’s murderous act. The natural suceesion of kings has now been disrupted which will cause unrest in Denmark. “The time out of joint” is a metaphor for how the natural order of the world has been broken which sets up Hamlets need to fix this imbalance.

“Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t”

This quote is spoken by Polonius to himself as he listens to Hamlet’s seemingly nonsensical words. This quotes shows the theme of appearance versus reality as at this point in the play, we know that Hamlet is pretending to be mad so he mask his true motives. Although Polonius still thinks Hamlet is mad, he recognizes that Hamlets ramblings have some sort of underlying meaning. This quote also contains a form of paradox. This quote sais by Polonius suggets that madness can have some sort of logic to it, which shows that Polonius senses that Hamlet may not be entirely mad. Polonius being able to recognize that there is some meaning in Hamlets madness shows the audience that Polonius is smarter than we think, even if his reasoing for Hamlet’s madness is wrong.

“I must be cruel, only to be kind: Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind”

This quote is spoken by Hamlet to his mother Gertude as he is confronting her about her fast remarriage to Claudius and has killed Polonius. This quotes shows Hamlets thought process at the moment, as he believes that by giving his mom this speaking curel words to his mom, he will show her the truth of her actions. The theme of appearnce versus reality also appears in this quote. Hamlet suggests that his words may come out as harsh, the reality is that it is only meant to help wake Gertude up to what she has done. Foreshadowin appears in this quote as well. Hamlet says that the killing of Polonius may be bad, there are worse things to come, which foreshadows the tragic events at the end of the play

“My words fly up, my thoughts remain below: Words without thoughts never to heaven to go:

This quote is spoken by King Claudius to himself while he is praying to ask forgiveness for the sin of killing his brother, but realizes his mean nothing if he doesn’t give up the rewards of his murderous act. This quote shows that Claudius is remorseful for the act he commited, but not to the point where is willing to give up the crown, Gertude, and everything else he has gained by killing his brother. this shows that his ambiton prevents him being truly cleansed from his Th. The theme of appearance versus reality again appears in this quote as Claudius appears to be kneeling down to pray, which implies that he is repenting for something. But in his heart, he realizes his words mean nothing and he doesn’t repent for his sin. This quote also shows daramtic irony as we know that Hamlet is watching Claudius kneel down and supposedly praying, which again implies repentance. Hamlet decies not to kill Claudius at that moment and wants to kill him when he is sinning. But the irony is that Claudius decides his prayer is ineffective and stops trying to repent from his sin.

“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”

This quote is spoken by Marcellus to Horatio as they watch Hamlet follow the ghost of Old king Hamlet. The appearnce of the ghost suggest something is off in the state of Denmark. This moment is part of the exposition as it presents the idea to the audience that Denmark may be in a state of disorder and that it may extend beyond the appearance of the ghost but within the state itself. This quote also shows the theme of decay as this quote suggets that something or someone is causing Denmark to slowly be diseased, which can likely be linked to Claudius murder of his brother and acension to the throne. A metaphor is used in this quote which is from the word “rotten”. The word “rotten” being used is meant to symbolize that Denmarl has been politically courrpted and is infecting the entire state.

There is a certain providence in the fall of a sparrow…If it be now, ‘tis not to come: if it be not to come, it will be now: if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all

This quote is spoken by Hamlet to Horatio just before he goes to the duel with Laertes. Here he explains whatver happens to him during the duel, he will be prepared for it. This quote shows Hamlet character growth over the course of the play as earlier, he would constanly overthink situations which would lead to him not doing anything. But here he doesn’t overthink anything, he simply says that wheter he dies in the duel or not, he will accept his fate with readiness. This quote also advances the plot by showing Hamlet consciensly going the duel despite what may happen to him, which allows the tragic final events to take place. This quote is also used as foreshadowing for the event to come.

Polomus: Do you know me, my lord? Hamlet: Excellent well; you are a fishmonger. Polonius: Not I, my lord. Hamlet: Then I would you were so honest a man. Polonius: Honest, my lord? Hamlet: Ay, sir; to be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thousand.

This exchange by Polonius and Hamlet appears in act 2 when Polonius attempets to converse with Hamlet to diagnose the cause of Hamlets supposed “madness”, but the audience knows that Hamlet is only pretending to be mad. This exchange shows Hamlet intellectual ability to use wordplay to indirectly insult Polonius by calling him a fishmonger. Fishmonger was slang for pimp, which means Hamlet is indirectly accusing Polonius of exploting his daughter for his own political gain. This quote also shows Polonius naiveness as he doesn’t register the insult that was just said to him. This exchange also reinforces the theme of appearnce versus reality as Hamlet may seem like hes spouting nonsense but if you look deeper, there is some meaning behind them. A hyperbole appears when Hamlet says that to be a honest man is to be one picked out of then thousande. This shows Hamlet cynical view of human nature as he believes that most of the people he is surrounded by is morally corrupt in some capacity.