Act 1, Scene 2
Important Quotes
- “An auspicious and a dropping eye”
The metaphor implies mixed emotions
- “Your better wisdom”
Use of flattery. Pronoun suggests togetherness + unity. He seems selfless + considerate.
- “Take thy fair hour”
Thy is familiar, intimate. Suggests he's connecting with those around him
- “Have you your father’s leave? What says Polonius?”
Makes a point to ask Polonius a question, suggesting empathy and consideration.
- “Giving to you no further personal power / to business with the king…”
Diplomatic language, seems knowledgeable and intelligent
- “A little more than kin, and less than kind”
Our closest relatives often treat us the worst
- “How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable”
Listing, he questions if his mothers emotions to his father were ever sincere
- “He might not between the winds of heaven / Visit her face too roughly”
Metaphor/biblical imagery, Old Hamlet loves Gertrude so much that he wouldn't let any harm come to her
- “Frailty, thy name is woman!”
Noun/personification - she is weak as a woman
- “A beast, that wants discourse of reason, would have mourn’d longer”
Suggests that a beast who couldn't speak would be sadder than Gertrude
- “No more like my father than I to Hercules”
He dislikes his uncle and views him as the antithesis of his father
- “Salt of the most unrighteous tears”
Metaphor, refers to how quickly she married Claudius
- “Incestuous sheets!”
Metaphor- talks about how quickly she moved on
Context
- Hamlet was performed in the final years of Elizabeth’s reign (1558-1603), a time of political uncertainty and fear, which parallels the mood and events of the play.
- There was uncertainty about who her heir would be, however her most likely heir was James 1 (who later did become her successor) which was a problematic decision as his mother was Mary Queen of Scots, who previously tried to get Elizabeth killed.
- By setting the play in Denmark, Shakespeare was able to avoid the ‘Bishops Ban’ of 1599 which allowed a number of prominent English Bishops to ban plays that they believed were blasphemous or dangerous.
- Shakespeare found this loophole which allowed him to speak about such controversial issues without the play being banned.
- Mary Queen of Scots may have influenced Gertrude's character as she also failed to observe a proper mourning period, following her husband's death, as she married the man thought to have killed her husband
Critics
- “Claudius shows every sign of being an excellent diplomat and King” (Knight)