Important Quotes

• ‘Enter GHOST and HAMLET’

  The only characters are the Ghost and Hamlet. This supplies evidence to the argument about Hamlet’s sanity, as there is no one else to witness the Ghost talking.

• ‘Pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing / To what I shall unfold’

  The first time the Ghost talks about his death.

• ‘Speak: I am bound to hear.’

  shows the relationship between Hamlet and his father. It shows their dynamic as King and Prince, Father and Son. It shows that Hamlet is devoted to his father, and that he is loyal to him.

• ‘Doom’d for a certain time to walk the night’

  Causes you to pity the Ghost. Religious Imagery - shows that he’s forced to go through purgatory. ‘Night’ suggests supernatural imagery. ‘Doom’d’ suggests that there is no escape.

• ‘Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature / Are burnt and purged away’

  Suggests that he could only go to heaven/hell once he was avenged. Shows that his death was unnatural.

• ‘Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,’

  Metaphorical, shows that his death was unnatural and gruesome.

• ‘Haste me know’t, that I with wings / As meditation or the thoughts of love / May sweep to revenge.’

  Reveals how naive Hamlet is. Shows that he’s impatient and impulsive. He’s devoted and doesn’t hesitate when it comes to his father. Use of antithesis, love and revenge, causes you to question Hamlet’s state of mind.

• ‘A serpent stung me; so the whole ear of Denmark / Is by a forged process of my death / Rankly abus’d’

  Biblical allusion, similar to the Original Sin story from the Bible. Suggests that Claudius is deceptive like Satan, and betrayed Old Hamlet.

• ‘Ay! That incestuous, that adulterate beast, / With witchcraft of his wit’

  Supernatural imagery - suggests that Claudius is the Devil, that he is evil, and associates him with witchcraft, which was extremely feared at that time.

• ‘That will of my most seeming-virtuous Queen’

  Reveals that his thoughts about Gertrude have changed, that he feels betrayed by her due to the fact she married his brother.

• ‘Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole’

  Suggests that the murder was premeditated. Suggests that Claudius is cowardly, opposing the previous image that has been created of Claudius (the one of him being a sincere king). Also it shows that Claudius is also selfish, and does things for his personal gain.

• ‘swift as quicksilver’

  Simile, referring to the swift loss of his life, wife and crown. Mercury is a poisonous metal that is liquid at room temperature.

• ‘curd, like eager droppings into milk’

  Metaphorical - refers to the unnatural and gruesome nature of Old Hamlet’s death.

• ‘wholesome blood’

  Reveals the good nature of the king.

• ‘Most lazar-like with vile and loathsome crust’

  Metaphorical - refers to the story of Lazarus from the New Testament. Suggests the Old Hamlet is like Lazarus, the poor man with leprosy who went to Heaven, and Claudius is Dives, the rich man who ended up going to Hell.

• ‘hereafter shall think meet / to put an antic disposition on’

  This is the moment where Hamlet decides to act mad so that he can carry out revenge.

Context

• Shakespeare’s only son, Hamnet, died at the age of 11 in 1596. This was approximately five years before ‘Hamlet’ was first performed. Shakespeare may have felt guilty due to the fact that he had spent the majority of his time pursuing his career as an actor/playwright, practically abandoning Hamnet during his infancy. This would have affected Shakespeare deeply, causing some people to suggest that the play was influenced by the death of his son.

• Ghosts are a typical feature of traditional revenge tragedies during this period. The ghosts usually asks the hero to avenge them. By using this genre, Shakespeare was able to begin to explore the questions of Hamlet’s morality and his ethics as he willingly listens and obliges to the wishes of a ghost.

• Shakespeare use of setting is relevant as it alludes to religious imagery as it mirrors the story of the Original Sin from the Bible. It can be argued that Claudius represents Satan as he deceives Old Hamlet the was Satan deceived Eve, Old Hamlet presents Eve as passes his knowledge onto Hamlet.

Critics

• ‘During this period Hamlet and Hamnet were actually considered to be the same name’ (Steven Greenblatt)