Important Quotes

• “To be or not to be: that is the question”

  Parallel phrasing. Shows balanced thoughts and his conflicted state of mind.

  He is questioning suicide, basically asking ‘to live or to die’. Even with debating suicide he is hesitant, reinforcing the idea that he is a man of inaction. 
  

• “Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, / Or to take arms r against a sea of troubles / And by opposing them”

  Violent imagery - victimises himself, makes himself seem like a martyr.

  War imagery - The war between himself and his morals.

  He wonders whether it is more honourable to accept his current situation and do nothing or to fight it head on and deal with it.

• “But that the dread of something after death / (The undiscovered country,”

  He is unsure whether he would go to heaven or to hell after death, especially if he takes his own life. This links to the increased interest of exploration at the time and religion as there was an interest in exploring the world and the unknown, especially what happens after death. Suicide was also considered a sin as it was thought to be an unnatural death, so Hamlet considering suicide would’ve been a shocking idea to the religious audience at the time.

• “the native hue of resolution / Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought”

  Semantic field of sickness and weakness. Hamlet struggles to find the answer as his rational thoughts conflict with his emotional mind.
  

• “Ha, ha! Are you honest?... Are you fair?”

  Reveals that Hamlet distrust women due to the actions and behaviour of his mother.
  

• “My lord?... What means your lordship?”

  Ophelia's use of questions reveals her confusion and naivety.

• “That if you be honest and fair, your honesty should admit no discourse to your beauty.”

  He sees goodness in her, however he insults her loyalty to her father. He is suggesting that just because she is beautiful, it does not mean that she is honest. Implying that she uses her looks to manipulate him.

• “for the power of beauty will sooner transform / honesty from what it is to bawd”

  ‘Bawd’ is a brothel - he is shaming her and suggesting that if she was a good person, she wouldn’t want to have sex with him.
  

• “Indeed, my lord, you made me believe so… I was the more deceived.”

  Ophelia recognises her naivety. It reveals that she is not as stupid as the other characters assume and she has more strength than shown. She is more intelligent and is not just a submissive, obedient girl.

• “Get thee to a nunnery.”

  There are two interpretations to this short sentence

  The first interpretation is that Hamlet does not love Ophelia and is disgusted by her as he believes that she is impure and no longer innocent. This is suggested by the vocabulary he uses, e.g., ‘bawd’, ‘honest’, ‘pure’. This interpretation suggests that she is meaningless to Hamlet.

  The other interpretation suggests that Hamlet does love her and is advising her to stay pure and not to succumb to her father’s and Claudius’ instructions (as Claudius represents the devil and evil). He is also implying that he does not want to be in a relationship with her as he knows he will hurt her. There is a sense of heartbreak as he may be influenced by the outcome of his parents’ relationship.
  

• “I have heard of your paintings too, well enough…God hath given you one face, and you make yourselves another.”

  Reference to makeup - Hamlet is suggesting that women are deceptive.
  

• “Those that are married already, all but one, shall live; the rest shall keep as they are.”

  This is a threat to Polonius and Claudius, suggesting that he will spare his mother, Gertrude, as ‘only one, shall live’.

Context

Women at the time had little to no power, causing it to be difficult for Queen Elizabeth I to rule as a monarch in a patriarchal society that viewed women as the property of their husband or father.

Critics

• ‘We can imagine Hamlet’s story without Ophelia, but Ophelia literally has no story without Hamlet’ (Edwards)

• ‘Hamlet is in fact the poison in the veins of his community’ (Knight)