A line from Hamlet that especially impressed me was from Act 1 scene 5. It was a line that Hamlet says after meeting his father’s ghost: “One may smile, and smile, and be a villain.” I think that this is a really important theme that may be smaller than the obvious ones (like death/ grief) throughout the play. People are not always who they say they are. This idea occurs in all of the character’s lives. Every individual questions other character’s identities as well as their own. This was impressive for me because of how relatable the statement Hamlet made was. There are so many people in the world that comes off as perfect, and are really someone completely different inside. Now this doesn't mean that people are secretly murdering their family for power, but I think this theme could more modernly be seen as simple lying. The lies Shakespeare explains in this play are massive, and concern incest as well as murder. Lies in current society comparable to this could involve things like cheating, fraud, etc. The fact that themes such as this are apparent in society even since this play was written in around 1600 is interesting. I think that as human beings lies are just a tendency in relationships. It is almost normalized. Something that is different about the 1600s to now is how revenge is handled. Obviously many people want revenge after finding out lies from people close to them, but everything in Hamlet would be illegal today. The world has definitely evolved in a way that revenge is more psychological, rather than physical. Instead of a royal jest things like manipulation are more evident today. Anyways, I just thought this quote was important/ stuck out because of the impact of its relevance. I actually did not notice it when I first read through the first act, but picked up on it again when I was searching for powerful quotes. Also, I thought it was impressive how Hamlet portrayed reaction to grief throughout the play. No lines in particular, but the whole idea of revenge versus pure insanity as reactions are also relevant to today. Though they were extreme, like the lies in the play, I think they pertain to modern society in a different and toned down level. Cat
“Your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service—two dishes, but to one table. That’s the end. A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm. Nothing but to show you how a king may go a progress through the guts of a beggar.”
I loved this quote because it goes beyond just the play Hamlet, but can applied with life. Whether you think Hamlet is mad or not, whether you agree with his actions or not, we cannot reject his statements. The afterlife is unknown and unguaranteed, and the only thing in life that is definite is our death. I like the fact that Hamlet is telling this to Claudius because Claudius obviously has a lust for power that is so strong it compelled him to kill his own brother in order to become King. Hamlet is reminding him that after all that he has done, at the end it was all pointless because at the end he will not be different than a lean beggar. He uses disturbing, grotesque thoughts to expose the dark, ugly truth. It's the unpleasant reality that we all try to avoid. In society, we all try to escape this fact by preoccupying ourselves with trivial matters and thoughts. When he says that “a king may go a progress through the guts of a beggar,” he is exposing society’s pointless obsession of rank. This is still relevant today, we are all so occupied by judging and by comparing others, what someone wore, how someone looks, trying to make themselves feel better and above other, while in reality it does not really matter. This quote just states the only thing we know for certain: no matter who we are, who we were, or what we owned, we all eventually end up in the same place.
"It must be 'se offendendo;' it cannot be else. For here lies the point: if I drown myself wittingly, it argues an act: and an act hath three branches: it is, to act, to do, to perform: argal, she drowned herself wittingly."
I think that this quote struck me moreso than most of the others because it is reflected in modern culture. Its a quote that shows that, despite the difference in time between us and them, humor and humanity remain somewhat static. There's some value in seeing that people are still as crass and horrible as ever. I think that many people have come to think that the world used to be a safe, simple world with very little in the way of negativity or violence relative to the world of today. This quote seems to contradict that to a good degree and I think that we as a culture should learn to make peace with the realities of our cultural heritage, that people of Shakespeare time, and at any point in time really, were remarkably similar to those we know of today. Perhaps the sterilized nostalgia is birthed from our puritan roots, or perhaps it is just that those who could read and write during periods were such talents were uncommon in the general population wanted to use it as a form of escapism and in turn were more likely to write about positive things than to dwell on the negatives. Honestly, I'm not too sure myself. Regardless it is refreshing to see a joke so startlingly modern buried under such antiquated diction.
A quote that struck me was actually in the beginning of the play, in Act I, Scene III. It was spoken by Polonius, when he was giving Laertes questionable advice before he left for France. The beginning part of his speech I just found funny, as he kept contradicting himself, and seemed ridiculously controlling. However, the last few lines, “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” made a lot of sense to me. I think that we often lose sight of who we are when trying to fit in or please other people. In the end, all that really matters is that you’re happy with yourself and that you feel good about your actions and beliefs. The only person you have to live with your whole life is you. I often struggle with this, and forget that ultimately, as long as I am being true to myself and my values, everything will turn out okay. This simple line has a lot of meaning to it, and connects with the rest of the play, as multiple characters worry about doing right for the sake of their fathers, or are blindly following orders from other people. Although Polonius may not have made much sense in the rest of his speech, he gave Laertes a piece of crucial advice that everyone in the play could do well to hear. If everyone had been true to themselves and not lost themselves in other people or in acting for the sake of others, there wouldn’t have been as much conflict. As Anna pointed out yesterday in class, did the act of killing his uncle actually bring Hamlet any peace? Or did he lose himself in the memory of his dad and lose sight of his own self and his own values? Sosha
A line I was moved by was said by Hamlet to Horatio in Act I Scene V just after Hamlet first saw the ghost of his father. He says to Horatio: “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy” (28). Given the context that Hamlet and Horatio both studied philosophy at Wittenberg together, this line has even more meaning. The philosophy they studied at Wittenberg probably did not touch upon ghosts since philosophy is mostly based on logic, science, and rational reasoning. In this line, Hamlet points out how limited human knowledge is and that even the most educated person in the world does not have an explanation for everything. I think that there are certain things in life such as how we can to be or certain experiences people have that just cannot be explained. Although there are of course many new discoveries and scientific studies that have changed people’s lives for the better, the world is also full of unfathomable mysteries and I think that is part of what makes it beautiful and complex which is why this quote really struck me.
“O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I! Is it not monstrous that this player here, But in a fiction, in a dream of passion, Could force his soul so to his own conceit … And all for nothing!” “Yet I, A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak, Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause, And can say nothing” (49)
I’ve always been drawn to Shakespeare’s plays because of how beautiful the language sounds. Hamlet’s speech consists mostly of poems, and there’s something to it that moves me-- with just words I hear his desperate outcry. He is none like any other typical hero-characters we see. Hamlet criticizes his inability to take action or show any sense of emotions after his father’s death. He is shocked by the actor’s ability to show so much emotion for nothing. I relate to it because in my head I’m always like “why am I like this”. There are times when I could’ve said something or stood up for someone, but I didn’t. I just thought of this because of Hamlet’s inability to act right away. In terms of his inability to show emotions, I don’t know what expression I should put on my face, or what I should say to certain situations. News of gun killings and wars breaking out have been so constant nowadays to the extent that I feel numb to it. “Oh there’s another one today.” Literally “what a rogue and peasant slave am I”.
There is one line from the play Hamlet that sticks in my mind and it comes after King Claudius asks Hamlet where Polonius’ corpse in and he replies at supper. He elaborates “not where he eats, but where he is eaten. A certain convocation of politic worms are e'en at him. Your worm is your only emperor for diet. We fat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots. Your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service—two dishes, but to one table. That’s the end.” This speech does a fantastic job of detailing how ultimate and all encompassing death is and how it lords over all life. How ultimately we are all just food for maggots waiting to be served and how death renders all of us, no matter how high in status, how grand our lives, how good our hearts, into the same raw materials to be consumed by insects. The fact that we will all ultimately die and be eaten by maggots reduces humanity, from something grand and important, to literal walking sacks of raw nutrients. It takes the idea of life and human existence from something meaningful and lasting into a waiting period before the real purpose of our lives, to die and be eaten, the most ultimate and complete of purposes humanity is destined to have. Hamlet has a similar speech in act five when he picks up Yorick’s skull and wonders about if Alexander the great and Caesar look like this dead jester, kings of the world reduced to the same dust and clay peasants are and unceremoniously their physical bodies are scattered and reused by the world. However I picked this quote from act 3 because it summarized this whole idea in a more concise and beautifully morbid and cynical way.
A line that I particularly liked was spoken by Fortinbras in Act V, Scene II; "For me, with sorrow, I embrace my fortune". I think this line really sums up the play and ties together the individual struggles of each of the characters. Right from the beginning of the play, it is clear that Hamlet is more of a dreamer and a thinker than a fighter, and yet when the ghost tells him to avenge his death, Hamlet grimly starts to figure out how to murder Claudius. Hamlet's procrastination in this task shows us that he really doesn't want to kill him, but he feels like this is his duty left to him by his father and so he has no choice. Just as Fortinbras doesn't know anything to do except regain his father's lands, Hamlet is manipulated by his past. With all of these young male characters, Hamlet, Fortinbras and Laertes, they only truly feel loyalty to their fathers and no matter how they felt about them before they died they think that they must continue their legacy and avenge any wrongs that were done to them. Similarly, Ophelia and Gertrude are being controlled by their husbands, brothers or sons. We never learn if Gertrude had any other options after King Hamlet died or if she married Claudius quickly out of her own free will. Her only job is to do what won't put her and her son in danger, so her opinion on her marriages is probably considered irrelevant. Additionally, Ophelia literally loses her mind without Polonius, Hamlet and Laertes there to guide her. In a way, King Claudius is also trying to follow in the footsteps of King Hamlet. He loves his queen and he tries to care for Hamlet at least a bit in the beginning. His reaction to Hamlet's play shows that he feels a lot of guilt from killing the king, but his concern only for himself later in the play shows us that he considers his current position as king worth the price of murdering Hamlet. Just as we talked about in class, each character is being controlled by ghosts. When Hamlet becomes the only person to see his father's ghost, it's almost as if Shakespeare is saying that King Hamlet's influence should be forgotten now, and Laertes should let go of Polonius and Fortinbras should stop trying to avenge his father. Since none of these characters can shake the impact of the dead, they all go insane and kill each other. Even Ophelia's death puts Hamlet and Laertes into a rage at the end. This line shows that Fortinbras, one of the only prominent surviving characters, will continue this cycle.
The quote that struck me the most was Fortibras' concluding order to "bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage; for he was likely, had he been put on, to have proved the most royal" because it felt like a validation of all of Hamlet's efforts throughout the play. At the beginning, Hamlet had been someone whose father had just been murdered and cursed, throne taken away by his father's murderer, and mother married off to the same man. As such, it is a play centered around revenge and bringing justice for his family. Although some of the methods Hamlet uses- as well as the general well-being of the nation of Denmark at the conclusion of the play- are questionable, he ultimately is able to achieve the goal laid out for him by revenging his father's death and killing Claudius. By having Fortibras- a longtime adversary of the Hamlet household- issue this statement and making it the last meaningful line in the entire play, Shakespeare emancipates this accomplishment. He is telling his audience that regardless of whether or not they may agree with Hamlet's actions throughout the play, they should at least respect him for having the courage of sacrificing his life to achieve his goals. And for that, Hamlet becomes that rare successful hero in a tragedy.
Like Sosha, one line that stood out to me in particular was “To thine own self be true,/and if must follow, as the night the day,/thou canst not then be false to any man”. This is something I try to apply to my own life. I try to live being true to myself, and I try not to change myself to better fit what other people want me to be. I try to live with integrity, and honesty. I make an effort to be honest to others about who I am and to myself about who I am, and I think this is something that everyone should do too. I don’t interpret this as living for myself and putting myself before everyone else, just that I have my own morals and sense of self, and that I try not to let others influence me and my thoughts or actions too much. The rest of Polonius’s speech to Laertes was full of contradictions, and kind of ridiculous, but I thought that it reflected the mixed messages we receive today. Everywhere you look there are contradicting messages; wear makeup but not too much, be a leader but not bossy, socialize with your friends but not too much, and more. I thought it was interesting seeing how nothing has really changed in terms of having a lot of messages on how to behave.
There were a lot of great quotes from the play that stuck out to me. Of course, many of the typical quotes that come up when speaking about Hamlet — the "to be or not to be" soliloquy or witty conversations with Horation and Ophelia, for instance. However, I sought to pick quotes that weren't necessarily the most popular or renowned. One of them was: "Doubt thou the stars are fire; doubt that the sun doth move; doubt truth to be a liar; but never doubt I love." In a nutshell, this quote shows the power emotion can wield, particularly love. Hamlet notes that this love is so strong that even ridiculous claims like truthfulness being equivalent to deceit or stars not being balls of fire, would be feasible in comparison. To add, I enjoyed a quote from Polonius, who spoke about Hamlet's behavior, noting that "though this be madness, yet there is method in't." This plays along with the discussion we had in class some time back about a specific pattern in literature, in which those portrayed to be the most insane or foolish often end up having the most sound or rational minds (this is moreso true with Shakespeare's plays, I've found). Also, just like other works we've read in this class, the relevance of themes in old literature in today's day and age always fascinates me, and Hamlet is no exception to this. Many had noted above — and I agree with them — that there is often a jarring contradiction between what society expects of us and what we truly desire. Hamlet yearned to break free of such restrictions and yell to the world the truth he knew about the murder of his father, but this was easier said than done, and Hamlet had to skillfully navigate through the familial and societal dynamic at the time in order to eventually do so. Similarly, in the modern era, everything from the college application process to the general treatment and perception of women to legislation on climate change, seems to differ from what our consciences tell us. It's an interesting observation, and makes one think how ironic society can be at times.
One of the lines that struck me the most in Hamlet was near the end of the play, when Hamlet says, "Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth into dust, the dust is earth, of earth we make loam, and why of that loam, whereto he was converted, might they not stop a beer-barrel?" Although this is a pretty morbid quote, it is incredibly just honest. I feel like throughout life we're always searching to matter and to feel like we're making a difference, be the best, succeed, but really what's the point? Whether you are a president or someone who just sits and watched tv all day, we're all just going to die and return to the earth in one way or another. Especially now, in our lives, as we're preparing to go to college so many people are following what they think will make them successful, or if they're following a passion that won't necessarily make them rich they have to hear people constantly telling them that they'll probably fail. And people will say, "Oh, just do what makes you happy, don't worry about the money!" and yes, even though money isn't everything, you can't simply say that it doesn't matter because it determines nearly everything about someone's life. I think that this quote is just as relevant today as it was back then, and I think the meaning behind it is greatly up for interpretation. If you want the quote to be telling you to follow your heart, then that's what you'll see; however if you see the quote telling you that YOU don't matter, you'll see that.. Like glass half full or half empty (sort of). This is truly one where you inevitably find out a lot about yourself and how you see your worth.
One of the most interesting quotes for me was when the Ghost tells Hamlet “But howsoever thou pursuest this act, Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive against thy mother aught. Leave her to heaven and to those thorns that in her bosom lodge to prick and sting her.” (23) I feel like the advice that the ghost gave to Hamlet had almost the opposite effect of what it was intended to do. The Ghost wants Hamlet to avenge his father’s death so he could feel some peace of mind but all he did was make him go insane with anger and confusion. Maybe some things are better left unknown, and Hamlet would have been better off not knowing who murdered his father. As we see later in the play, closure for Hamlet comes at the expense of his life. Does Hamlet avenging of his father’s death even count if his own life must be taken as well?
I think the play of Hamlet really is questioning how we define ourselves as individuals. Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras are all considered foils in the play, and as Rory said, they all only truly feel loyalty to their fathers. Perhaps this is because they had been going through their lives only doing what their father told them to do, or because they only were relevant in the palace or to anyone they met because of who their fathers were. Once their fathers were lost, they too felt lost, and began looking for a new way to define themselves. Laertes and Fortinbras used avenging their father’s death, or renewing their fathers’ legacies, and become soldiers for their fathers. Ophelia falls into this trap as well-- when her father dies, her identity is literally lost to madness. Hamlet drifts into a kind of madness as well. Even Gertrude had a comparable shift in identity after her husband-- the most prominent male figure in her life--died. A woman at this time period could hardly exist without a husband, so it makes sense that she would feel like her identity was purely dependant on who she’s married to, and that she’d be desperate to remarry again. She remarried so quickly that it almost seemed like she was trying to allow herself to pretend that her husband’s death didn’t happen-- with this second marriage, she’s still married to the king, and is still married into the same family of her first husband. Her second marriage is so similar in many ways to her first that she probably felt like her identity could remain largely the same with it. Additionally, the way she allows Claudius to boss her around suggests that she is desperate for someone to give her direction in her life. All of these characters represent the idea that people often allow other people to define them. In other words, we center our own identity around our connections to other people, and without them, we don’t know what to do with ourselves. This is not something that only people from Shakespearean times did-- we still tie our identities to other people, and as a result, never truly know who we are. This idea echoes throughout the play, but is largely represented when Horatio warns Hamlet not to speak to the ghost, because it might “deprive [Hamlet] of [his] sovereignty of reason, and draw [him] into madness”. This is essentially what happened to Hamlet, and to the other characters in the play. The memory, or the ghost, of their fathers (or husband, in Gertrude’s case) drove them into questioning of their sense of self, and for many of the characters, into a kind of madness. Anna
“...there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” - Hamlet
This quote is from Act II Scene II. I think that this is a very underated quote. I think that it has so many different meanings that are up for interperetation, but mine is quite literal. Nothing is good or bad when it is born, made, created, etc. The only thing that makes something good or bad is thinking that it is good or bad. On a very basic level, bananas are neither good nor bad, but if someones doesn’t like bananas, then they are therefore considered bad. Thinking about something is the only way to judge whether it is good or bad, right or wrong, and every person who encounters that same thing will have a different view about it. In today’s society everything is driven from opinions and viewpoints and moral standings, and there is no defined right and wrong, good or bad. And somethings may be universally considered morally right, but who decided that was morally right in the first place? It’s a lot to think about and I think that there are small hidden quotes like this all throughout Hamlet and other works of Shakespeare that could lead to interesting conversations and dialogs.
“To die, to sleep - To sleep, perchance to dream - ay, there's the rub, For in this sleep of death what dreams may come...” I know I commented on the significance and connection I felt to Hamlet's "to be or not to be" speech but I just felt too attached to ignore this quote just because we're all avoiding trying to be mainstream. The thing is, I've been where Hamlet was. I've wondered before if "sleep" can serve as an escape from troubling matters. When the stress and anxiety of college applications fell on my shoulders, I was overwhelmed and knew not where to turn because there were deadlines and pressure was being unloaded on me from all angles. When I had a two-, three-month-long rough patch with my boyfriend and wasn't sure how to fix it or if I could, I felt terrified of losing the person I care for and love most. When my depression spiked this year from losing all of my closest friends because they graduated last year and I was left questioning what friends I had in my own grade, I was lonely for days and weeks on end. When my parents left me to deal with all these changes by myself and continued to treat me as an irresponsible child even though I was handling much more than any "child" should have to handle, I wanted to scream at them for not seeing what was happening. I had days and nights where I could do nothing but break down because I was being weighed down by so many things and I was left questioning what lay beyond death and if it was worth rushing towards. Sure, Hamlet sought vengeance and was blinded by anger and insanity but during this speech I saw him the most human and I related to his conflict. Furthermore, his inability to act on his philosophy nailed me right on the head. I think and ask questions and analyze every possible path and outcome but I can never make a decision, or I take forever to make it. I am incapable of facing my fear of making the wrong decision, letting someone down, or being unhappy with whatever follows -- whether it be good or bad. And when I do act, sometimes it does come out like that stab at the threat behind the curtain. I'm either impulsive or too careful. With Shakespearean plays, I never really look to connect or analyze myself but it was inevitable as I read Hamlet's speech and understood perfectly what he meant. And while the quote I chose lies within one of the most famous speeches of all time, it's the one that moved and impacted me most.
"Though this be madness, yet there is method in't." My parents always say there is a method to their madness and I had no idea that saying originated from Hamlet. Although a simple saying from Hamlet I feel like this quote most accurately describes the text as a whole from Hamlet's perspective and personally relates to my life. I think a lot of people discredited Hamlet due to his seemingly erratic behavior but he actually proved to be very intelligent and sneaky. I also think it is ironic that Hamlet is deemed crazy when he is the only one to show any real modern emotional intelligence after the death of his father through grieving and the want for revenge. We could even say he was the only normal one after such a tragedy. This quote could also describe other people in the play besides Hamlet. For example Laertes and even Claudius. I mean you have to be crazy in order to kill your own brother especially in such a gruesome yet organized and planned out way. Claudius shows high intelligence and would have been able to pull of the murder if it wasn't for the ghost of Hamlet, proving there was definitely a method to his madness. As for Laertes he reacted very similarly to Hamlet and his plan to dip his sword in poison for the duel against Hamlet was genius in my opinion. Overall this play may be known for its crazy characters but I personally think it shows extremely smart characters and is one of Shakespeare more thought out and well written plays .
Throughout the story of Hamlet, there were many qoutes that served important purposes. But there were a few that particularly invoked thought and drew my attention. In act III, the self contemplation and philosphical questioning that followed the famous “To be or not to be”, I found particularly interesting. In this soliloquay he asks, “for who would bear the whips and scorns of time, the oppressors wrong, the proud mans contumely… the insolence of office, and the spurns that patient merit unworthy takes, when he himself might his quietus make with a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear, to grunt and sweat under a weary life” (53). I think that Hamlet raised some valid questions about whether eventhough people have commited wrongs, does the burden neccesary fall upon them? And Is there truly any meaning to where burden may fall, is it even worth living or avenging when there is no way to know if proper settlement and closure is possible? I enjoye this scene because Hamlet is struggling with how unfair the world can be and how us as humans may not be as in control as we may think. Along this similar theme, in act V, the gravediggers contemplation over the bones that carelessly are dug and strewn about I found impactful, “Why may not that be the skull of a lawyer? Where be his quiddities now… his statutes, his recognizances, his fines, his double vouchers, his recoveries.. Is this fine of his fones and the recovery of his recoveries, to have his fine pate full of fine dirt?” (104). He is bringing up the same questions as Hamlet had about the meaning of life and whether it actually has any meaning if we all will just die and everyone will move on and the world will forget about you, just like how Hamlet sees everyone forgetting about his father just a couple months after he died. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I think that this book raised alot of philosophical and existential questions that Shakespeare executed in such an effective way that made it all the more entertaining.
A quote that moved me was Polonius’s speech toward Laertes, finishing with “This above all: To thine own self be true.” As we all prepare to finally move out and go to college, away from our parents’ support and help for perhaps the rest of our lives, this quote seems like something relevant to all of us in this class. Although there is some comedy to the laundry list of directions that Polonius gives his son before telling him to be true to himself, it seems relevant to our coming journey and the effort to be the best people we can without straying from goodness while still being true to ourselves. This quote, to me, seems a fitting reminder that the issues we adolescents face today as we plan to leave the nest are the same ones that have plagued people throughout history. It is a question I plan to ponder myself: is it more important to not stray from a righteous path, or to be true to myself—can those two coexist? Either way, I felt that Laertes’s struggles with his overbearing father, while not exactly analogous to my feelings about college, still reminded me of many of the same issues that I will face in the coming year.
This is one of my favorite lines in Hamlet. In context, Polonius is giving advice to Laertes, by telling him to be himself. He is also telling him not to lie and put others down like many others in the play do. It also shows a little irony, because both Polonius and Laertes do not follow this. One of my favorite elements of the play was its irony. This quote encompases only a small example. Within the entire play Hamlet is furious with his mother and uncle for killing his father, and he cannot wrap his mind around the morals of a person who could kill another. Yet he himself kills by the end of play. However, the reason I like this quote is because it relates to many other things. People have said things like this to me many times, so it almost made the play seem a little more relatable.
In Act 5 scene 1, Hamlet said the line “Why may not imagination trace the noble dust of Alexander till he find it stopping a bunghole”? I thought this line was really interesting because when people live there are many factors that divide us. Religion, achievements, social classes, personal beliefs and our interests all create a division between our community. However, after we die we are all the same, with no labels that prioritize one person from another. We become the same thing and other factors that were once significant no longer matter. This is an idea that I recognized in this play that applies to our real world. We unconsciously acquaint ourselves with people who we identify with. The idea of equality is something most of us believe in however our actions sometimes don’t reflect it. This line made me think about experiences in my personal life and helped me realize that there are only trivial details that differentiate us all. Kaby
“Queen: Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended. Hamlet: Mother, you have my father much offended.”
I chose these two lines because they came from my favorite part of the play, the play inside the play. I thought that this scene was very clever in the way that it was created. I particularly liked watching this scene in Kenneth Branagh's movie, I found it quite comical. The play was Hamlet’s attempt to call his Uncle out and let him know that he knows the truth, without actually telling him that he knows the truth. In our time it was like Hamlet subtweeted his Uncle, discussing the topic without actually discussing it. This exchange between Hamlet and his mother was after the play and was a heated conversation at that. I enjoyed when Mr. P acted this out in front of the class as it allowed me to fully picture the scene. For me this scene was comical while also showcasing Shakespeare’s brilliance. This scene was executed so well, and in my opinion, the rising action/climax of the play. This is when the play really picked up and when Hamlet let his uncle and mother know the truth about the atrocities they are committing. Colleen
"Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane, Drink off this poison. Is thy union here? Follow my mother."
This line is the culmination of all the rage that Hamlet has built up inside him since the beginning of the play, and the reader sees it pour out all at once. To think of the effect that this line would have acted out on stage, similarly to what we saw in the films, makes this violent yet beautiful quote even more thought-provoking. It is not so much the lasting emotional impact that makes this line resonate with me, but the word choice and what it reveals about Hamlet's character. As we discussed in class, the subject of most of Hamlet's anger has ultimately been his mother, Queen Gertrude, against whom he always goes off on a tangent towards the end of his soliloquies. Even in the act of killing the man who killed his father, Hamlet cannot help but take another jab at his mother with the last 3 words, which indicates that at the end of the day he is taking out the lasing anger from the wedding situation and his mother onto the king. "Incestuous, murderous, damned Dane" also has a cadence that rolls nicely off the tongue, helped in part by alliteration in the last two words. It is at this point, in my opinion, that the climax of the play happens; the part that the reader knew would come and was secretly hoping to see. But does wishing for the gruesome murder of a king make the audience a bad person, or is it justified by Hamlet's insane ramblings and the Ghost King's call for assassination? Does it even matter? These moral questions posed are what makes Shakespeare such a long-lasting and famous playwright, and is why his works have survived for so long.
"We fat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots. Your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service—two dishes, but to one table. That’s the end." This quote from act 4 scene 3 has stuck with me since I read it. It is nihilistic and morbid, a true testament to Hamlet's descent into insanity and his penchant towards the depressing, but even so this statement is somehow comforting. Hamlet is saying that no matter who we are, no matter our social status, class, or life, we all end up being eaten by maggots. One could take this statement extremely negatively, and assume that this means that life has no point and that death is inevitable thus why bother living at all. However I choose to look at it as a statement which equalizes humanity. For at the end of our lives it does not matter if you are a king or a beggar, your legacy will be what you chose to do on the world, as your physical body will end up being eaten by maggots regardless. Claudius will be remembered as the man who killed his brother and married his wife, while failing to protect Denmark from invasion. However there is a chance that Hamlet will be remembered as the Prince who avenged his father. Or he may just be known as the insane royal who ended up causing a wave of death to befall the Danish Palace. But they both end up in the ground, equal once again.
“O God, Horatio, what a wounded name, Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind me! If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart Absent thee from felicity a while, And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain To tell my story.”
Hamlet’s words as he lays dying from the poisoned blade transcend within all human beings; we don’t realize our mistakes and faults until it is too late. When we analyze our past retrospectively, we realize things we wouldn’t have previously while under the influence of self-serving bias. We convince ourselves that many of the things that we’ve said or done in the past were justified, but, more often than not, they are innately not. Hamlet has not recognized the consequences and immorality of his atrocities until he is near death, hence why he begs Horatio to tell others of his incentives in committing his heinous acts. I also liked this line because it is essentially the culmination of the play, as Hamlet finally realizes the treachery of his acts. His infatuation with getting revenge on his Uncle led to the impairment of his morality, and subsequently his poor actions.
A line from Hamlet that especially impressed me was from Act 1 scene 5. It was a line that Hamlet says after meeting his father’s ghost: “One may smile, and smile, and be a villain.” I think that this is a really important theme that may be smaller than the obvious ones (like death/ grief) throughout the play. People are not always who they say they are. This idea occurs in all of the character’s lives. Every individual questions other character’s identities as well as their own. This was impressive for me because of how relatable the statement Hamlet made was. There are so many people in the world that comes off as perfect, and are really someone completely different inside. Now this doesn't mean that people are secretly murdering their family for power, but I think this theme could more modernly be seen as simple lying. The lies Shakespeare explains in this play are massive, and concern incest as well as murder. Lies in current society comparable to this could involve things like cheating, fraud, etc. The fact that themes such as this are apparent in society even since this play was written in around 1600 is interesting. I think that as human beings lies are just a tendency in relationships. It is almost normalized. Something that is different about the 1600s to now is how revenge is handled. Obviously many people want revenge after finding out lies from people close to them, but everything in Hamlet would be illegal today. The world has definitely evolved in a way that revenge is more psychological, rather than physical. Instead of a royal jest things like manipulation are more evident today. Anyways, I just thought this quote was important/ stuck out because of the impact of its relevance. I actually did not notice it when I first read through the first act, but picked up on it again when I was searching for powerful quotes. Also, I thought it was impressive how Hamlet portrayed reaction to grief throughout the play. No lines in particular, but the whole idea of revenge versus pure insanity as reactions are also relevant to today. Though they were extreme, like the lies in the play, I think they pertain to modern society in a different and toned down level.
ReplyDeleteCat
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ReplyDelete“Your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service—two dishes, but to one table. That’s the end. A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm. Nothing but to show you how a king may go a progress through the guts of a beggar.”
ReplyDeleteI loved this quote because it goes beyond just the play Hamlet, but can applied with life. Whether you think Hamlet is mad or not, whether you agree with his actions or not, we cannot reject his statements. The afterlife is unknown and unguaranteed, and the only thing in life that is definite is our death. I like the fact that Hamlet is telling this to Claudius because Claudius obviously has a lust for power that is so strong it compelled him to kill his own brother in order to become King. Hamlet is reminding him that after all that he has done, at the end it was all pointless because at the end he will not be different than a lean beggar. He uses disturbing, grotesque thoughts to expose the dark, ugly truth. It's the unpleasant reality that we all try to avoid. In society, we all try to escape this fact by preoccupying ourselves with trivial matters and thoughts. When he says that “a king may go a progress through the guts of a beggar,” he is exposing society’s pointless obsession of rank. This is still relevant today, we are all so occupied by judging and by comparing others, what someone wore, how someone looks, trying to make themselves feel better and above other, while in reality it does not really matter. This quote just states the only thing we know for certain: no matter who we are, who we were, or what we owned, we all eventually end up in the same place.
"It must be 'se offendendo;' it cannot be else. For
ReplyDeletehere lies the point: if I drown myself wittingly,
it argues an act: and an act hath three branches: it
is, to act, to do, to perform: argal, she drowned
herself wittingly."
I think that this quote struck me moreso than most of the others because it is reflected in modern culture. Its a quote that shows that, despite the difference in time between us and them, humor and humanity remain somewhat static. There's some value in seeing that people are still as crass and horrible as ever. I think that many people have come to think that the world used to be a safe, simple world with very little in the way of negativity or violence relative to the world of today. This quote seems to contradict that to a good degree and I think that we as a culture should learn to make peace with the realities of our cultural heritage, that people of Shakespeare time, and at any point in time really, were remarkably similar to those we know of today. Perhaps the sterilized nostalgia is birthed from our puritan roots, or perhaps it is just that those who could read and write during periods were such talents were uncommon in the general population wanted to use it as a form of escapism and in turn were more likely to write about positive things than to dwell on the negatives. Honestly, I'm not too sure myself. Regardless it is refreshing to see a joke so startlingly modern buried under such antiquated diction.
A quote that struck me was actually in the beginning of the play, in Act I, Scene III. It was spoken by Polonius, when he was giving Laertes questionable advice before he left for France. The beginning part of his speech I just found funny, as he kept contradicting himself, and seemed ridiculously controlling. However, the last few lines, “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” made a lot of sense to me. I think that we often lose sight of who we are when trying to fit in or please other people. In the end, all that really matters is that you’re happy with yourself and that you feel good about your actions and beliefs. The only person you have to live with your whole life is you. I often struggle with this, and forget that ultimately, as long as I am being true to myself and my values, everything will turn out okay. This simple line has a lot of meaning to it, and connects with the rest of the play, as multiple characters worry about doing right for the sake of their fathers, or are blindly following orders from other people. Although Polonius may not have made much sense in the rest of his speech, he gave Laertes a piece of crucial advice that everyone in the play could do well to hear. If everyone had been true to themselves and not lost themselves in other people or in acting for the sake of others, there wouldn’t have been as much conflict. As Anna pointed out yesterday in class, did the act of killing his uncle actually bring Hamlet any peace? Or did he lose himself in the memory of his dad and lose sight of his own self and his own values? Sosha
ReplyDeleteA line I was moved by was said by Hamlet to Horatio in Act I Scene V just after Hamlet first saw the ghost of his father. He says to Horatio: “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy” (28). Given the context that Hamlet and Horatio both studied philosophy at Wittenberg together, this line has even more meaning. The philosophy they studied at Wittenberg probably did not touch upon ghosts since philosophy is mostly based on logic, science, and rational reasoning. In this line, Hamlet points out how limited human knowledge is and that even the most educated person in the world does not have an explanation for everything. I think that there are certain things in life such as how we can to be or certain experiences people have that just cannot be explained. Although there are of course many new discoveries and scientific studies that have changed people’s lives for the better, the world is also full of unfathomable mysteries and I think that is part of what makes it beautiful and complex which is why this quote really struck me.
ReplyDelete“O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!
ReplyDeleteIs it not monstrous that this player here,
But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,
Could force his soul so to his own conceit
… And all for nothing!”
“Yet I,
A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak,
Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause,
And can say nothing” (49)
I’ve always been drawn to Shakespeare’s plays because of how beautiful the language sounds. Hamlet’s speech consists mostly of poems, and there’s something to it that moves me-- with just words I hear his desperate outcry. He is none like any other typical hero-characters we see. Hamlet criticizes his inability to take action or show any sense of emotions after his father’s death. He is shocked by the actor’s ability to show so much emotion for nothing. I relate to it because in my head I’m always like “why am I like this”. There are times when I could’ve said something or stood up for someone, but I didn’t. I just thought of this because of Hamlet’s inability to act right away.
In terms of his inability to show emotions, I don’t know what expression I should put on my face, or what I should say to certain situations. News of gun killings and wars breaking out have been so constant nowadays to the extent that I feel numb to it. “Oh there’s another one today.” Literally “what a rogue and peasant slave am I”.
There is one line from the play Hamlet that sticks in my mind and it comes after King Claudius asks Hamlet where Polonius’ corpse in and he replies at supper. He elaborates “not where he eats, but where he is eaten. A certain convocation of politic worms are e'en at him. Your worm is your only emperor for diet. We fat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots. Your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service—two dishes, but to one table. That’s the end.” This speech does a fantastic job of detailing how ultimate and all encompassing death is and how it lords over all life. How ultimately we are all just food for maggots waiting to be served and how death renders all of us, no matter how high in status, how grand our lives, how good our hearts, into the same raw materials to be consumed by insects. The fact that we will all ultimately die and be eaten by maggots reduces humanity, from something grand and important, to literal walking sacks of raw nutrients. It takes the idea of life and human existence from something meaningful and lasting into a waiting period before the real purpose of our lives, to die and be eaten, the most ultimate and complete of purposes humanity is destined to have. Hamlet has a similar speech in act five when he picks up Yorick’s skull and wonders about if Alexander the great and Caesar look like this dead jester, kings of the world reduced to the same dust and clay peasants are and unceremoniously their physical bodies are scattered and reused by the world. However I picked this quote from act 3 because it summarized this whole idea in a more concise and beautifully morbid and cynical way.
ReplyDeleteA line that I particularly liked was spoken by Fortinbras in Act V, Scene II; "For me, with sorrow, I embrace my fortune". I think this line really sums up the play and ties together the individual struggles of each of the characters. Right from the beginning of the play, it is clear that Hamlet is more of a dreamer and a thinker than a fighter, and yet when the ghost tells him to avenge his death, Hamlet grimly starts to figure out how to murder Claudius. Hamlet's procrastination in this task shows us that he really doesn't want to kill him, but he feels like this is his duty left to him by his father and so he has no choice. Just as Fortinbras doesn't know anything to do except regain his father's lands, Hamlet is manipulated by his past. With all of these young male characters, Hamlet, Fortinbras and Laertes, they only truly feel loyalty to their fathers and no matter how they felt about them before they died they think that they must continue their legacy and avenge any wrongs that were done to them. Similarly, Ophelia and Gertrude are being controlled by their husbands, brothers or sons. We never learn if Gertrude had any other options after King Hamlet died or if she married Claudius quickly out of her own free will. Her only job is to do what won't put her and her son in danger, so her opinion on her marriages is probably considered irrelevant. Additionally, Ophelia literally loses her mind without Polonius, Hamlet and Laertes there to guide her. In a way, King Claudius is also trying to follow in the footsteps of King Hamlet. He loves his queen and he tries to care for Hamlet at least a bit in the beginning. His reaction to Hamlet's play shows that he feels a lot of guilt from killing the king, but his concern only for himself later in the play shows us that he considers his current position as king worth the price of murdering Hamlet. Just as we talked about in class, each character is being controlled by ghosts. When Hamlet becomes the only person to see his father's ghost, it's almost as if Shakespeare is saying that King Hamlet's influence should be forgotten now, and Laertes should let go of Polonius and Fortinbras should stop trying to avenge his father. Since none of these characters can shake the impact of the dead, they all go insane and kill each other. Even Ophelia's death puts Hamlet and Laertes into a rage at the end. This line shows that Fortinbras, one of the only prominent surviving characters, will continue this cycle.
ReplyDeleteThe quote that struck me the most was Fortibras' concluding order to "bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage; for he was likely, had he been put on, to have proved the most royal" because it felt like a validation of all of Hamlet's efforts throughout the play. At the beginning, Hamlet had been someone whose father had just been murdered and cursed, throne taken away by his father's murderer, and mother married off to the same man. As such, it is a play centered around revenge and bringing justice for his family. Although some of the methods Hamlet uses- as well as the general well-being of the nation of Denmark at the conclusion of the play- are questionable, he ultimately is able to achieve the goal laid out for him by revenging his father's death and killing Claudius. By having Fortibras- a longtime adversary of the Hamlet household- issue this statement and making it the last meaningful line in the entire play, Shakespeare emancipates this accomplishment. He is telling his audience that regardless of whether or not they may agree with Hamlet's actions throughout the play, they should at least respect him for having the courage of sacrificing his life to achieve his goals. And for that, Hamlet becomes that rare successful hero in a tragedy.
ReplyDeleteLike Sosha, one line that stood out to me in particular was “To thine own self be true,/and if must follow, as the night the day,/thou canst not then be false to any man”. This is something I try to apply to my own life. I try to live being true to myself, and I try not to change myself to better fit what other people want me to be. I try to live with integrity, and honesty. I make an effort to be honest to others about who I am and to myself about who I am, and I think this is something that everyone should do too. I don’t interpret this as living for myself and putting myself before everyone else, just that I have my own morals and sense of self, and that I try not to let others influence me and my thoughts or actions too much. The rest of Polonius’s speech to Laertes was full of contradictions, and kind of ridiculous, but I thought that it reflected the mixed messages we receive today. Everywhere you look there are contradicting messages; wear makeup but not too much, be a leader but not bossy, socialize with your friends but not too much, and more. I thought it was interesting seeing how nothing has really changed in terms of having a lot of messages on how to behave.
ReplyDeleteThere were a lot of great quotes from the play that stuck out to me. Of course, many of the typical quotes that come up when speaking about Hamlet — the "to be or not to be" soliloquy or witty conversations with Horation and Ophelia, for instance. However, I sought to pick quotes that weren't necessarily the most popular or renowned. One of them was: "Doubt thou the stars are fire; doubt that the sun doth move; doubt truth to be a liar; but never doubt I love." In a nutshell, this quote shows the power emotion can wield, particularly love. Hamlet notes that this love is so strong that even ridiculous claims like truthfulness being equivalent to deceit or stars not being balls of fire, would be feasible in comparison. To add, I enjoyed a quote from Polonius, who spoke about Hamlet's behavior, noting that "though this be madness, yet there is method in't." This plays along with the discussion we had in class some time back about a specific pattern in literature, in which those portrayed to be the most insane or foolish often end up having the most sound or rational minds (this is moreso true with Shakespeare's plays, I've found). Also, just like other works we've read in this class, the relevance of themes in old literature in today's day and age always fascinates me, and Hamlet is no exception to this. Many had noted above — and I agree with them — that there is often a jarring contradiction between what society expects of us and what we truly desire. Hamlet yearned to break free of such restrictions and yell to the world the truth he knew about the murder of his father, but this was easier said than done, and Hamlet had to skillfully navigate through the familial and societal dynamic at the time in order to eventually do so. Similarly, in the modern era, everything from the college application process to the general treatment and perception of women to legislation on climate change, seems to differ from what our consciences tell us. It's an interesting observation, and makes one think how ironic society can be at times.
ReplyDeleteOne of the lines that struck me the most in Hamlet was near the end of the play, when Hamlet says, "Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth into dust, the dust is earth, of earth we make loam, and why of that loam, whereto he was converted, might they not stop a beer-barrel?" Although this is a pretty morbid quote, it is incredibly just honest. I feel like throughout life we're always searching to matter and to feel like we're making a difference, be the best, succeed, but really what's the point? Whether you are a president or someone who just sits and watched tv all day, we're all just going to die and return to the earth in one way or another. Especially now, in our lives, as we're preparing to go to college so many people are following what they think will make them successful, or if they're following a passion that won't necessarily make them rich they have to hear people constantly telling them that they'll probably fail. And people will say, "Oh, just do what makes you happy, don't worry about the money!" and yes, even though money isn't everything, you can't simply say that it doesn't matter because it determines nearly everything about someone's life. I think that this quote is just as relevant today as it was back then, and I think the meaning behind it is greatly up for interpretation. If you want the quote to be telling you to follow your heart, then that's what you'll see; however if you see the quote telling you that YOU don't matter, you'll see that.. Like glass half full or half empty (sort of). This is truly one where you inevitably find out a lot about yourself and how you see your worth.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most interesting quotes for me was when the Ghost tells Hamlet “But howsoever thou pursuest this act, Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive against thy mother aught. Leave her to heaven and to those thorns that in her bosom lodge to prick and sting her.” (23) I feel like the advice that the ghost gave to Hamlet had almost the opposite effect of what it was intended to do. The Ghost wants Hamlet to avenge his father’s death so he could feel some peace of mind but all he did was make him go insane with anger and confusion. Maybe some things are better left unknown, and Hamlet would have been better off not knowing who murdered his father. As we see later in the play, closure for Hamlet comes at the expense of his life. Does Hamlet avenging of his father’s death even count if his own life must be taken as well?
ReplyDeleteI think the play of Hamlet really is questioning how we define ourselves as individuals. Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras are all considered foils in the play, and as Rory said, they all only truly feel loyalty to their fathers. Perhaps this is because they had been going through their lives only doing what their father told them to do, or because they only were relevant in the palace or to anyone they met because of who their fathers were. Once their fathers were lost, they too felt lost, and began looking for a new way to define themselves. Laertes and Fortinbras used avenging their father’s death, or renewing their fathers’ legacies, and become soldiers for their fathers. Ophelia falls into this trap as well-- when her father dies, her identity is literally lost to madness. Hamlet drifts into a kind of madness as well. Even Gertrude had a comparable shift in identity after her husband-- the most prominent male figure in her life--died. A woman at this time period could hardly exist without a husband, so it makes sense that she would feel like her identity was purely dependant on who she’s married to, and that she’d be desperate to remarry again. She remarried so quickly that it almost seemed like she was trying to allow herself to pretend that her husband’s death didn’t happen-- with this second marriage, she’s still married to the king, and is still married into the same family of her first husband. Her second marriage is so similar in many ways to her first that she probably felt like her identity could remain largely the same with it. Additionally, the way she allows Claudius to boss her around suggests that she is desperate for someone to give her direction in her life. All of these characters represent the idea that people often allow other people to define them. In other words, we center our own identity around our connections to other people, and without them, we don’t know what to do with ourselves. This is not something that only people from Shakespearean times did-- we still tie our identities to other people, and as a result, never truly know who we are. This idea echoes throughout the play, but is largely represented when Horatio warns Hamlet not to speak to the ghost, because it might “deprive [Hamlet] of [his] sovereignty of reason, and draw [him] into madness”. This is essentially what happened to Hamlet, and to the other characters in the play. The memory, or the ghost, of their fathers (or husband, in Gertrude’s case) drove them into questioning of their sense of self, and for many of the characters, into a kind of madness.
ReplyDeleteAnna
“...there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” - Hamlet
ReplyDeleteThis quote is from Act II Scene II. I think that this is a very underated quote. I think that it has so many different meanings that are up for interperetation, but mine is quite literal. Nothing is good or bad when it is born, made, created, etc. The only thing that makes something good or bad is thinking that it is good or bad. On a very basic level, bananas are neither good nor bad, but if someones doesn’t like bananas, then they are therefore considered bad. Thinking about something is the only way to judge whether it is good or bad, right or wrong, and every person who encounters that same thing will have a different view about it. In today’s society everything is driven from opinions and viewpoints and moral standings, and there is no defined right and wrong, good or bad. And somethings may be universally considered morally right, but who decided that was morally right in the first place? It’s a lot to think about and I think that there are small hidden quotes like this all throughout Hamlet and other works of Shakespeare that could lead to interesting conversations and dialogs.
Disclaimer: this gets a little morbid.
ReplyDelete“To die, to sleep -
To sleep, perchance to dream - ay, there's the rub,
For in this sleep of death what dreams may come...”
I know I commented on the significance and connection I felt to Hamlet's "to be or not to be" speech but I just felt too attached to ignore this quote just because we're all avoiding trying to be mainstream. The thing is, I've been where Hamlet was. I've wondered before if "sleep" can serve as an escape from troubling matters. When the stress and anxiety of college applications fell on my shoulders, I was overwhelmed and knew not where to turn because there were deadlines and pressure was being unloaded on me from all angles. When I had a two-, three-month-long rough patch with my boyfriend and wasn't sure how to fix it or if I could, I felt terrified of losing the person I care for and love most. When my depression spiked this year from losing all of my closest friends because they graduated last year and I was left questioning what friends I had in my own grade, I was lonely for days and weeks on end. When my parents left me to deal with all these changes by myself and continued to treat me as an irresponsible child even though I was handling much more than any "child" should have to handle, I wanted to scream at them for not seeing what was happening. I had days and nights where I could do nothing but break down because I was being weighed down by so many things and I was left questioning what lay beyond death and if it was worth rushing towards. Sure, Hamlet sought vengeance and was blinded by anger and insanity but during this speech I saw him the most human and I related to his conflict. Furthermore, his inability to act on his philosophy nailed me right on the head. I think and ask questions and analyze every possible path and outcome but I can never make a decision, or I take forever to make it. I am incapable of facing my fear of making the wrong decision, letting someone down, or being unhappy with whatever follows -- whether it be good or bad. And when I do act, sometimes it does come out like that stab at the threat behind the curtain. I'm either impulsive or too careful. With Shakespearean plays, I never really look to connect or analyze myself but it was inevitable as I read Hamlet's speech and understood perfectly what he meant. And while the quote I chose lies within one of the most famous speeches of all time, it's the one that moved and impacted me most.
"Though this be madness, yet there is method in't." My parents always say there is a method to their madness and I had no idea that saying originated from Hamlet. Although a simple saying from Hamlet I feel like this quote most accurately describes the text as a whole from Hamlet's perspective and personally relates to my life. I think a lot of people discredited Hamlet due to his seemingly erratic behavior but he actually proved to be very intelligent and sneaky. I also think it is ironic that Hamlet is deemed crazy when he is the only one to show any real modern emotional intelligence after the death of his father through grieving and the want for revenge. We could even say he was the only normal one after such a tragedy. This quote could also describe other people in the play besides Hamlet. For example Laertes and even Claudius. I mean you have to be crazy in order to kill your own brother especially in such a gruesome yet organized and planned out way. Claudius shows high intelligence and would have been able to pull of the murder if it wasn't for the ghost of Hamlet, proving there was definitely a method to his madness. As for Laertes he reacted very similarly to Hamlet and his plan to dip his sword in poison for the duel against Hamlet was genius in my opinion. Overall this play may be known for its crazy characters but I personally think it shows extremely smart characters and is one of Shakespeare more thought out and well written plays .
ReplyDeleteThroughout the story of Hamlet, there were many qoutes that served important purposes. But there were a few that particularly invoked thought and drew my attention. In act III, the self contemplation and philosphical questioning that followed the famous “To be or not to be”, I found particularly interesting. In this soliloquay he asks, “for who would bear the whips and scorns of time, the oppressors wrong, the proud mans contumely… the insolence of office, and the spurns that patient merit unworthy takes, when he himself might his quietus make with a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear, to grunt and sweat under a weary life” (53). I think that Hamlet raised some valid questions about whether eventhough people have commited wrongs, does the burden neccesary fall upon them? And Is there truly any meaning to where burden may fall, is it even worth living or avenging when there is no way to know if proper settlement and closure is possible? I enjoye this scene because Hamlet is struggling with how unfair the world can be and how us as humans may not be as in control as we may think. Along this similar theme, in act V, the gravediggers contemplation over the bones that carelessly are dug and strewn about I found impactful, “Why may not that be the skull of a lawyer? Where be his quiddities now… his statutes, his recognizances, his fines, his double vouchers, his recoveries.. Is this fine of his fones and the recovery of his recoveries, to have his fine pate full of fine dirt?” (104). He is bringing up the same questions as Hamlet had about the meaning of life and whether it actually has any meaning if we all will just die and everyone will move on and the world will forget about you, just like how Hamlet sees everyone forgetting about his father just a couple months after he died. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I think that this book raised alot of philosophical and existential questions that Shakespeare executed in such an effective way that made it all the more entertaining.
ReplyDeleteA quote that moved me was Polonius’s speech toward Laertes, finishing with “This above all: To thine own self be true.” As we all prepare to finally move out and go to college, away from our parents’ support and help for perhaps the rest of our lives, this quote seems like something relevant to all of us in this class. Although there is some comedy to the laundry list of directions that Polonius gives his son before telling him to be true to himself, it seems relevant to our coming journey and the effort to be the best people we can without straying from goodness while still being true to ourselves. This quote, to me, seems a fitting reminder that the issues we adolescents face today as we plan to leave the nest are the same ones that have plagued people throughout history. It is a question I plan to ponder myself: is it more important to not stray from a righteous path, or to be true to myself—can those two coexist? Either way, I felt that Laertes’s struggles with his overbearing father, while not exactly analogous to my feelings about college, still reminded me of many of the same issues that I will face in the coming year.
ReplyDelete"This above all: to thine own self be true.”
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my favorite lines in Hamlet. In context, Polonius is giving advice to Laertes, by telling him to be himself. He is also telling him not to lie and put others down like many others in the play do. It also shows a little irony, because both Polonius and Laertes do not follow this. One of my favorite elements of the play was its irony. This quote encompases only a small example. Within the entire play Hamlet is furious with his mother and uncle for killing his father, and he cannot wrap his mind around the morals of a person who could kill another. Yet he himself kills by the end of play. However, the reason I like this quote is because it relates to many other things. People have said things like this to me many times, so it almost made the play seem a little more relatable.
In Act 5 scene 1, Hamlet said the line “Why may not imagination trace the noble dust of Alexander till he find it stopping a bunghole”? I thought this line was really interesting because when people live there are many factors that divide us. Religion, achievements, social classes, personal beliefs and our interests all create a division between our community. However, after we die we are all the same, with no labels that prioritize one person from another. We become the same thing and other factors that were once significant no longer matter. This is an idea that I recognized in this play that applies to our real world. We unconsciously acquaint ourselves with people who we identify with. The idea of equality is something most of us believe in however our actions sometimes don’t reflect it. This line made me think about experiences in my personal life and helped me realize that there are only trivial details that differentiate us all.
ReplyDeleteKaby
“Queen: Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.
ReplyDeleteHamlet: Mother, you have my father much offended.”
I chose these two lines because they came from my favorite part of the play, the play inside the play. I thought that this scene was very clever in the way that it was created. I particularly liked watching this scene in Kenneth Branagh's movie, I found it quite comical. The play was Hamlet’s attempt to call his Uncle out and let him know that he knows the truth, without actually telling him that he knows the truth. In our time it was like Hamlet subtweeted his Uncle, discussing the topic without actually discussing it. This exchange between Hamlet and his mother was after the play and was a heated conversation at that. I enjoyed when Mr. P acted this out in front of the class as it allowed me to fully picture the scene. For me this scene was comical while also showcasing Shakespeare’s brilliance. This scene was executed so well, and in my opinion, the rising action/climax of the play. This is when the play really picked up and when Hamlet let his uncle and mother know the truth about the atrocities they are committing.
Colleen
"Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane,
ReplyDeleteDrink off this poison. Is thy union here?
Follow my mother."
This line is the culmination of all the rage that Hamlet has built up inside him since the beginning of the play, and the reader sees it pour out all at once. To think of the effect that this line would have acted out on stage, similarly to what we saw in the films, makes this violent yet beautiful quote even more thought-provoking. It is not so much the lasting emotional impact that makes this line resonate with me, but the word choice and what it reveals about Hamlet's character. As we discussed in class, the subject of most of Hamlet's anger has ultimately been his mother, Queen Gertrude, against whom he always goes off on a tangent towards the end of his soliloquies. Even in the act of killing the man who killed his father, Hamlet cannot help but take another jab at his mother with the last 3 words, which indicates that at the end of the day he is taking out the lasing anger from the wedding situation and his mother onto the king. "Incestuous, murderous, damned Dane" also has a cadence that rolls nicely off the tongue, helped in part by alliteration in the last two words. It is at this point, in my opinion, that the climax of the play happens; the part that the reader knew would come and was secretly hoping to see. But does wishing for the gruesome murder of a king make the audience a bad person, or is it justified by Hamlet's insane ramblings and the Ghost King's call for assassination? Does it even matter? These moral questions posed are what makes Shakespeare such a long-lasting and famous playwright, and is why his works have survived for so long.
"We fat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots. Your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service—two dishes, but to one table. That’s the end." This quote from act 4 scene 3 has stuck with me since I read it. It is nihilistic and morbid, a true testament to Hamlet's descent into insanity and his penchant towards the depressing, but even so this statement is somehow comforting. Hamlet is saying that no matter who we are, no matter our social status, class, or life, we all end up being eaten by maggots. One could take this statement extremely negatively, and assume that this means that life has no point and that death is inevitable thus why bother living at all. However I choose to look at it as a statement which equalizes humanity. For at the end of our lives it does not matter if you are a king or a beggar, your legacy will be what you chose to do on the world, as your physical body will end up being eaten by maggots regardless. Claudius will be remembered as the man who killed his brother and married his wife, while failing to protect Denmark from invasion. However there is a chance that Hamlet will be remembered as the Prince who avenged his father. Or he may just be known as the insane royal who ended up causing a wave of death to befall the Danish Palace. But they both end up in the ground, equal once again.
ReplyDelete“O God, Horatio, what a wounded name,
ReplyDeleteThings standing thus unknown, shall live behind me!
If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart
Absent thee from felicity a while,
And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain
To tell my story.”
Hamlet’s words as he lays dying from the poisoned blade transcend within all human beings; we don’t realize our mistakes and faults until it is too late. When we analyze our past retrospectively, we realize things we wouldn’t have previously while under the influence of self-serving bias. We convince ourselves that many of the things that we’ve said or done in the past were justified, but, more often than not, they are innately not. Hamlet has not recognized the consequences and immorality of his atrocities until he is near death, hence why he begs Horatio to tell others of his incentives in committing his heinous acts. I also liked this line because it is essentially the culmination of the play, as Hamlet finally realizes the treachery of his acts. His infatuation with getting revenge on his Uncle led to the impairment of his morality, and subsequently his poor actions.