Hamlet Quotes

Act 1, Scene 1 Bernardo

"Who's there?"

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Act 1, Scene 1 Francisco

"'Tis bitter cold and I am sick at heart"

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How does Horatio reference the ghost in act 1, scene 1?

"This thing"

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Horatio's doubt in Act 1, Scene 1

"Horatio says 'tis but our fantasy and will not let belief take hold of him" - Marcellus
"Tush, Tush, 'twill not appear"

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Horatio about the ghost is Act 1, Scene 1

"It harrows me with fear and wonder."
"fair and warlike form"

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Reference to Norway and generational revenge in Act 1, Scene 1

"Such was the very armour he had on when he the ambitious Norway combated"

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Horatio on the state of Denmark (Act 1, Scene 1)

"This bodes some strange eruption to our state"

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Reference to Fortinbras (Act 1, Scene 1)

"young Fortinbras of unimproved mettle hot and full"
"is the main motive for our preparations"

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Act 1, Scene 2 Claudius' speech

"our dear brother's death", "our sometime sister, now our queen"

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Claudius to Laertes (Act 1, Scene 2)

"Take thy fair hour Laertes: time be thine, and thy best graces spend it at thy will"

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Hamlet's first line (Act 1, Scene 2)

[aside] "A little more than kin and less than kind"

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Gertrude on the inevitability of death and Hamlet's (judgemental) reply (Act 1, Scene 2)

"Thou know'st 'tis common - all that lives must die"
"Ay madam, it is common"

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Appearance vs. Reality (Act 1, Scene 2)

"Seems madam! Nay, it is; I know not seems. 'Tis not alone my inky cloak good mother"

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Claudius on the nature of Hamlet's mourning (Act 1, Scene 2)

"'Tis unmanly grief"

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(Act 1, Scene 2) Hamlet being observed / Elsinore as a "prison"

"we beseech you to remain here in the cheer and comfort of our eye" - Claudius

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Hamlet's 1st Soliloquy (Act 1, Scene 2)

"O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, thaw and resolve itself into a dew!"

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Hamlet's 1st Soliloquy depression (Act 1, Scene 2)

"How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world!"

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Hamlet's 1st Soliloquy motif of decay (Act 1, Scene 2)

"'tis an unweeded garden that grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature"

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Hamlet's 1st Soliloquy reference to Gertrude (Act 1, Scene 2)

"Frailty, thy name is woman!"
"O, most wicked speed to post with such dexterity to incestuous sheets!"

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Horatio's social status (Act 1, Scene 2)

"your poor servant ever" (to Hamlet)
(Hamlet rejects this and calls him) "my good friend"

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Hamlet joking with Horatio about his family situation (Act 1, Scene 2)

"Thrift, thrift, Horatio! The funeral bak'd-meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables"

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Hamlet's suspicion (end of Act 1, Scene 2)

"All is not well. I doubt some foul play."

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Laertes warnings to Ophelia (Act 1, Scene 3)

"your chaste treasure opened to his unmastered importunity"
"Be wary then, best safety lies in fear"

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Ophelia standing up for herself (Act 1, Scene 3)

"Do not... show me the steep and thorny way to heaven, whiles like a puff'd and reckless libertine, himself the primrose path of dalliance tread."

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Polonius dismisses Hamlet and Ophelia's relationship (Act 1, Scene 3)

"Affection! Pooh! You speak like a green girl, unsifted in such perilous circumstances"

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Ophelia's response to Polonius (Act 1, Scene 3)

"I shall obey, my lord"

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Why should Old Hamlet not be a ghost (Act 1, Scene 4)

"canoniz'd bones"

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Hamlet follows the ghost (Act 1, Scene 4)

"my fate cries out, and makes each pretty arture in this body as hardy as the Nemean lion's* nerve."

(*The Nemean Lion was a legendary creature in Greek mythology. Its fur was impenetrable by the weapons of humans and hence, was unstoppable)

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Horatio on Hamlet's state (Act 1, Scene 4)

"he waxes desperate with imagination"

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Marcellus and motif of decay (Act 1, Scene 4)

"something is rotten in the state of Denmark"

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Ghost's command (Act 1, Scene 5)

"Revenge his most foul and unnatural murder"

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Murderer reveal

"the serpent that did sting thy father's life now wears his crown"

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Ghost on C & G's relationship (Act 1, Scene 5)

"that incestuous, that adulterate beast"
"seeming virtuous queen"

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Hamlet's 2nd soliloquy (Act 1, Scene 5)

"and thy commandment alone shall live within the book and volume of my brain"

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Hamlet's 2nd soliloquy appearance vs reality (Act 1, Scene 5)

"one may smile, and smile and be a villain"

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Hamlet on Claudius (Act 1, Scene 5)

"he's an arrant knave"

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What makes it impossible to discern Hamlet's state of mind? (Act 1, Scene 5)

"I perchance hereafter shall think meet to put an antic disposition on"

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Hamlet on the role of avenger (end of Act 1, Scene 5)

"The time is out of joint. O cursed spite that ever I was born to set it right!"

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Start of Act 2, Scene 1

Polonius to Reynaldo, "by indirections find directions out"

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Ophelia (Act 2, Scene 1)

"as if he (Hamlet) had been loosed out of hell to speak of horrors, he comes before me"

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Polonius' reaction to Hamlet's display of madness (Act 2, Scene 1)

"I will go seek the king. This is the very ecstasy of love."

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Claudius' motives for inviting Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (Act 2, Scene 2)

"we much did long to see you. The need we have to use you did provoke our hasty sending."

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Rosencrantz and Guildesnstern's mission (Act 2, Scene 2)

"to gather so much from occasion as you may glean, whether aught to us unknown afflicts him thus"

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Why do R & G betray Hamlet? (Act 2, Scene 2)

"your visitation shall receive such thanks as fits a King's remembrance" - Gertrude

(financial incentive)

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Gertrude's guilt (Act 2, Scene 2)

"I doubt it is no other than the main, His father's death and our o'erhasty marriage"

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Polonius' ironic comment on verbosity (Act 2, Scene 2)

(not v. useful, I just like this quote)

"brevity is the soul of wit"

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Polonius' method for spying on Hamlet (Act 2, Scene 2)

"I'll loose my daughter to him"

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Hamlet mocking Polonius (Act 2, Scene 2)

"you are a fishmonger"
"for if the sun breed maggots in a dead dog... have you a daughter"
"words, words, words"

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Polonius' suspicion (Act 2, Scene 2)

[Aside] "though this be madness, yet there is method in't."

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Hamlet to Polonius on death (Act 2, Scene 2)

"you cannot, sir, take from me anything that I will more willingly part withal - except my life"

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Hamlet about Polonius (and Claudius?) (Act 2, Scene 2)

"these tedious old fools!"

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Hamlet's opinion on Denmark (Act 2, Scene 2)

"Denmark's a prison"

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Hamlet's ambition (or lack thereof) (Act 2, Scene 2)

"I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams"

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Hamlet on being observed (Act 2, Scene 2)

"I am most dreadfully attended"

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Hamlet's state of mind (to R&G) (Act 2, Scene 2)

"the earth seems... no other thing to me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours"

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Hamlet on his f***ed up family (Act 2, Scene 2)

"my uncle-father and aunt-mother"

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Hamlet to the players - setting up the "mouse-trap" (Act 2, Scene 2)

"can you play 'The Murder of Gonzago'?"

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Hamlet's self depreciation in his 3rd soliloquy (Act 2, Scene 2)

"a dull and muddy mettl'd rascal"
"like John-a-dreams"
Am I a coward?"
"pigeon-livered and lack gall"
"must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words"

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Hamlet on Claudius in his 3rd soliloquy (Act 2, Scene 2)

"remorseless, lecherous, treacherous, kindless villain!"
(asyndetic listing)

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Hamlet's concluding line of 3rd soliloquy (Act 2, Scene 2)

"The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king"

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Claudius on Hamlet's state of mind (Act 3, Scene 1)

"turbulent and dangerous lunacy"

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Guildenstern suspect's H? (Act 3, Scene 1)

"with much forcing of his disposition"

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Claudius' guilt (Act 3, Scene 1)

"how smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience"

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What happens immediately before Hamlet's 4th soliloquy? (Act 3, Scene 1)

"let's withdraw my lord" (Polonius to Claudius)

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Hamlet on living in his 4th soliloquy (Act 3, Scene 1)

"the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune"

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Hamlet on suicide in his 4th soliloquy? (Act 3, Scene 1)

"to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them? to die, to sleep"

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Hamlet on death in his 4th soliloquy? (Act 3, Scene 1)

"'tis a consummation devoutly to be wished for"

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Hamlet on conscience in his 4th soliloquy? (Act 3, Scene 1)

"thus conscience does make cowards of us all"

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Hamlet appearance vs reality to Ophelia (Act 3, Scene 1)

"I did love you once"
"I loved you not"

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Hamlet's cruel command to Ophelia (Act 3, Scene 1)

"get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?"

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Hamlet on human nature (Act 3, Scene 1)

"we are arrant knaves, all; believe none of us"

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Motif of disease - Hamlet to Ophelia (Act 3, Scene 1)

"I'll give thee this plague for thy dowry"

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Attack on women + appearance and reality (Act 3, Scene 1)

"god hath given you one face and you make yourselves another"

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Hamlet's veiled threat to Claudius and Gertrude (Act 3, Scene 1)

"those that are married already, all but one shall live"

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Ophelia's soliloquy (Act 3, Scene 1)

"O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown!"

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Ophelia about Hamlet being watched (Act 3, Scene 1)

"th' observ'd of all observers"

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Claudius' doubt of Hamlet's madness (Act 3, Scene 1)

"Was not like madness. There's something in his soul"

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Hamlet to the players (Act 3, Scene 2)

"To hold as t'were the mirror up to nature"

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Hamlet's love for Horatio (Act 3, Scene 2)

"That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him in my heart's core, ay in my heart of heart, as I do thee"

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Evidence for Hamlet's "antic disposition" (Act 3, Scene 2)

"They are coming to the play; I must be idle"

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Hamlet comparing Gertrude and Ophelia (Act 3, Scene 2)

"here's metal more attractive"

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Hamlet's sexual innuendos (Act 3, Scene 2)

"Do you think I meant country matters?"

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"What do you call the play?" (Act 3, Scene 2)

"The Mouse-trap"

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What confirms Claudius's guilt? (Act 3, Scene 2)

"The King rises"

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Hamlet's reaction to Claudius (Act 3, Scene 2)

"why, let the stricken deer go weep"

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Hamlet confirms events of play with Horatio (Act 3, Scene 2)

"Didst percieve?"
"Very well, my lord"

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Hamlet's madness (or antic disposition) (Act 3, Scene 2)

(to R&G) "my wit's diseas'd"

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Hamlet's metaphor for R&G's disloyalty (Act 3, Scene 2)

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Hamlet's manic soliloquy (Act 3, Scene 2)

"hell itself breathes out contagion to this world. Now could I drink hot blood"

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Hamlet's manic soliloquy re Gertrude (Act 3, Scene 2)

"Soft! Now to my mother"
"I will speak daggers to her, but use none"

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Claudius' Guilt (Act 3, Scene 3)

"O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven"

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What three things did Claudius gain from his murder? (Act 3, Scene 3)

"My crown, mine own ambition and my queen."

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Hamlet almost kills Claudius (Act 3, Scene 3)

"now might I do it pat"

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Why doesn't Hamlet kill Claudius (Act 3, Scene 3)

"now 'a is a-praying... and so 'a goes to heaven"

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Hamlet at the end of Act 3, Scene 3

"this physic but prolongs thy sickly days"

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Claudius at the end of Act 3, Scene 3

"My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. Words without thoughts never to heaven go."

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Where is Polonius in Act 3, Scene 4?

"behind the arras"

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Hamlet chastises Gertrude in Act 3, Scene 4

"you have my father much offended"

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What does Hamlet say that alarms Gertrude in Act 3, Scene 4?

"You go not till I set you up a glass where you may see the inmost part of you"

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What does Hamlet say to Polonius as he "draws" a dagger in Act 3, Scene 4?

"How now! a rat?
Dead for a ducat, dead!"

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How does Hamlet kill Polonius in Act 3, Scene 4?

[kills Polonius with a pass through the arras]

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Polonius' hapless death speech in Act 3, Scene 4

"O, I am slain"

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How does Gertrude react to Hamlet's murder in Act 3, Scene 4?

"what a rash and bloody deed is this?"

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What does Hamlet accuse Gertrude of in Act 3, Scene 4?

"almost as bad, good mother, as kill a king and marry with his brother"

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What does Gertrude say to Hamlet regarding the ghost in Act 3, Scene 4?

"This is the very coinage of your brain"

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What does Hamlet say in Act 3, Scene 4 that suggests some affection for Gertrude (and perhaps Ophelia)?

"I must be cruel only to be kind"

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What does Hamlet tell Gertrude to say to Claudius in Act 3, Scene 4?

that he is "not in madness but mad in craft"

- is this Hamlet revealing the truth?
- or is he now truly mad and in denial?

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How does Gertrude describe Hamlet in Act 4, Scene 1?

"Mad as the sea and wind"

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Hamlet on the nature of life and death (Act 4, Scene 3)

"we fat ourselves for maggots. Your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service"

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Claudius plots Hamlet's death in Act 4, Scene 3.

"The present death of Hamlet. Do it England: for like the hectic in my blood he rages and thou must cure me"

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What is Norway fighting for in Act 4, Scene 4?

"a little patch of ground" in Poland

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How does Hamlet react to the news of Fortinbras in Act 4, Scene 4?

"spur my dull revenge"
"from this time on, my thoughts be bloody"

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Ophelia's madness in Act 4, Scene 5

"larded with sweet flowers which bewept to the grave did not go"

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Ophelia's sexual innuendo in Act 4, Scene 5

"Let in the maid, that out a maid, never departed more"

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Laertes is an "instrument" in revenge (Act 4, Scene 7)

" I might be the organ"

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How did Ophelia die? (Act 4, Scene 7)

"your sister's drown'd, Laertes."

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How does Hamlet describe Claudius (Act 5, Scene 2)

"Canker"
(cancer that will grow unless cut out)

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Hamlet on God's intervention in death (Protestant belief) in Act 5, Scene 2

"There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow"

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Laertes exchanges forgiveness with Hamlet before death (Act 5, Scene 2)

"He is justly served: it is a poison tempered by himself. Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet. Mine and mine father's death come not upon me nor thine upon me"

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Horatio doesn't want to live without Hamlet (Act 5, Scene 2)

"I am more an antique Roman than a Dane; here's yet some liquor left."

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What does Hamlet tell Horatio to do? (Act 5, Scene 2)

"Tell my story"

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Hamlet on Fortinbras (Act 5, Scene 2)

" I do prophecy th' election lights"

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Hamlet's last words (Act 5, Scene 2)

"The rest is silent" Ironic as it is followed by war "drum"

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Horatio about Hamlet's death (Act 5, Scene 2)

"Now cracks a noble heart, goodnight sweet prince"

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Horatio's summary of the play (Act 5, Scene 2)

"accidental judgements, casual slaughter"

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Hamlet's treatment after death (Act 5, Scene 2)

"bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage"

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Last line of the play

"go bid the soldiers shoot"

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Hamlet Quotes

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