7. Hamlet
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SHAKESPEARE( 23rd of April 1564- 23 April 1616.)
Shakespeare was born at Stratford-on Avon
(He is known as Bard of Avon), a village in Warwickshire. His father
was a prosperous grain dealer. He was sent to a Grammar school where he learnt
“small
Latin and less Greek”.
At the age of 18,
Shakespeare married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway. He had three children-two
daughters and a son (Susanna, Hamnet and Judith).
It is certain from
the death bed words of Greene who called him an ‘upstart
crow’ that by 1592, he had quite established himself as a
playwright. Between 1610 and 1012 he retired to his hometown, Stratford, where
he bought the largest house in the town named the New Place.
Besides acting in
Ben Jonson’s plays, he acted as the Ghost
in Hamlet, Adam in As You Like It, King
Duncan in Macbeth, and King Henry in Henry-V (Nicholas Rowe,
his biographer said Ghost in Hamlet was the top of his performance). The
first notice of Shakespeare as a dramatist occurs in Green’s pamphlet A
Groatsworth of Wit (1592). Sidney
Lee’s monumental Life of
Shakespeare is the most
authoritative source of information available to the students. He began his
career as reviser of old plays seems to have thus collaborated with Marlowe and
Kyd in such plays as Titus Andronicus,
Henry VI and Richard III.
The theatrical company
to which he was attached is Lord
Chamberlain’s and after Queen Elizabeth’s death in 1603, it became the King’s
Men. Shakespeare’s company performed at various theaters the Theatre, the
Rose, the Curtain, etc. before acquiring the famous Globe theatre built in
1599. As his prosperity grew, he became a share holder of The Globe (1599) and
Blackfriars theatres with which the whole of his remaining professional career
was identified. (see
drama in literary genres)
Shakespeare’s
dramatic career covers roughly a period of twenty years from 1591 to 1611.
During this period, he wrote 38 plays, besides two narrative love poems and 154
of sonnets. The love poems Venus and
Adonis (1593) and The Rape of Lucrece
(1594), dedicated them to the Earl of Southampton.
Only 16 of his 38 plays were published in quarto (on a sheet folded twice, 2 folds= 4 leaves= 8pages) during his life time. It was in 1623 seven years after his death, two of his fellow-actors, John Hemmings and Henry Condell, published the first collected editions of his plays now known as the first Folio (1623). 36 plays were included in it, except Pericles and The Noble Kinsmen which had added in a later year. First folio was prefaced by Ben Jonson in which he wrote, “Shakespeare was not of and age but for all time”. Arden’s Edition is known as most scholarly edition. He died on 23 April 1616.
Quotes: (See more quotes in Criticism notes under
Shakespeare criticism)
Ø Chronicle plays of Shakespeare are mirror for kings- Schlegel (German critic).
Ø Shakespeare
is an upstart crow beautified with our feathers, that with his tyger’s heart
wrapt in a player’s hide- (It alludes to “O tiger’s heart wrapp’d in a woman’s
hide!”-Henry-VI)- Greene (about Shakespeare’s plagiarism in his pamphlet)
Ø Shakespeare
is an absolute Johannes Factotum (=Jack of all trades) -Greene
Ø No
man will ever write a better tragedy than King Lear- G.B.Shaw.
Ø He
had small Latin and less Greek -Ben Jonson in First Folio 1623.
Ø Sweetest
Shakespeare, Fancy’s Child! -Milton.
Ø Shakespeare
has only heroines, no heroes- Ruskin.
Ø Shakespeare
is compared to Homer -Dryden.
Ø The
most excellent in Comedy and Tragedy- Francis Meres.
Ø
For a good poet's made, as well as born. And such
wert thou! - in “To the
Memory of My Beloved the Author, Mr. William Shakespeare” By Ben Jonson.
Ø
“Honie-tong’d
Shakespeare” in Weever’s poem titled “Ad Gulielmum Shakespeare” in Epigrammes
in the oldest cut, and newest fashion (1599).
(See Shakespearean Critics in Literary
Criticism notes for more quotes)
Mathew
Arnold’s sonnet on
him is “Others
abide our question – Thou art free”
Most
reliable biography of Shakespeare, William Shakespeare: A Study of Facts and
Problems.
Ans: Edward Chambers
Name the first editor of
Shakespeare.
Ans: Nicholas Rowe
Shakespeare’s
Sonnets:
He is the greatest sonneteer of his age. The majority of his sonnets
were written probably in 1594 when he had gained the patronage of the Earl of
Southampton. He preferred the pattern introduced by Surrey. Thomas Thrope
printed a first edition of 154 sonnets titled “Shake-speares Sonnets, Never
Before Imprinted” in 1609. It came with a dedication page penned
by “T.T.” which reads: To the only begetter
of these ensuing sonnets, Mr W H: “All happiness and that eternity promised by
our ever-living poet,” wisheth the Well-Wishing Adventurer in setting forth.
The first 126 are addressed to the
Mr. W.H (may be Henry Wriothesley, Earl
of Southampton or William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke), the next 28
are addressed to ‘a dark lady’.
The rhyme scheme of Shakespeare sonnet is ‘abab-cdcd-efef-gg’.(4+4+4+2)
The Dark Lady of the Sonnets is a 1910 short
comedy by George Bernard Shaw in which William Shakespeare, intending to meet
the "Dark Lady"
“Shall I compare love to thee” (sonnet 18)
“Love is not time’s fool” (sonnet 116)
“My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun, Coral
is far more red, than her lips red.” (Sonnet 130).
Shakespeare’s
poems:
He wrote narrative poems when the theatres
were closed between due to Plague (1593-94).
1.
Venus and Adonis (1594): from Ovid’s Metamorphosis, about unsuccessful seduction of Adonis, a
young man, by Venus, goddess of love. Shakespeare
describes it as the "first heir of my invention."
2.
The Rape of Lucreece (1594): story of Lucrece, who was raped by his
husband’s friend. She writes letter her husband and stabs herself. The angers
citizens banished the rapist’s family.
3. The Passionate
Pilgrim (1599):
4.
The Phoenix and Turtle (1601)- about the funeral of 2 birds (turtle is a bird)
5. The Lover’s
Complaint (1609)
Code to remember these poems: V R P P L
Four
stages of Shakespeare’s literary life (categorized by Dowden)
1.
1st
period 1585-1594 (9 years)- Early experimentations, youthful love and imaginations, wrote 26 sonnets
and 7 plays
2.
2nd
period 1594-1600 (6 years)- Growth and
Development, Wrote Chronicle and History plays, and Joyous comedies, wrote 14
plays
3.
3rd
period 1601-1608 (7 years)- Depression
/darkness /bitterness due to death of his father in1601. Wrote tragedies or
romances with tragic resonances
4.
4th
period: 1608-1613 (5 years)- Resignation, grave cynicism, wrote tragicomedies
Do
you know “Feminine Ending” in Shakespeare?
Standard iambic pentameter (blank line) has 10 syllables. The last syllable is stressed. It is known as masculine ending.
Shakespeare
used iambic pentameter line with 11 syllables. The last syllable is unstressed. It is known as feminine ending. The final
stressed syllables are dropped for the poetic effect. (unaccented
eleventh syllable)
Ex:--Macbeth
A Wo/-man’s face/ with na/-ture’s own/hand pain-[ted]
- Sonnet 20
To be,/or not/ to be,/ that is / the ques-[tion] -Hamlet
Three main Categories of Shakespeare’s plays (38): (by E K Chambers in 1930)
|
Comedies (18) ü
Most comedies are Romantic type. ü
Main theme is love. ü
Frequently all conflicts get resolved and ends with marriage/
celebration. ü
Set in imaginative world. Ex: Magical Forest in ‘Midsummer night’s dream’; Forest of Arden in ‘As you like it’. 1.The comedy of Errors
(1592-93) 2.The Taming of Shrew
(1593-94) 3.Two Gentlemen of
Verona (1594-95) 4.Love’s Labor Lost
(1594-95) 5.A midsummer Night’s
Dream (1595-96) 6.The Merchant of
Venice (1596-97) 7.Much Ado about
Nothing (1598-99) 8. As you Like it
(1599-1600) 9.Twlelfth Night
(1599-1600) 10.Merry wives of
Windsor (1600-1601) 11. Troilus and
Cressida (1601-02) 12.All is Well that
Ends well (1602-03) 13.Measure for Measure
(1604-05) 14.Pericles, Prince of
Tyre (1608-09) 15.Cymbeline (1609-10) 16.The winter’s Tale
(1610-11) 17.The Tempest
(1611-12) 18. The Two noble Kinsmen
(1612-13) |
Tragediesn(10) ü
Concerned with a person of high rank, suffers as a result of tragic flaw
(error of judgment) ü Ex: Sexual Jealousy in Othello Lack of Judgment in King Lear Indecision in Hamlet. Black and Deep desires in Macbeth 1.Titus Andronicus
(1593-94) 2.Romeo and Juliet
(1594-95) 3.Julies and Caesar
(1599-1600) 4. Hamlet (1600-01) 5. Othello (1604-05) 6. King Lear (1605-06) 7. Macbeth (1605-06) 8.Antony and Cleopatra
(1606-07) 9. Coriolanus (1607-08) 10. Timon of Athens
(1607-08) |
Histories (10) ü
Related to history. ü
Usually episodic in plots. ü
Primary source is Hollingshead’s Chronicles of England Scotland and
Ireland. 1.Henry VI, part-II
(1590-91) 2. Henry VI, part-III
(1590-91) 3. Henry VI, part-I (1591-92) 4. Richard- III
(1592-93) 5. Richard- II
(1595-96) 6. King John (1596-97) 7. Henry IV, part-I
(1597-98) 8. Henry IV, part-I
(1597-98) 9. Henry V (1598-99) 10. Henry VIII
(1612-13) |
|
Other Categories are: 1)
Roman Plays: Plays set in Rome; blood, violence,
mayhem(confusion), suicide are common features. Inspired from North’s
Translation of Plutarch’s “Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans.” Ex: Julies Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra,
Timon of Athens, Coriolanus. 2)
Problem Plays: Term coined by Frederick S. Boas, used by Ibsen and Shaw. They are centered on problems. Ex: All is well
that ends well, Measure for measure, Troilus and Cressida. 3)
Romances: sometimes his late comedies are grouped together as romances. These
plays seem more like tragedies than comedies but they have happy ending. Ex:
Pericles, Cymbeline, The winter’s Tale, The Tempest. |
||
Shakespeare’s plays in chronological order:
1.
Henry VI Part-II: Historical play, based on the life of Henry VI
on the back drop of War of Roses.
2. Henry VI
Part-III: Historical play, a new king maker Richard
Neville emerges to throne. Henry’s marriage to Margaret. Pistol is a comic character in it.
Famous line: “My crown is in my heart, not on my head”
3. Henry VI
Part-I: about the young King Henry-VI, War of Roses
& Defeat of his armies by Joan of Arc (French). Pistol is a comic character in it.
4. Richard-III:
Richard-III taking over the throne by murders
of his own family members and his marriage to Queen Anne. His victory was short
lived as Henry-VII succeeded him.
5. The
Comedy of Errors: Inspired by Plutus’
Menaechmi. Comical drama of mistaken identities, involving two sets of
identical twins (Antipholus of Ephesus and Antipholus of Syracuse & Dromio
of Ephesus and Dromio of Syracuse) separated since birth, united at the end.
6. Titus
Andronicus: Shakespeare’s first tragedy modelled on
‘Spanish Tragedy’. Set against the back drop of Roman Empire. Story of Titus,
Roman General, and his thirst of bloody revenge against Tamora, Queen of Goths.
Famous line:
Ø
“Vengeance is in my heart, death in my hand, blood
and revenge are hammering in my head” (Aaron, act-II, sce-3),
Ø "These words are
razors to my wounded heart"
7. The
Taming of the Shrew: It is a
misogynistic play. Taming a shrew’s (unpleasant, nagging, aggressive and
ill-tempered woman) independent spirit by man. Story of Petruchio, taming
Katherine with various psychological torments. It inspired Heywood’s “Women
killed with Kindness”. George Bernard
Shaw famously called the play "one vile insult to womanhood and manhood from the
first word to the last."
Famous phrase:
Ø Breaking the ice.
8. Two
Gentlemen of Verona: first play to introduce cross dressing (heroine dresses as male). Story of two
friends, Proteus and Valentine, who fall in love with the same women, Silvia.
Second heroine, Julia fiancée of Proteus disguises herself as a boy to spy on
him. Ends with marriages.
9. Love’s
Labour’s Lost: Story of
Ferdinand, king of Navarre, and his companions who takes oath not to allow
women within a mile of the court. When Princess of France and ladies arrive,
king and his companions try to woo the ladies. Play ends with famous songs of
cuckoo and owl: “When daises pied and violets blue” & ‘‘When
icicles hang by the wall'.’
Don
Adriono Character is used to satirize Peele’s Euphemism
Holofernes
is School Teacher in the play uses different pronunciation (Ex: Great Vowel
Shift)
10. Romeo and
Juliet: Based on the Arthur Brooke’s poem “Tragical history
of Romeus and Juliet (1562). it is considered as the prelude to his great tragedies. Love Story of Romeo and Juliet from two rival families, Montagues (their
only son is Romeo) and Capulets (their only daughter is Juliet). To cancel her marriage
with Paris prince, Juliet takes a potion (drug) on the advice of friar to
pretend herself as dead (for 42 hours). Friar’s message to Romeo miscarries,
Romeo believes her dead and poisons himself. Julies wakes up and stabs herself.
Brutus is the famous character.
Famous
phrases/lines:
Ø
“Wild Goose Chase”;
Ø
“Good night! Good Night! Parting is such sweet
sorrow”;
Ø
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any
other name would smell as sweet” (Juliet);
Ø
“Thus with a kiss I die (final words of
Romeo at Juliet’s tomb)”;
11.
Richard-II: historical play about Richard-II.
12.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream – set in Magical
Forest. about the marriage of Theseus, Duke of Athens and Hippolyta,
Queen of amazons; and adventures of 4 young lovers and 6 actors in the forest. Nick
Bottom is one of the greatest comic characters in Shakespeare’s plays who
provides comic relief throughout the play. Bottom’s head was transformed
into that of a donkey by Puck (Robin Goodfellow).
Famous song:
Ø “the spotted snakes with double tongue”
Famous Quotes:
Ø “The
course of true love never did run smooth.”-Lysander (act 1,
sce 1),
Ø “Lord,
what fools these mortals be!” -Robin, (act 3, scene 2);
Ø The
lunatic, the lover and the poet Are of imagination all compact: One sees more
devils than vast hell can hold, -Theseus, (act 5,
scene 1)
13.
King John: historical play
14.
The Merchant of Venice or the Jew of Venice-story of two fiends
Antonio (good moneylender) and Bassanio. Shylock was a cruel money lender.
Antonio borrows money from shylock to arrange it for Bassanio to get her lover
Portia. Antonio’s ships sank and losing all his wealth, falling in debt to
Shylock. Shylock demand for a “Pound of Flesh” as per the agreement,
when Antonio fails to pay it on time. Portia disguises as lawyer pleads the
case and delivers her famous “mercy speech” in court and saves the life of
Antonio.
Famous
songs/lines:
Ø
”Tell me
where is the fancy bred” (Bassanio’s song);
Ø
“All that glitters is not gold";
Ø
“Love is Blind”.
Anti-Semitism: Hatred of Jews
prevailed in Elizabethan society and is reflected in plays of the period. Two
examples of anti-Semitic plays are Christopher Marlowe's The Jew of Malta
and William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. In Marlowe's play,
Barabas, the Jew of Malta, is a cruel, egotistic, and greedy
15.
Henry IV Part-I: Falstaff is a famous comic character in it.
16.
Henry IV Part-II: Famous line: “A man can die but once”
17.
Much Ado About Nothing –Noting (Nothing)
means gossip, rumour. set in Messina and centers around
two romantic couples, the first, between Claudio and Hero, the second between
Claudio's friend Benedick and Hero's cousin Beatrice. Comedy is redeemed
by the delightful wit-combats of Benedick and Beatrice.
Famous
songs/lines:
Ø “sigh no more ladies,
sigh
no more; men were deceivers ever;
one
foot in sea, and one in shore;
to
one thing constant never.” (Balthazar’s
song about men’s infidelity)
18.
Henry V: historical play.
19.
Julius Caesar – Based on Thomas
North’s translation of Plutarch’s lives. It is the first play to be performed
at The Globe. Play opens with the victory of Julies Caesar, with a famous line: "“I
came, I saw, I conquered’’(Veni, vidi,
vici)". A
soothsayer warns him to “Beware of Ides of March” (March15th).
Conspirators forged letters of support from Roman people and tempts Brutus to
kill Caesar. Conspirators stabbed Caesar and Brutus too stabbed him. Caesar
utters the famous line: "Et Tu, Brute?"
("You too, Brutus?"); conspirators says that they did it
for the sake of Rome. Brutus’ says: “Not I love Caesar less, But that I loved Rome more” and for the moment crowd is on his side. Mark
Antony’s famous speech at the corpse: “Friends,
Romans, countrymen, Lend me your ears!” and all the public
was turned by his speech and drove the conspirators from the Rome. Conspirators
(Brutus, Cassius, Casca) prepared a civil war against the Mark Antony and
Octavius Caesar (son of Caesar), but was defeated at the battle of Philippi. Brutus commits suicide by stabbing.
Ø
“Cowards die many times before their deaths, The
Valiant never taste of death but once” (Caesar);
Ø “The
fault, dear Brutus, is not in our starts, But in ourselves, that we are
underlings”
Ø “It was Greek to me” (Casca)
20. As You
Like It – Plot
from Thomas Lodge’s Rosalind. set as a long picnic in the Forest of
Arden(fictional). Duke Senior was exiled to forest when his brother
Frederik usurps the throne. Orlando falls in love at first sight with Rosalind,
daughter of Duke senior results in punishment to Rosalind and Celia (daughter
of Frederik). Rosalind (disguised as Ganymede), Celia (disguised as Alena)
along with Touchstone(clown)flees to forest. Frederick repents and makes his
brother Duke Senior as king. Play ends with marriages of Rosalind with Orlando,
Celia with Oliver and Touchstone with Audrey.
Famous
lines:
Ø
“A Fool! A Fool! I met a fool in the forest”. (Speech by Jacques)
Ø
‘All the world's a stage, we have mere entrances
and exits (Speech by
Jacques in Act-II, sce-7; about seven ages of man)
Ø
“Dead shepherd, now I find thy saw of might:
Whoever loved that loved not at first sight? (Shakespeare paid
tributes to Marlowe as the Dead Shepherd)
Famous
songs: Large
number of songs, more than in any of Shakespeare's other plays
Ø
“Under the greenwood”- Song by Amie (Thomas Hardy used
it as title for his novel).
Ø
“Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
Thou art not so unkind ……..
Most friendship is feigning,
most loving mere folly” – song by Lord
Amiens, a musician, before Duke Senior, Act-II, Scene 7.
21.
Twelfth Night or What you will– set in Illyria. Viola shipwrecked
and lost contact with her brother, Sebastian. Viola disguised as Cesario and
enters the service of the Duke Orsino. Orsino uses Cesario to convince her
lover Olivia, but Olivia has fallen in love with Cesario, thinking him as man.
Comic subplot involves Malvolio (Olivia’s steward), Sir Toby (Olivia’s uncle)
and Feste (a fool). Return of Sebastian (who looks similar as Viola), adds
confusion. Play ends with the marriages of Duke Orsino with Viola, and
Sebastian with Olivia.
Famous
songs/lines:
Ø
“If music be
the food of love, play on” (Orsino);
Ø
“Better a witty fool than a foolish wit” (Feste);
Ø
“Some are born
great, some achieve greatness, some have greatness thrust upon them”- Malvolio
about Olivia’s Home
Ø
“O Mistress mine, where are you roaming?”…..
"Journeys end in lovers meeting" (Feste’s song);
Ø
“Dost, thou think, because thou art virtuous, there
shall be no more Cakes and Ale” (Sir Toby Belch)- Somerset Maugham’s
“Of Cakes’ and Ale” title drawn from this play.
Malvolio’s
punishment in Twelfth Night is to mock Puritans
22.
Hamlet– Full title: The tragedy of Hamlet,
prince of Denmark”. Source of the play: Thomas Kyd’s Ur-Hamlet, Saxo
Grammaticus's story of Amleth in Historia Danica (12th
century) which is translated in French in 1570 by François de Belleforest.
It is the
Shakespeare’s longest play. Set in Denmark. The play begins with the lines: “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” (Marcellus
in the opening scene). Prince Hamlet, incited by the Ghost of his father,
decides to take revenge on Claudius (brother of King Hamlet) who seized both
the throne and Gertrude (wife of the King). Prince Hamlet vows to affect
madness. Hamlet plans to perform a play within the play, “Murder of Gonzago
(mouse trap)”to confirm Claudius as villain. Hamlet stabs Polonius (father
of his lover, Ophelia) who spies on him. Claudius plans him to kill Hamlet with
the help of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, but Hamlet escapes. Ophelia
distressed over her father’s death and Hamlet’s behavior drowns. Laertes
(brother of Ophelia) plots with Claudius to kill the Hamlet with a poisoned
sword in a duel. Laertes wounds Hamlet, and Hamlet with the sword cuts Laertes.
Gertrude drinks the poisoned cup intended for Hamlet and dies. Knowing the
truth from Laertes, Hamlet stabs Claudius too. Horatio (friend of Hamlet) is
the only person survived at the end of the play.
Famous
songs/lines:
Ø
‘‘Frailty thy name is woman’’(Hamlet to
Gertrude).
Ø
“To be or not to be that is the question” (soliloquy by
Hamlet, in Act-III, sce-1).
Ø
“Readiness is all”- by Hamlet
Ø
“Though this be madness, yet there is a method in
it’’ (Polonius
to Frederick).
Ø
“Neither nor a lender”; “Brevity is the soul of
wit”; and
“Clothes maketh man” (Polonius advice to his son Laertes).
Ø
“There is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes
it so”- (Hamlet in
Act-II, sce-2).
Faulkner’s
Sound and Fury; Tom Stoppard’s play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead; The
Black Prince by Iris Murdoch; Nutshell by Ian Mc Iwan are based on Hamlet
23.
The Merry Wives of Windsor- It was written at
the behest of Queen Elizabeth who desired to see Falstaff in love. Fallstaff
(clown), in short of money, to obtain financial advantage, tries to woo
rich married woman.
24.
Troilus and Cressida: Back drop of Trojan
war, Troilus, Trojan Prince, woos Cressida (beautiful widow) before Cressida is
exchanged to Greek side. This play ends without climax.
25. All is
Well that Ends Well: Based on
Boccaccio’s Decameron. story of Helena, daughter of a doctor who cures a king’s
disease and as a gift she has chosen a young count, Bertram as her husband.
26.
Measure for Measure: main theme is
Justice, love and mercy in Vienna.
Famous
song:
Ø
“Take O take those lips away”.
27.
Othello or full Title: The Tragedy of
Othello, The Moor of Venice– Based on Cinthia’s
Hecatommithi. Othello is a great captain in Venetian army. Iago, enemy of
Othello, hatches a plan to wrongfully accuse Othello’s wife Desdemona (she is
innocent) of infidelity by using a hand kerchief. Maddened by jealousy Othello
kills Desdemona. Emilia, wife of Iago, discloses her husband’s plot and
tormented by grief, Othello kills himself. “Motiveless Malignity” phrase
belongs to Iago was coined by Coleridge.
Famous lines:
“Put
out the light and then put out the light” (Othello in
Act-V, Scene2).
28. King Lear – Based on Monmouth’s “Historia Regum Britannia”. King Lear divided his inheritance to his 2 elder daughters (Goneril and Regan) who showed fake affection and ignored his youngest daughter, Cordelia. The Earl of Gloucester and King Lear is bosom friend but they both have failed to judge their eligible children. “Earl of Gloucester subplot” concerns the Earl of Gloucester, who gullibly believes the lies of his illegitimate son, Edmund, and spurns his honest son, Edgar.
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Background:
The story of
the play originates in the legend of Hamlet (Amleth) as recounted in
the twelfth-century Danish History, a Latin text by Saxo the
Grammarian. This version was later adapted into French by Francois de
Belleforest in 1570. In it, the unscrupulous Feng kills his brother Horwendil
and marries his brother's wife Gerutha. Horwendil's and Gerutha's son Amleth,
although still young, decides to avenge his father's murder. He acts the fool
in order to avoid suspicion. With his mother's active support, Amleth succeeds
in killing Feng and then proclaimed King of Denmark.
Shakespeare
was likely aware of Saxo's version, along with another play performed in 1589
in which a ghost apparently calls out, "Hamlet, revenge!" The
1589 play is lost, leading to much scholarly speculation as to who might have
authored it. Most scholars attribute it to Thomas Kyd, author of The Spanish
Tragedy (1587) whichs is one of the first and most popular Elizabethan revenge
tragedies.
Revenge
tragedies typically share a few plot points. In all of them, some grievous
insult or wrong requires vengeance. Revenge tragedies also emphasize the subjective
struggle of the avenger, who often fights (or feigns) madness and generally
wallows in the moral difficulties of his situation. Finally, revenge tragedies
end up with a dramatic bloodbath in which the guilty party is horribly and
often ritualistically killed. The Spanish Tragedy shares many elements
with Hamlet, such as a ghost seeking revenge, a secret crime, a
play-within-a-play, a tortured hero who feigns madness, and a heroine who goes
mad and commits suicide.
Hamlet is
generally considered the greatest revenge tragedy, if not the greatest tragedy,
if not the greatest play, ever written. The central reason for the play's
eminence is the character of Hamlet. His brooding, erratic nature has been
analyzed by many of the most famous thinkers and artists of the past four
centuries. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe described him as a poet - a sensitive
man who is too weak to deal with the political pressures of Denmark.
Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud viewed Hamlet in terms of an “Oedipus
complex,” an overwhelming sexual desire for his mother. This complex is
usually associated with the wish to kill one’s father and sleep with one’s
mother. However, Freud is careful to note that Hamlet represents modern man
precisely because he does not kill Claudius in order to sleep with
his mother, but rather kills him to revenge his father’s death. Political
interpretations of Hamlet also abound, in which Hamlet stands for
the spirit of political resistance, or represents a challenge to a corrupt
regime. Stephen Greenblatt, the editor of the Norton Edition of Shakespeare,
views these interpretive attempts of Hamlet as mirrors for the interpretation
within the play itself - many of the characters who have to deal with Hamlet,
including Polonius, Claudius, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, also develop
theories to explain his behavior, none of which really succeeds in doing so.
Indeed, nothing sure can be said about Hamlet except that it has been a
perennial occasion for brilliant minds to explore some of the unanswerable
questions of human existence.
Short Summary
King Hamlet
of Denmark has recently died Denmark is now in a state of high alert and
preparing for possible war with Young Fortinbras of Norway. Two guards
witnessed the ghost of Old Hamlet for two successive nights, on a platform
before Elsinore Castle in Denmark.. The guards bring Horatio, a learned scholar
and friend of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, to witness this apparition. Though
skeptical at first, Horatio sees the ghost and decides to report its appearance
to Hamlet.
Meanwhile, a
new king of Denmark has been crowned: Claudius, Old Hamlet's brother. Claudius
has taken Old Hamlet's widow, Gertrude, as his wife. We watch their marriage
celebration and hear about a threat from the Prince of Norway, Fortinbras,
which Claudius manages to avoid by diplomacy (he has sent his amabassadors to
Norway). Hamlet disgusted by his mother's decision to marry Claudius so soon
after his father's demise within a month (in his first soliloquy). Horatio
tells Hamlet of the appearance of the ghost and Hamlet determines to visit the
spirit himself.
Meanwhile,
the court adviser, Polonius, sends his son, Laertes, back to Paris, where he is
living. Laertes and Polonius both question Ophelia (sister and daughter,
respectively) about her relationship with Hamlet. Ophelia admits that Hamlet
has been wooing her. They tell her to avoid Hamlet and reject his amorous
advances, emphasizing the importance of protecting her chastity. Ophelia agrees
to cut off contact.
That night,
Hamlet accompanies the watch. The ghost appears once more. Hamlet questions the
ghost, who beckons Hamlet away from the others. When they are alone, the ghost
reveals that Claudius murdered him in order to steal his crown and his wife.
The ghost makes Hamlet promise to take revenge on Claudius. Hamlet appears to
concur excitedly. He has Horatio and the guards swear not to reveal what they
have seen.
In Act Two, Polonius
tells Reynaldo to spy on his son Laertes in Paris. Claudius summons two of
Hamlet's school friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, in order to discover the
meaning of this strange behavior of Hamlet. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's
attempts to discover the reason for Hamlet's madness are met with evasion and
witticism. Meanwhile, Polonius hatches a theory of his own: he thinks that
Hamlet is insane due to Ophelia's rejection of his love. He arranges to test
his theory by setting Ophelia on Hamlet when they are apparently alone and then
observing the proceedings with Claudius.
Hamlet's only
consolation appears to be the coming of a troupe of players from England.
Hamlet asks the player's whether they could play a slightly modified version of
a tragedy. We realize that Hamlet plans to put on a play that depicts the death
of his father, to see whether Claudius is really guilty, and the ghost is
really to be trusted.
In Act Three, Ophelia
approaches Hamlet when they are apparently alone; Claudius and Polonius hide
behind a tapestry and observe. Hamlet suspects Ophelia is spying on him and
behaves extremely cruelly toward Ophelia. The king decides that Hamlet is not
mad for love of her but for some other hidden reason.
Hamlet
prepares to put on his play, which he calls "The Murder of Gonzago" or
"The Mouse Trap." After instructing the players in their parts,
Hamlet retires to the audience, where Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, and Polonius
have gathered, along with many others. In the course of the play, both Gertrude
and Claudius become extremely upset, though for different reasons. Gertrude is
flustered by Hamlet's veiled accusation that she was inconstant and
hypocritical for remarrying after Old Hamlet's death; Claudius is shaken
because he is indeed guilty of his brother's murder. Claudius decides that he
must get rid of Hamlet by sending him to England with Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern.
Alone, King
Claudius reveals in soliloquy his own knowledge of the crime he has committed
(poisoning King Hamlet) and realizes that he cannot escape divine justice.
Following the
play, Gertrude calls Hamlet to her room, attempts to scold her son but Hamlet
instead scolds his mother for her accusing her of a most grotesque lust and
claiming that she has insulted her father and herself by stooping to marry
Claudius. In the course of their interview, Polonius hides behind a tapestry; when
Queen Gertrude cries out in fear, he thinks that Hamlet is going to attack
Gertrude and cries for help. Hamlet stabs Polonius through the tapestry,
thinking he has killed Claudius. When he finds that he has merely killed a
"rash, intruding fool," Hamlet returns to the business of
"speaking daggers" to his mother. Just as Gertrude appears convinced
by Hamlet's excoriation, the ghost of Old Hamlet reappears and tells Hamlet not
to behave so cruelly to his mother, and to remember to carry out revenge on
Claudius. Gertrude perceives her son discoursing with nothing but air and is
completely convinced of his madness. Hamlet exits her room, dragging the body
of Polonius behind him.
In Act IV, King
Claudius speaks with his wife, Queen Gertrude. He learns of Polonius' murder
which shocks him; it could easily have been him. Queen Gertrude lies for her
son, saying that Hamlet is as mad as a tempestuous sea. King Claudius, now
scared of Hamlet, decides to have Hamlet sent away to England immediately. He
also sends courtiers and spies Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to speak with
Hamlet to find out where Hamlet has hidden Polonius' body so they can take it
to the chapel.
After much
questioning, Claudius convinces Hamlet to reveal the hiding place of Polonius'
body. He then makes arrangements for Hamlet to go to England immediately,
accompanied by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Claudius writes a letter to the
English court asking them to kill Hamlet immediately upon his arrival and
places the letter with his two cronies.
On their way
to the ship, Hamlet and his entourage pass Fortinbras' Norwegian army en route
to a Polish campaign. Hamlet laments that he does not have in him the strength
of Young Fortinbras, who will lead an army into pointless fighting, if only to
maintain honor. Hamlet asks himself how he cannot fight for honor when his
father has been killed and his mother made a whore in his eyes by becoming King
Claudius' wife.
Back at
Elsinore (the Danish palace), Ophelia has gone mad following her father's
death. She sings childish and bawdy songs and speaks nonsensically. Laertes
soon returns to Denmark with a mob in tow, demanding an explanation of
Polonius' death. Claudius gingerly calms the young man and convinces him that
Hamlet was the guilty party.
Letters
arrive attesting to a strange turn of fortunes on the sea. Hamlet's ship to
England was attacked by pirates, who captured Hamlet and arranged to return him
to Denmark for a ransom. Hamlet sends Claudius an aggravating letter announcing
his imminent return. Claudius and Laertes decide that Hamlet must be killed
their common enemy. They decide to arrange a fencing match between Laertes and
Hamlet in which Laertes' sword is secretly poisoned so as to guarantee Hamlet's
immediate death. As backup, Claudius decides to poison a cup of wine and offer
it to Hamlet during the contest.
Just as Act
Four comes to a close, more tragic news arrives. Gertrude says that Ophelia has
drowned while playing in a willow tree by the river.
Act Five begins at a
graveyard. Two gravediggers joke about their morbid occupation. Hamlet and
Horatio arrive and converse with them. Hamlet famously realizes that man's
accomplishments are transitory (fleeting) and holding the skull of Yorick, a
childhood jester he remembered, creates a famous scene about man's
insignificance and inability to control his fate following death.
Soon, Ophelia's funeral begins. Because there are doubts about
whether Ophelia died accidentally or committed suicide, her funeral lacks many
of the customary religious rites. A Priest reveals a widely held belief that
Ophelia committed suicide, angering Laertes. Hamlet fights Laertes over
Ophelia's grave, angered by Laertes exaggerated emphasis of his sorrow and
because he believes he loved Ophelia much more than 40000 brothers. After a
short tussle, Hamlet and Laertes part.
Later, Hamlet
explains to Horatio that he discovered Claudius' plot to have him killed in
England and forged a new letter arranging for the deaths of Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern. While they are conversing, Osric, a ridiculous courtier,
approaches and proposes the duel between Laertes and Hamlet. Hamlet eventually
accepts this challenge.
The duel
begins with Osric as referee. Hamlet wins the first two passes, prompting
Claudius to resort to the poisoned drink. Hamlet refuses the drink. In his
stead, Gertrude drinks a toast to her son from the poisoned cup. After a third
pass also goes to Hamlet, Laertes sneak-attacks the prince and wounds him. A
scuffle ensues in which Hamlet ends up with Laertes' sword. He injures Laertes.
Just then Gertrude collapses. She declares that she has been poisoned. Laertes,
also dying, confesses the whole plot to Hamlet, who finally attacks Claudius,
stabbing him with the poisoned sword and then forcing the poisoned drink down
his throat. Hamlet too is dying. He asks Horatio to explain the carnage to all
onlookers and tell his story. Hamlet dies.
Just then,
Fortinbras arrives at the court, accompanying some English ambassadors who
bring word of the death of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. With all the immediate
royalty of Denmark dead, Fortinbras asserts his right to the crown. He arranges
for Hamlet to receive a soldier's burial.
Plot/narrative
structure:
|
Act & Sce |
Setting & Plot / Narrative Summary |
|
Act
I, Sce 1 |
A
platform before Elsinore Castle, Denmark Marcellus and Bernardo (Two Guards) and Horatio
witness the ghost of King Hamlet. They decide to inform Prince Hamlet. |
|
Act
I, Sce 2 |
Throne
room in Elsinore Castle – Claudius addresses the court; Hamlet grieves.
Horatio tells Hamlet about the ghost. |
|
Act
I, Sce 3 |
Polonius’s
house – Laertes warns Ophelia about Hamlet. Polonius
advises both. |
|
Act
I, Sce 4 |
The
castle battlements – The ghost appears and beckons Hamlet to
follow. |
|
Act
I, Sce 5 |
Another
part of the battlements – The ghost tells Hamlet of Claudius’s crime.
Hamlet vows revenge and swears Horatio to secrecy. |
|
Act
II, Sce 1 |
Polonius’s
house – Polonius sends Reynaldo to spy on Laertes and
hears about Hamlet's erratic behavior. |
|
Act
II, Sce 2 |
A
room in the Castle – Claudius and Gertrude enlist Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern. Hamlet acts mad. The players arrive. Hamlet plans the play. |
|
Act
III, Sce 1 |
A
hall in the Castle – Claudius and Polonius spy on Hamlet and
Ophelia. Hamlet delivers “To be or not to be.” Ophelia is rejected. |
|
Act
III, Sce 2 |
The
hall/theatre in the Castle – Hamlet instructs the players. The play is
performed. Claudius reacts with guilt and storms out. |
|
Act
III, Sce 3 |
A
chapel in the Castle – Claudius tries to pray. Hamlet has the chance
to kill him but refrains. |
|
Act
III, Sce 4 |
Gertrude’s
private chamber – Hamlet confronts his mother and kills Polonius
by accident. The ghost reappears. |
|
Act
IV, Sce 1 |
Gertrude’s
room – Gertrude tells Claudius about Polonius’s
death. Claudius decides to exile Hamlet. |
|
Act
IV, Sce 2 |
A
passage in the Castle – Hamlet hides Polonius’s body and mocks
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. |
|
Act
IV, Sce 3 |
Another
room in the Castle – Claudius questions Hamlet and sends him to
England with secret orders for execution. |
|
Act
IV, Sce 4 |
A
plain in Denmark – Hamlet sees Fortinbras’s captain and reflects
on his inaction. |
|
Act
IV, Sce 5 |
Elsinore
Castle – Ophelia, now mad, sings and speaks
incoherently. Laertes storms in demanding justice. |
|
Act
IV, Sce 6 |
A
room in the Castle – Horatio receives Hamlet’s letter explaining
his escape from the ship. |
|
Act
IV, Sce 7 |
A
hall in the Castle – Claudius and Laertes plot Hamlet’s murder.
Gertrude reports that Ophelia has drowned. |
|
Act
V, Sce 1 |
A
churchyard (graveyard) – Two gravediggers dig Ophelia’s grave. Hamlet
reflects on death. He quarrels with Laertes at the burial. |
|
Act
V, Sce 2 |
A
hall in the Castle – Hamlet discusses fate with Horatio. The duel
occurs. Gertrude drinks poisoned wine. Laertes and Hamlet wound each other.
All die. Fortinbras arrives and takes control. |
Opening line:
BERNARDO:
Who's there?
FRANCISCO:
Nay, answer me: stand, and unfold yourself.
BERNARDO:
Long live the king!
FRANCISCO:
Bernardo?
Closing line:
PRINCE FORTINBRAS
Let four captains
Bear Hamlet, like a soldier, to the stage;
For he was likely, had he been put on,
To have proved most royally: and, for his passage,
The soldiers' music and the rites of war
Speak loudly for him.
Take up the bodies: such a sight as this
Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss.
Go,
bid the soldiers shoot.
Character List
Hamlet- The son of
Old Hamlet and Gertrude, thus Prince of Denmark. The ghost of Old Hamlet
charges him with the task of killing his uncle, Claudius, for killing him and
usurping the throne of Denmark. Hamlet is a moody, theatrical, witty, brilliant
young man, perpetually fascinated and tormented by doubts and introspection. It
is famously difficult to pin down his true thoughts and feelings -- does he
love Ophelia, and does he really intend to kill Claudius? In fact, it often
seems as though Hamlet pursues lines of thought and emotion merely for their
experimental value, testing this or that idea without any interest in applying
his resolutions in the practical world. The variety of his moods, from manic to
somber, seems to cover much of the range of human possibility.
Old Hamlet- The former King of Denmark. Old Hamlet appears as a ghost and
exhorts his son to kill Claudius, whom he claims has killed him in order to
secure the throne and the queen of Denmark. Hamlet fears (or at least says he
fears) that the ghost is an imposter, an evil spirit sent to lure him to hell.
Old Hamlet's ghost reappears in Act Three of the play when Hamlet goes too far
in berating his mother. After this second appearance, we hear and see no more
of him.
Claudius- Old Hamlet's brother, Hamlet's uncle, and Gertrude's newlywed
husband. He murdered his brother in order to seize the throne and subsequently
married Gertrude, his erstwhile sister-in-law. Claudius appears to be a rather
dull man who is fond of the pleasures of the flesh, sex and drinking. Only as
the play goes on do we become certain that he is indeed guilty of murder and
usurpation. Claudius is the only character aside from Hamlet to have a
soliloquy in the play. When he is convinced that Hamlet has found him out,
Claudius eventually schemes to have his nephew-cum-son murdered.
Gertrude- Old Hamlet's widow and Claudius' wife. She seems unaware that
Claudius killed her former husband. Gertrude loves Hamlet tremendously, while
Hamlet has very mixed feelings about her for marrying the (in his eyes)
inferior Claudius after her first husband's death. Hamlet attributes this need
for a husband to her lustiness. Gertrude figures prominently in many of the
major scenes in the play, including the killing of Polonius and the death of
Ophelia.
Horatio -Hamlet's closest friend. They know each other from the University
of Wittenberg, where they are both students. Horatio is presented as a
studious, skeptical young man, perhaps more serious and less ingenious than
Hamlet but more than capable of trading witticisms with his good friend. In a
moving tribute just before the play-within-the-play begins, in Act Two scene
two, Hamlet praises Horatio as his soul's choice and declares that he loves
Horatio because he is "not passion's slave" but is rather good-humored
and philosophical through all of life's buffets. At the end of the play, Hamlet
charges Horatio with the task of explaining the pile of bodies to the confused
onlookers in court.
Polonius -The father of Ophelia and Laertes and the chief adviser to the
throne of Denmark. Polonius is a windy, pedantic, interfering, suspicious,
silly old man, a "rash, intruding fool," in Hamlet's phrase. Polonius
is forever fomenting intrigue and hiding behind tapestries to spy. He hatches
the theory that Ophelia caused Hamlet to go mad by rejecting him. Polonius'
demise is fitting to his flaws. Hamlet accidentally kills the old man while he
eavesdrops behind an arras in Gertrude's bedroom. Polonius' death causes his
daughter to go mad.
Ophelia- The daughter of Polonius and sister of Laertes. Ophelia has
received several tributes of love from Hamlet but rejects him after her father
orders her to do so. In general, Ophelia is controlled by the men in her life,
moved around like a pawn in their scheme to discover Hamlet's distemper.
Moreover, Ophelia is regularly mocked by Hamlet and lectured by her father and
brother about her sexuality. She goes mad after Hamlet murders Polonius. She
later drowns.
Laertes -Polonius' son and Ophelia's brother. Laertes is an impetuous young
man who lives primarily in Paris, France. We see him at the beginning of the
play at the celebration of Claudius and Gertrude's wedding. He then returns to
Paris, only to return in Act Four with an angry entourage after his father's
death at Hamlet's hands. He and Claudius conspire to kill Hamlet in the course
of a duel between Laertes and the prince.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern- Friends of
Hamlet's from the University of Wittenberg. Claudius invites them to court in
order to spy on Hamlet. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are often treated as comic
relief; they are sycophantic, vaguely absurd fellows. After Hamlet kills
Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are assigned to accompany Hamlet to
England. They carry a letter from Claudius asking the English king to kill
Hamlet upon his arrival. Hamlet discovers this plot and alters the letter so
that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are put to death instead. We learn that they
have indeed been executed at the very close of the play.
Fortinbras- The Prince of Norway. In many ways his story is parallel to
Hamlet's: he too has lost his father by violence (Old Hamlet killed Old
Fortinbras in single combat); he too is impeded from ascending the throne by an
interfering uncle. But despite their biographical similarities, Fortinbras and
Hamlet are constitutional opposites. Where Hamlet is pensive and mercurial,
Fortinbras is all action. He leads an army through Denmark in order to attack
disputed territory in Poland. At the end of the play, and with Hamlet's dying
assent, Fortinbras assumes the crown of Denmark.
Osric- The ludicrous, flowery, stupid courtier who invites Hamlet to
fence with Laertes, then serves as referee during the contest.
The gravediggers- Two "clowns" (roles
played by comic actors), a principal gravedigger and his assistant. They figure
only in one scene -- Act Five scene one -- yet never fail to make a big
impression on readers and audience members. The primary gravedigger is a very
witty man, macabre and intelligent, who is the only character in the play
capable of trading barbs with Hamlet. They are the only speaking
representatives of the lower classes in the play and their perspective is a
remarkable contrast to that of the nobles.
The players- A group of (presumably English) actors who arrive in Denmark.
Hamlet knows this company well and listens, enraptured, while the chief player
recites a long speech about the death of Priam and the wrath of Hecuba. Hamlet
uses the players to stage an adaptation of "The Death of Gonzago"
which he calls "The Mousetrap" -- a play that reprises almost
perfectly the account of Old Hamlet's death as told by the ghost -- in order to
be sure of Claudius' guilt.
A Priest- Charged with performing the rites at Ophelia's funeral. Because of
the doubtful circumstances of Ophelia's death, the priest refuses to do more
than the bare minimum as she is interred.
Reynaldo- Polonius' servant, sent to check on Laertes in Paris. He receives
absurdly detailed instructions in espionage from his master.
Bernardo- A soldier who is among the first to see the ghost of Old Hamlet.
Marcellus- A soldier who is among the first to see the ghost of Old Hamlet.
Francisco- A soldier.
Voltemand and Cornelis- courtiers.
A Captain- in Fortinbras' army who speaks briefly with Hamlet.
Ambassadors - from England who arrive at the play's close to announce that
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.
Important quotes:
ACT-I
"Long live the king"
(Bernardo to Francisco, Act-I, scene-i)
"For this relief much thanks: 'tis
bitter cold, And i am sick at heart.
(Francisco to Bernardo, Act-I,
scene-i)
The head is more native to the
heart, The hand more instrumental to the mouth,
Than is the throne of Denmark to thy
father. what wouldst thou have, Laertes?
(Cladius to Laertes while going to
France, Act-I, scene-ii)
"A little more than kin, and less
than kind"
(Aside)(The very first line spoken by
Hamlet in the whole play., Act-I, scene-ii)
"I am too much i' the sun,'
(Hamlet to Claudius, Act-I, scene-ii. Figures
of speech is Pun: It is a pun on the word 'son. ' Hamlet uses
this pun to express his dissatisfaction of being a 'son' to too many people.)
"Seek for thy noble father on the
dust: Thou knowst 'tis common: all that lives must die passing through
nature to eternity"
(Gertrude to Hamlet, Act I, Scene ii
)
“O, that this too, too solid flesh
would melt, Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!
.... let me not think on't--Frailty
thy name is woman.....
....Married with my uncle, my father's
brother, but no more like my father, Than I to Herculus: within a
month....
...But break my heart , for I must
hold my tongue."
(Hamlet's 1st soliloquy, act 1 scene 2)
Give thy thoughts no tongue, nor any
unproportioned thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but thy means
vulgar.
... beware of entrance to a quarrel, but
being in bear it that the opposed may beware of thee...
Give every man thy ear, but few thy
voice..
Take each man’s censure, but reserve thy
judgement.
...costly thy habit [cloths] as thy purse
can buy..
...Neither a borrower nor a lender be,
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
...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.”
(Polonius, while bidding farewell to
Laertes, gives instructions about how to behave, act 1, scene 3)
“…though I am native here
And to the manner born, it is a custom
More honoured in the breach than the
observance.”
(Hamlet, act 1 scene 4)
“Something is rotten in the state of
Denmark.“
(Marcellus, act 1 scene 4, Figures
of speech is Imagery: this imagery draws our sense of sight
and smell.)
“O all you host of heaven! O earth what
else?
And shall I couple he'll?
[..... ]
O most pernicious woman!
O villain, villain, smiling damned
villaian,
My tables, -- meet it is I set it down,
That one may smile and smile and be a villain.”
(Hamlet's 2nd soliloquy, act 1 scene 5)
“There are more things in heaven and
earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in our philosophy.”
(Hamlet, act 1 scene 5)
ACT-II
“Brevity is the soul of wit.“
(Polonius to Cladius and Gertrude, act 2
scene 2, about the madness of Hamlet, as he is almost always verbose and overly
detailed, repeating his words. Consequently, his phrase “brevity is the soul of
wit” contradicts his actions )
"That he's mad, 'tis true, 'tis
true 'tis pity, And pity 'tis, 'tis true—a foolish figure'
(Polonius to Cladius and Gertrude, act 2
scene 2, about the madness of Hamlet)
"Doubt thou the stars are
fire, Doubt that the sun doth move, Doubt truth to be a
liar, But never doubt I love”
(Polonius reading Hamlet's love letter to
Ophelia; and Cladius and Gertrude are listening, act 2 scene 2, about the
madness of Hamlet)
"Excellent well; you are a
fishmonger"
(Hamlet to Polonius, Act-II, scene-ii,
Literally a "fishmonger," is seller of fish (lower class), but it is
actually slang for "pimp." In Shakespeare's time,
"fishmonger" had an association with men who used women for their own
monetary gain. Hamlet thinks Polonius put his selfishness in front of his
daughter's happiness.)
"Words, words, words."
(Hamlet to Polonius, Act-II, scene-ii, it
is the answer to polonious question: what do you read, my lord?)
“Though this be madness, yet there is
method in’t.”
(Polonius, act 2 scene 2, it is an aside)
"Denmark is a prison"
(Hamlet to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern,
act 2 scene 2, figures of speech is Meraphor)
“There is nothing either good or bad
but thinking makes it so.”
(Hamlet to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern,
act 2 scene ii, when Rosencrantz says Denmark is not a prison, Hamlet says
this)
"A dream itself is but a shadow"
(Hamlet to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern,
act 2, scene-ii )
“What a piece of work is a man! How noble
in reason, how infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and
admirable! In action how like an Angel! in apprehension how like a god!
The beauty of the world! The paragon of
animals! And yet to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me;
no, nor Woman neither; though by your smiling you seem to say so..”
(Hamlet, act II, scene ii)
I am but mad north-north-west. When the
wind is southerly,
.....I know a hawk from a handsaw.
(Hamlet to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern,
act II, scene ii, As the wind only occasionally blows from the
north-north-west, so too is he only occasionally struck by madness. Hamlet is
warning his friends that he can tell the difference between a friend and an
enemy.)
"For they say, an old man is twice
a child"
(Rosencrantz to Hamlet, Act II,
scene-ii, )
"Seneca cannot be too heavy, nor
Plautus too light"
(Polinius to Hamlet, in Act-II,
scene-ii, about a group of players)
“O, what a rogue and peasant slave am
I!" ...
.......What Hecuba to him, or he to
Hecuba,...
.......But i am pigeon livered and lack
gall
(Hamlet's 3rd soliloquy, act 2 scene ii)
ACT-III
“To be, or not to be: that is the
question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?—To die,—to sleep,—
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to,—’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish’d.
To die, to sleep – To sleep,
perchance to dream – ay, there’s the rub,
For in this sleep of death what dreams may
come…;
(Hamlet's 4th soliloquy, act 3 scene 1)
Get thee to a Nunnery, go: farewell Or ,
if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool
(Hamletto Ophelia , act 3 scene 1)
“God hath given you one face, and you
make yourself another.”
(Hamletto Ophelia , act 3 scene 1)
“The lady doth protest too much,
methinks.“
(Gertrude, act 3 scene 2)
“Oh my offence is rank, it smells to
heaven".......
.........What form of prayer can serve my
turn? Forgive me my foul murder?..."
The only soliloquy in the play not spoken
by Hamlet. Claudius admits murdering his brother, and he describes his guilt in
the language of decay.
(Only Soliloquy Spoken by Claudius, Act 3
Scene 3)
“Now might I do it pat, now he is
praying; And now I'll don't, And so he goes to heaven"
(6th soliloquy Spoken by Hamlet, Act 3
Scene 3, Hamlet is ready to kill Cladius, but he is praying, so
Cladius has a chance to go to heaven, so he did not killed him. Figures
of speech is Dramatic irony: audience know that Cladius is not asking
forgiveness in prayers, but Hamlet don't know this; and missed the chance to
kill Cladius )
"My words fly up, my thoughts
remain below: Words without thoughts never to heaven go"
(Cladius after prayer, Act 3 scene 3)
"How now! a rat? Dead, for a
ducat,dead!"
(Hamlet to Gertrude, pointing to
arras after killing Polonius , act 3 scene 4)
"O speak to me no more; these words,
like daggers, enter in mine years; No more sweet Hamlet!"
(Gertrude to Hamlet, Act III, Scene iv)
"O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my
heart in twain"
(Gertrude to Hamlet, Act III, Scene
iv, Figures of speech is Hyperbole)
“I must be cruel only to be
kind; Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind.”
(Hamlet to Gertrude after killing Polonius
, act 3 scene 4)
ACT-IV
"The body is with the King, but the
King is not with the body."
(refer directly to Polonius, a
"king" who's been separated from his body through death.)
(Hamlet to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, act 4 scene 2)
Cladius: Now Hamlet, Where's Polonius
Hamlet: Ar supper
Cladius: At supper! where
Hamlet: Not where he eats, but where he is
eaten
(After Polonius death, Act 4, Scene-ii)
"A man may fish with the worm
that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of the worm"
(Hamlet to Claudius, Act 4, Scene-iii)
"Truly to speak with no
addition,
We go to a little patch of ground
That hath in it no profit but the
name
To pay five ducats, five, i would not farm
it"
(Captain to Hamlet, Act 4, Scene-iv, The
captain is from Norway and they are going to invade Poland for a piece of land
which is useless in captain's opinion)
Two thousand souls and Twenty thousand
ducats
will not debate the question of this
straw:
(Hamlet to Captain of Norway, Act 4,
Scene-iv)
“How all occasions do inform against
me, and spur my dull revenge.“
(Hamlet's 7th and last soliloquy, act IV
scene iv)
When sorrows come, they come not single
spies, But in battalions
(Cladius, Act-4, Scene-v, to Gertrude
, Figure of Speech is Personification: Here, the
non-human entity, ‘sorrow’ has been personified as troops)
"Laertes shall be king, Laertes
king"
(Gentleman with King and Queen , after the
death of Polonius, Act4 Scene-v)
"There's a daisy: I would give you
Some violets, but they withered all when my father Died"
(Ophelia, Act-4, Scene-v, she sings song
to Laertes after going mad)
ACT-V
What is he that builds stronger than
either the mason, the shipwright, or the carpenter?
(First Clown, act 5 scene 1, answers it as
grave maker: his houses will last forever (he says until Doomsday)
“Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him,
Horatio: A fellow of infinite jest.“
(Hamlet, act 5 scene 1)
"I loved Ophelia: forty thousand
brothers could not, with all their quantity of love"
(Hamlet, act 5 scene 1)
"There is a special providence in
the fall of a sparrow, If it be now, ’tis not to come: if it be not to
come, it will be now: if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is
all.”
(Hamlet, act 5 scene 2)
Why, as a woodcock to mine own springe, Osric; I am justly kill'd with mine
own treachery.
(Laertes, act 5 scene 2, He is caught in his own trap, and shows his
confession)
‘I am more an antique Roman than a Dane:
Here's yet some liquor left.’
(Horatio to Hamlet, act 5 scene 2, Horatio feels that he is like a Roman
soldier to go on living without his friend and so wants to drink from the cup
of poison. )
“The rest is silence.”
(Hamlet, act 5 scene 2, Final words of
Hamlet)
“Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night,
sweet prince; And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest. ”
(Horatio, act 5 scene 2)
Act wise and scene wise Summary:
Act-I, Sce 1
The play
opens during a bitterly cold night watch outside of the royal Danish palace.
There is a changing of the guards: Bernardo replaces Francisco. Soon two more
characters arrive, Horatio and Marcellus. We learn that Bernardo and Marcellus,
two soldiers, have witnessed an extraordinary sight on both of the previous
nights’ watches: the ghost of the former King of Denmark, Old Hamlet, has
appeared before them in full armor. On this third night, they’ve
welcomed Horatio, a scholar and a skeptic who has just arrived in Denmark, to
verify their ghost sighting. Horatio initially expresses doubt that the ghost
will appear. Suddenly, it does. The two soldiers charge Horatio to speak to the
ghost but he does not. The ghost disappears just as suddenly as it arrived.
Soon after
the ghost’s disappearance, Marcellus asks the other two why there has been such
a massive mobilization of Danish war forces recently. Horatio answers, saying
that the Danish army is preparing for a possible invasion by Fortinbras, Prince
of Norway. We learn that Fortinbras’ father (also named Fortinbras), was killed
many years before in single combat with Old Hamlet, the now-deceased king whose
ghost we have just seen. Now that Old Hamlet has died, presumably weakening the
Danes, there is a rumor that Fortinbras plans to invade Denmark and claim that
lands that were forfeit after his father’s death.
After
Horatio has finished explaining this political backstory, the ghost of Old
Hamlet appears once more. This time Horatio does try to speak to the ghost.
When the ghost remains silent, Horatio tells Marcellus and Bernardo to try to
detain it; they strike at the ghost with their spears but jab only air. A
rooster crows just as the ghost appears ready to reply to Horatio at last. This
sound startles the ghost away. Horatio decides to tell Prince Hamlet, Old
Hamlet’s son, about the apparition, and the others agree.
Act-I, Sce-2
This scene
begins at the court of Claudius and Gertrude, the King and Queen of Denmark.
They have just been married. This marriage has followed quickly after the death
of the former King of Denmark, Old Hamlet, Claudius’ brother.
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