Hamlet 1.3 Quotes Flashcards
trifling
trifling of his favour - Lae
little flirtations, courting
toy
Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood
consider it a mere fad and infatuation
permanent
Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting, - Lae
Juxtapositional hendiadys of adjectives within one line, explicitly characterising only ‘permanent’ love as valuable. ‘permanent’ and ‘lasting’ have more syllables than ‘forward’ and ‘sweet’ respectively, as well.
violet
Now I have a second piece of corroborating evidence for Laertes’s characterisation of Hamlet as feminine, I feel more confident making a point about it. So, let’s go. Part A style: Laertes patronises not only with Ophelia but also Hamlet with hints of dismissive feminisation. Hamlet’s love becomes merely “a violet in the youth of primy nature,” which admittedly might connote beauty and purity; however, it is also merely “the perfume… of a minute”, just as ‘primy nature’ lasts merely for spring. These two metaphors are discrete - a flower and a sensation - yet linked by feminine fragility, absolutely an insult in the context of Laertes’s general dismissal of Hamlet’s feelings - at this point, unknown the audience in any detail - as “forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting.” The doubled, probably unnecessary, juxtaposition of ‘true’ love versus Hamlet’s supposed infatuation emphasises perhaps a genuine protectiveness over Ophelia - alternatively, Laertes’s rather misogynistic dismissal of Hamlet’s masculinity. Part B style - consider the question: “In the world of Hamlet, femininity is vulnerability.” HFDYA? Imagine 2 out of 3 main essay paragraphs are on Ophelia and Gertrude respectively; your third could well be on men being stereotypically feminine and thus vulnerable. (see bottom of this comment for discussion on how such an essay might look as a whole). How might we use this section of the play and others? In the hero himself, Shakespeare arguably anticipates later 20th century discussion of femininity as more fluid. To some extent, he reinforces traditional assumptions of binary femininity. He criticises himself in how he “must, like a whore unpack my heart with words,” not take action, in comparison to the First Player’s rendition of Phyrrus’s violence in the Trojan war; he also simply addresses “Frailty” as “thy name is woman,” explicitly characterising the universal ‘woman’ as vulnerable, chaotic or disloyal, or what feminist critic French calls Shakespeare’s “feminine principle.” However, Laertes breaks down the gender binary somewhat, perhaps unconsciously, when he warns Ophelia that Hamlet’s love is merely “a violet”, the same flower he hopes in Act 5 will grow from his sister’s “unpolluted flesh,” and is a superficial “perfume”, culturally associated with femininity both in Renaissance England and in modern advertising culture. Laertes’s dismissive femininisation is not as dangerous to Hamlet as his own “melancholy” (Murphy, 1772) but nevertheless demonstrates Elsinore’s equation of womanliness with weakness. General thoughts about Part B: This question focusses on the concept of femininity, not the status of being a woman. It’s easy to mentally translate the question as “women are vulnerable” and if you wrote an otherwise good essay, you could still get 13/15. You could challenge the Q: including that it’s not their femininity necessarily that makes them vulnerable but the “rotten” “state” of Denmark). Perhaps it is their femininity, but adopting masculine qualities of confidence (like a Beatrice or Cleopatra figure) would leave them vulnerable in different ways.
more
No more but so? - Oph
A single line of pentameter of monosyllabic words in which Laertes verbally ‘surrounds’ Ophelia as symbolic of his psychological restriction, and his reduction of her to a passive listener
think
Think it no more - Lae
Showalter 1985, “Ophelia is deprived of thought, sexuality and language.” C.f. Polonius interrupts Ophelia
crescent
For nature, crescent, does not grow alone
- Grows wide withal - Lae
Developing human nature doesn’t grow in a vacuum; as he grows, his “mind and soul” will grow as well, [and thus probably outgrow his love for Ophelia].
will
his will is not his own - Lae
Very important half-line for virtually any Part B - a major character thinks that the hero can never be fully free, which influences all decisions and ideas in the play
birth
For he himself is subject to his birth - Lae
peter saccio - hamlet is in no sense free. St Augustine on orignal sin passed down at birth. vs Pelagius - free will. Augustine influential christian western
Unto the voice and yielding of that body - Lae
metaphor of the state as a body. Plato argues that the body is the source of all trouble - materialism, charioteer analogy
honour
what loss your honour must sustain - lae
virginity
chaste
Or lose your heart or your chaste treasure open / To his unmastered importunity. - lae
eupthemism for sex
Interesting contrasting conjunction ‘or’, implicitly separating emotional intimacy (lose your heart) and sexual intimacy (your chaste treasure open) Unmastered = link to ‘unschooled’ (plenty of other places in Shakespeare: unsex me here)
libertine
like a puffed and reckless libertine, - ophelia
Laertes’s ‘protection’ of Ophelia is an extension of his desire to protect the families reputation from further ruin. Later on in the text, Polonius uses Reynaldo to spy on Laertes and his activities in France, therefore his lecturing of Ophelia holds less weight and value as he is seen as a hypocrite, and Ophelia seems to already be aware of his behaviour, which allows her every right to criticise him.
precepts
And these few precepts in thy memory / Look thou character - Pol
Ironic - it’s a long list. However, he is correct in that they’re ‘precepts’, or general principles. None of this advice seems particularly tailored to Laertes
oft
‘Tis told me he hath very oft of late - Pol
Opening accusations exemplify Polonius’s mode of espionage: “‘tis told me” (by an unnamed source) going from the relatively suspicious “private time” to the stronger “free and bounteous” response of Ophelia.
