Hamlet: Critical Quotes Flashcards
L. C. Knights: ‘Hamlet cannot break out of …’
‘Hamlet cannot break out of the closed circle of loathing and self-contempt’.
Alex Newell on Hamlet’s ‘To be or not to be soliloquy’: ‘entirely motivated by reason, ….’
‘entirely motivated by reason, untouched by passion […] the speech carries the stamp of Hamlet’s identity as a student, formally posing a “question” or topic for debate’.
Engagement: The rhetoric and fluency of Hamlet’s soliloquy feeds into the argument of him as a scholar. His skills allow him to bring philosophical reasoning to difficult times in his life.
Dr Hannah Lavery: ‘[Gertrude] is one of the quietist characters in the play…’
‘Through her marriage to Claudius, Queen Gertrude maintains a position of political authority within the court, and appears on-stage alongside Claudius in most court scenes.
NEVERTHELESS, SHE IS ONE OF THE QUIETEST CHARACTERS IN THE PLAY, SPEAKING ONLY 3.8% OF THE LINES. Indeed, she plays a surprising amount of the play in silence, considering how important a role she apparently plays in the provocation and development of the revenge action.’
Rhodri Lewis (on Laertes as a dramatic counter-point to Hamlet).
‘Laertes reacts to the killing of Polonius with an …’
‘Impetuous rage that could not be further removed from the meta-mnemonic agitation of Hamlet’s second soliloquy’.
Rebecca Smith: ‘Polonius trained…’
‘Trained his daughter to be obedient and chaste and is able to use her as a piece of bait for spying’.
Marilyn French on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern…
‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern sacrifice the bond of human friendship to a social propriety’.
Samuel Johnson: ‘Hamlet an … rather than an …’
‘Hamlet is rather AN INSTRUMENT than an AGENT’
Showalter on Ophelia’s character:
‘Ophelia is deprived of thought, sexuality and language […] she represents the strong emotions that the Elizabethans thought womanish’
