Hamlet Quotations Flashcards
Claudius, to Hamlet upon the death of Old Hamlet
“Tis unmanly grief”
Hamlet to Claudius on deception and appearance
“smiling damned villain!”
Hamlet describing Claudius as an undignified and clownish
“A king of shreds and patches”
Claudius’ insincere commiserations to Laertes
“I loved your father, and we love ourself”
Old Hamlet on Gertrude and her seeming…
“My most seeming virtuous queen”
Gertrude on the queen character in The Murder of Gonzago
“The lady doth protest too much methinks”
Gertrude when she realises Hamlet’s capacity for effecting self knowledge and reflection.
“Thou turn’st my very eyes into my soul”
Hamlet’s self pity on providence and his role in the revenge tragedy.
“Oh cursed spite, That ever I was born to set it right”
Hamlet on the rarity of honest men.
“To be honest…is to be one man picked out of ten thousand”
Hamlet acknowledges his cowardice and inactivity
“I am pigeon livered”
Hamlet on overthinking and obstructive nature of moral awareness
“Conscience does make cowards”
Hamlet roused and roused to activity
“Now could I drink hot blood”
Hamlet on the incestuous bed of Gertrude and Claudius
“The rank sweat of an enseamed bed”
Hamlet realises lack of worth of rank and status upon death
“A king may go a progress through the guts of a beggar”
Hamlet is ready for action
“The readiness is all”
Hamlet’s final words, mortification, let it be.
“The rest is silence”
Laertes expresses his possessed state of mind bent on revenge
“Conscience and grace to the profoundest pit”
Laertes considers his death just and fair
“I am justly killed by mine own treachery”
Horatio warning Hamlet of the potential damaging powers of Old Hamlet
“… might deprive your sovereignty of reason”
Ophelia on gifts and appearance vs reality
“Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind”
Polonius orders Reynaldo
“By indirections find directions out”
Polonius tells of how he sugar coats actions
“And pious action do we sugar o’er the Devil himself”
Hamlet on Polonius and his foolishness
“… was in life a most fooling knave”
Claudius admits the severity of his actions
“Oh, my offense is rank! It smells to heaven”
