Suicide Flashcards

1
Q

“O, that this too too solid flesh would melt,
Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!
Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d
His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! (1.2.129-132)

A

Hamlet says this at the beginning of his first soliloquy, and goes on to express his disgust at the speed with which his mother went from his father’s grave to his uncle’s bed.

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2
Q

Trying to dissuade Hamlet from following the Ghost, Horatio says that the Ghost could lead Hamlet to the edge of a cliff, then assume a horrible shape that would drive Hamlet mad. He adds,

A

The very place puts toys of desperation,
Without more motive, into every brain
That looks so many fathoms to the sea
And hears it roar beneath. (1.4.75-78)

Horatio believes that there is a great danger that Hamlet would jump off the cliff to his death.

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3
Q

The opening of Hamlet’s “To be, or not to be” soliloquy may be about wider issues than suicide.

A

But in a few moments it is clear that he is contemplating it.

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4
Q

Queen Gertrude’s description Ophelia’s drowning

A

is the background for later discussions of whether or not Ophelia committed suicide.

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