Summary
Summary Hamlet Quotation Bank
- Module
- Drama and poetry pre-1900
- Institution
- OCR
A quotation bank containing all the key quotes from Shakespeare's most famous play, Hamlet, with each quotes' significance and explanation.
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Hamlet Quotation BankAct 1:
Quotation and who When What it shows
Act 1, Scene 1
‘Who’s there?’ - Barnardo Act 1, Scene 1, Line 1 - Shows high alert and
suspicion - perhaps since
- Identity the ghost has been sighted
- Deception before but also hints at the
- Appearance vs Reality foul play involved in the
- Performance king's death
- Duplicity
- sets tone of unease
- Foreshadows that fortinbras
is preparing to attack
(everyone is on high alert
and waiting for something to
happen)
- Question creates uncertainty
‘Long live the king’ - Barnardo Act 1, Scene 1, Line 3 - Introduces himself by his
allegiances, shows general
- Identity mistrust in the castle and the
- Deception suspicion that there be
- Appearance vs Reality traitors
- Performance - Suggests a controlling/strict
- Duplicity king or a general fear of
being caught not being loyal
to the king
‘Tush, tush, ‘twill not appear’ - Act 1, Scene 1 - Horatio was brought in to
Horatio verify the guards ghost
sightings
- Appearance vs Reality - He does not believe
- Suspense in the ghost; an
- Scholarship & Intellect educated and
- Humanism unsuperstitious man
- His shushing of the
guards cements his
status as being
higher than theirs
- “‘Twill not appear” is
certain; he is sure of
, himself
‘I charge thee speak’ - Horatio Act 1, Scene 1 - Horatio’s use of imperatives
shows his command over
- Suspense the others and his status
- Scholarship & Intellect - His lack of fear in
- Humanism comparison to the guards
demonstrates an assertive
and secure nature
‘Good now, sit down’ - Marcellus Act 1, Scene 1 - Starts his monologue as if
he is telling story
- Story-telling - Fits with themes of folklore
and fairytales
- Goes on to speak of why
they are keeping watch
(Fortinbras); sets up part of
the plot
- Shakespeare's way of
providing backstory to the
play.
‘The graves stood tenantless and Act 1, Scene 1 - Horatio is referencing the
the sheeted dead did squeak and ghosts that are said to have
gibber’ - Horatio risen before caesar was
murdered
- Supernatural - Julius caesar was
- Death the last play
shakespeare
published
- Foreshadows the death
(including that of Claudius,
the king)
- Also could reference the
death of the previous king,
whose ghost has appeared
- The reference to folklore
and the past shows the men
attempting to make sense of
what they have seen by
comparing it to other similar
circumstances
‘It was about to speak when the Act 1, Scene 1 - Use of ‘it’ (impersonal
cock crew’ - Barnado pronoun) shows a possible
ambiguity in the ghosts
- Supernatural nature (as in, whether it is of
a human or not).
- Similar to the
ambiguous language
used to describe the
supernatural in
Macbeth (see the
witches)
, - Fits with
Shakespeare's
portrayal of the
supernatural as
outside of human
- Shows the confusion
of the witnesses
- The fact the ghost
disappears before sunrise is
reminiscent of the witching
hour and the association of
the night and darkness with
the supernatural (also, see
Macbeth)
‘Why such impress of shipwrights, Act 1, Scene 1, Marcellus tells us of - They are preparing for war
whose sore task does not divide what is going on in Denmark - Foreshadowing
sunday from the week’ - Marcellus - Shipwrights do not even get
sunday (the holy day of rest)
off
Act 1, Scene 2
‘With mirth in funeral and dirge in Act 1, Scene 2, in Claudius’ first - Antithetical phrases; they
marriage’ - Claudius speech are perhaps deliberately
confusing, how can one be
- Appearance VS Reality happy at a funeral and sad
- Performance at a wedding.
- Confusing statements that
don't mean much (they
essentially mean ‘we are
happy and we are sad’);
play into Claudius’ skilled
wordplay and calculated
nature
‘He hath not failed to pester us with Act 1, Scene 2, in Claudius’ first - Fortinbras [he] is pestering
message’ - Claudius speech Claudius; is naught but a
pest. Claudius is unbothered
- Kingship and unconcerned.
- Classic
machiavellian king
- Dismissive tone
- Contrasts with the extensive
war preparations mentioned
in Act 1, Scene 1; is
Claudius attempting to
downplay what is a very real
threat?
- Perhaps he wishes
to seem in control,
even if he is not
, ‘The head is not more native to the Act 1, Scene 2, in reference to - Spoken to Laertes about his
heart’ - Claudius Polonius father; sets up closeness
between Polonius and
- Body Politics Claudius
By using a metonym to say
P and C are one, adds
context to P’s involvement in
spying on Hamlet; perhaps
P is an extension of C and it
could be interpreted as C
spying when it is actually P
- P is the first death during the
play - from then things
unravel further and further,
- maybe the
importance of P to C
means that when P
dies things become
disorganised and the
deaths begin.
‘A little more than kin, a little less Act 1, Scene 2, Hamlet’s first line - Sarcasm and wordplay
than kind’ - Hamlet - Veiled language, perhaps
since speaking to the king
- Appearance VS Reality and thus cannot say what it
means (we may be family
but we are very different)
- If he were directly rude then
it’d be treason, Hamlet looks
for ways to be rude without
risking his life
‘Let thine eye look like a friend on Act 1, Scene 2, part of the queen's - Denmark refers to the new
Denmark’ - Gertrude (Hamlet’s first lines king/her new husband
mother) - Bidding her son to be nice to
the new king, attempting to
make peace
‘“Seems”, madam - nay it is, I know Act 1, Scene 2, to his mother - Translation: ‘i don't seem
not “seems”’ - Hamlet sad, I am sad’
- Sarcasm and veiled
- Appearance VS Reality rudeness towards his
mother
- Exaggerated politeness of
‘madam’; suggests he is
deliberately separating
himself from his mother and
family due to his upset
‘An understanding simple and Act 1, Scene 2, to Hamlet - Part of some lines where
unschooled’ - Claudius Claudius tells Hamlet to get
over his dad’s death
- Infantilizing language, calls
Hamlet ill educated and
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