hamlet acts 1 + 2 quotes
"Murder most foul, as in the best it is/ But this most foul, strange and unnatural."
Ghost of Old Hamlet @ Hamlet -King Hamlet is telling lil Hamlet that yes, all murder is horrible, but this one is especially horrible. Act 1 + Scene 5
"Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder"
Ghost of Old Hamlet @ Hamlet -King Hamlet is telling lil Hamlet to go out and seek revenge on Claudius for this foul murder. Act 1 + Scene 5
"The serpent that did sting thy father's life/ Now wears his crown"
Ghost of Old Hamlet @ Hamlet -This is where it is revealed that King Hamlet was murdered by King Claudius. Act 1 + Scene 5
"Frailty thy name is woman"
Hamlet -"@Hamlet: @QueenGertrude, you are weak for marrying again a month after my father's death." Hamlet believes the epitome of weakness and frailty is this mother, Gertrude. Act 1 + Scene 2
"As I perchance hereafter shall think meet/ To put an antic disposition on"
Hamlet -After chatting with his dad's ghost, Hamlet decides that from now on, he will start acting crazy. Act 1 + Scene 5
"O what a rogue and peasant slave am I! / . . . / Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King."
Hamlet -Hamlet finally found a way to catch Claudius in his guilt. Act 2 + Scene 2
"O All you host of heaven . . . / . . . / So, uncle, there your are. Now to my word; / It is adieu, adieu! Remember me. / I have sworn't."
Hamlet -Hamlet is basically swearing to the gods that he will carry out the revenge against his uncle like he promised his father. Act 1 + Scene 5
"The play's the thing/ Wherin I'll catch the conscience of the king"
Hamlet -Hamlet thinks that the play about the betrayal of a king will get Claudius's conscience feeling pretty guilty. Act 2 + Scene 2
""But break my heart for I must hold my tongue."
Hamlet -It breaks Hamlet's heart to see his mother move on from his father so quickly and for his father to be so easily forgotten. He is devastated he can't share his true feeling aloud. Act 1 + Scene 2
"O that this too, too solid flesh should melt / . . . /But break my heart for I must hold my tongue."
Hamlet -It breaks Hamlet's heart to see his mother move on from his father so quickly and for his father to be so easily forgotten. He is devastated he can't share his true feeling aloud. Act 1 + Scene 2
""tis an unweeded garden / That grows to seed. Things rank and gross in nature / possess it [the world] merely . . . ."
Hamlet @ Gertrude -Hamlet is telling his mother how his life is basically a mess. He compares it to a garden that no one seems to care about anymore, with nothing but nasty weeds growing from it. Act 1 + Scene 2
"Thrift, thrift, Horatio. The funeral baked meats / Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables."
Hamlet @ Horatio -Hamlet is expressing his stress with Horatio about how quickly his father's funeral turned into his uncle's and mother's wedding. (This is his attempt at being witty) Act 1 + Scene 2
"Then sit still my soul. Foul deeds will rise/ Though all the world o'erwhelm them to men's eyes"
Hamlet @ Horatio + Barnardo + Marcellus -Hamlet sees the news of his father's ghost as a sign that something is wrong. Act 1 + Scene 2
"This time is out of joint. O cursed spite/ That ever I was born to set it right"
Hamlet @ Horatio + Marcellus -Hamlet is telling Horatio and Marcellus to swear not to breathe a word about the news the ghost revealed. He said that times are pretty crazy right now and Hamlet needs to fix everything. Act 1 + Scene 5
"So excellent a king, that was to this / Hyperion to a satyr"
Hamlet @ King Claudius - How can people be okay with the passing of a king that is comparable to a sun god who is being replaced by a half horse? Act 1 + Scene 2
"Not so my lord, I am too much in the sun"
Hamlet @ King Claudius -Hamlet is basically shading Claudius for calling him his son and disguising it as a pun . Act 1 + Scene 2
"'Seems', madame? Nay, it is. I know it not 'seems'"
Hamlet @ Queen -Hamlet is telling the Queen to stop playing dumb, he doesn't SEEM upset. He IS upset. Act 1 + Scene 2
"This bodes some strange eruption to our state."
Horatio @ Marcellus + Barnardo -This after the first time seeing the ghost. Horatio is saying, "I'm not sure why, but this seems like bad news" Act 1 + Scene 1
"This bodes some strange eruption to our state"
Horatio @ guards -This was after their first time seeing the ghost, Horatio believes this is an ominous warning. Basically, he's saying no good can come from this. Act 1 + Scene 1
"Nor have we herein barred / Your better wisdoms, which have freely gone with this affair along. For all, our thanks"
King Claudius @ attendants of the wedding -King Claudius is thanking everyone for their attendance to the wedding and for not having an issue with the queen marrying him so quickly. Act 1 + Scene 2
"For he himself is subject to his birth"
Laertes @ Ophelia -Laertes is telling Ophelia not to get her hopes up about Hamlet because Hamlet has a duty to Denmark. Hamlet may not be able to marry for love, he might have to marry for the safety of the country. Act 1 + Scene 3
"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark"
Marcellus @ Horatio -Marcellus is telling Horatio that there is something pretty fishy going on, there's corruption. Act 1 + Scene 4
"Do not...show me the step and thorny way to heaven/ Whiles... himself the primrose path of dalliance treads..."
Ophelia @ Laertes -Ophelia is calling Laertes on his misogynistic bullshit. She's calling out his double standards. Act 1 + Scene 3
"Though this be madness, yet there is method in't."
Polonius -"There is method to his madness". He is speaking about Hamlet, wondering why it is he is acting so strange. Act 2 + Scene 2
"This above all: To thine own self be true."
Polonius @ Laertes -This is Polonius' last piece of advice before he heads out to Paris. He is reminding his son that above anything else, stay true to yourself. Act 1 + Scene 3
"Cast thy knighted color off, and let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark"
Queen Gertrude @ Hamlet -The Queen is telling Hamlet to stop moping and mourning. She is saying to look at the bright side and keep going. Act 1 + Scene 2
"More matter with less art"
Queen Gertrude @ Polonius -The Queen is telling Polonius to speak with some dignity and actually have substance when it comes to his words. Act 2 + Scene 2
