| ‘Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting’ | Laertes to Ophelia | 1.3 |
About Hamlet’s affections – suggests they are a passing fancy. Use of doubling here. |
| ‘… to thine own self be true’ | Polonius to Laertes | 1.3 |
Wise words from a ‘fool’. Irony? Are any of the characters true to themselves? |
| ‘Do not believe his vows’ | Polonius to Ophelia | 1.3 | Warning her that Hamlet’s assertions of love are false - both Laertes & Polonius have said this. |
| ‘Something is rotten in the state of Denmark’ | Marcellus | 1.4 |
An ominous warning after Hamlet follows the Ghost – creates a sense of corruption. |
| ‘Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder’ | The Ghost to Hamlet | 1.5 | The request which spurs the central plot. |
| ‘… that incestuous, that adulterate beast’ | Ghost about Claudius | 1.5 | Language which Hamlet will later echo. |
| ‘… I have been so affrighted’ | Ophelia to Polonius | 2.1 | Fearful of Hamlet’s strange behaviour. |
| ‘This is the very ecstasy of love’ | Polonius to Ophelia | 2.1 | Mistakenly takes Hamlet’s odd behaviour as being due to an infatuation with Ophelia. |
| ‘I did repel his letters’ | Ophelia to Polonius | 2.1 | Shows she’s obedient to her father. |
| ‘My too much changed son’ | Ophelia to R & G | 2.2 | Recognises how Hamlet is behaving. |
| ‘Hamlet’s lunacy’ | Polonius to Claudius | 2.2 | Shows how all are noticing Hamlet’s peculiar conduct. |
| ‘… brevity is the soul of wit’ | Polonius to Claudius | 2.2 |
Irony! Polonius always takes ages to say what needs to be said! |
| ‘… never doubt I love’ | Hamlet in letter to Ophelia | 2.2 | Playing with words but is this evidence that Hamlet really did love her? |
| ‘... the madness wherein now he raves’ | Polonius to C & G | 2.2 | Convinced that Hamlet is mad. |
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‘Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t’ |
Polonius to Hamlet | 2.2 |
He rightly guesses that Hamlet’s seeming madness is carefully crafted for purpose. |
| ‘Denmark’s a prison’ | Hamlet to R & G | 2.2 | Shows how Hamlet feels trapped. |
| ‘a coward… pigeon-livered’ | Hamlet soliloquy about himself | 2.2 | Self-reproach – Hamlet’s not convinced that he can carry out revenge. |
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‘Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain!’ |
Hamlet soliloquy | 2.2 | His thoughts about Claudius. |
| ‘… The play’s the thing/ Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.’ | Hamlet soliloquy | 2.2 | Shows courage as he plots the first stage of his revenge through the play within the play. |
| ‘To be, or not to be: that is the question:’ | Hamlet soliloquy | 3.1 | Again, pondering thoughts of suicide. |
| ‘The fair Ophelia!’ | Hamlet to Ophelia | 3.1 | Kind words before he turns against her. |