Quot Anaylsis Act 5 Scene 1

Rachel Igoe

English Honors

G-Period

12 April 2011

Hamlet Quote Analysis

            “How absolute the knave is! WE must speak by / the card, or equivocation will undo us. By the / Lord Horatio, this three years I have took note of / it: the age is grown so picked that the toe of the / peasant come so near the heel of the courtier” (V.i.140-144).

            The gravedigger tries to make the scene more humorous with his jokes, but Hamlet finds it disrespectful. The gravediggers are witty and very clever with their jokes. Hamlet is in shock that someone in the lower class would talk to him like that. The gravediggers represent the clowns of the play, which are common in most Shakespeare plays. The play is at a tragic point because Ophelia had just committed suicide, Polonius was murdered and King Hamlet was also killed. Since it is so tragic the gravediggers are used to lighten the mood with their humor. At the graveyard, Hamlet once again faces his crisis of death and the afterlife, which references back to his “to be, or not to be” speech.  

Hamlet Quote Anaylsis Act 4 Scene 5

Rachel Igoe

English Honors

G-Period

10 April 2011

Quote Analysis Act 4 Scene 5

            “O, this poison of deep grief. It springs / All from her father’s death, and now behold! / O Gertrude, Gertrude, / When sorrows come, they come not single spies, / But in battalions: first, her father slain; / Next, your son gone, and he most violent author / of his own just remove; the people muddied thick, and unwholesome in {their} thoughts and whispers” (IV.V.80-86)

            Claudius is overwhelmed with everything that has happened. First his brother, King Hamlet, died and then Polonius was murdered. He says that bad things don’t happen one at a time, which foreshadows that there is more chaos to come. It is ironic that King Claudius says this because he is the reason for the murders and the madness. He was the one who killed King Hamlet, which caused Hamlet to go crazy and kill Polonius accidentally. Claudius’s deceitful deed has caused everything to fall apart. Since Hamlet has not successfully had is revenge on King Claudius the reader can assume that the worst has yet to come. 

Quote Analysis Act 3 Scene 2

Rachel Igoe

English Honors

G-Period

1 April 2011

Act Two Scene Three Quote Analysis

            “ Since my dear soul was mistress of her choice / And could of men distinguish, her election / Hath sealed thee for herself. For thou hast been / As one in suffering all that suffers nothing” (III.ii. 67-70).

            Hamlet has experienced many downfalls from the beginning of the play. He is portrayed as a great respectable prince, but after he sees his fathers ghost he is seen as crazy. The reader can sympathize with Hamlet because his father has past away, his two best friends have betrayed him and the one he loves, Ophelia, has ended ties with him. In this scene Hamlet converses with his good friend Horatio, who is the only loyal friend Hamlet has left. He tells Horatio he has chosen him because he takes everything life hands him with acceptance and he is grateful whether it is good or bad. Hamlet idolizes Horatio because Hamlet is not able to cope with the bas things that have happened to him. He sees that Horatio is able to remain calm in every situation that is thrown at him. Horatio is viewed as a strong and composed character, also he is the only friend that has not betrayed Hamlet.