Hamlet / Dream

Quotation Revision

Activity

• Add analysis and evaluation to each point and quotation

• The true extent of Hamlet’s misery is revealed in his first soliloquy:

“O, that this too too sullied flesh would melt Thaw and resolve itself into a dew! Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd His canon 'gainst self-slaughter!”

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“O, that this too too sullied flesh would melt Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!

Shakespeare’s use of imagery here is effective in conveying how Hamlet is so miserable that he cruses the solid nature of his body; he wishes it would dissolve into something as easily dispersed as a few drops of moisture. This is the first the audience learn of his desire for death. However, his religious beliefs prevent him form acting upon this. Suicide is against the ‘canon’ of Christianity so Hamlet is prevented form acting. This foreshadows his later procrastination over killing Claudius; his considerations of the heavenly consequences of his actions prevent him from acting in this world.

The conflict between Hamlet’s contemplative nature and his desire to revenge his father is exacerbated by the ambiguous nature of the ghost:“Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damned,Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell,Be thy intents wicked or charitable,”

“Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damned,Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell,”

Shakespeare’s use of antithesis is effective in highlighting Hamlet’s uncertainty over the Ghost’s real identity. This is of crucial importance because if its intents are ‘wicked’ he could lose his soul. This relates directly to one of the tragedy’s central themes: the difficulty of separating appearances from reality. Claudius’ reign has created a rotten, deceitful society in Elsinore- one where the truth can not be easily distinguished form the many lies.

The Ghost reveals to Hamlet that Claudius is guilty of regicide:“But know, thou noble youth,The serpent that did sting thy father’s lifeNow wears his crown.”

“But know, thou noble youth,The serpent that did sting thy father’s lifeNow wears his crown.”

• Shakespeare’s imagery is successful in conveying the extent of Claudius’ evil. By comparing him to a snake, he creates obvious allusions to the Garden of Eden, with Claudius taking on the role of the devil. Indeed, just like the devil in serpent form encouraged man to disobey God, Claudius’ act of regicide would be viewed by Shakespeare’s audience as being against God’s will.

• In his most famous soliloquy, Hamlet considers the philosophical question of why so many of us choose to accept the sufferings of existence:

“Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to sufferThe slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,And by opposing end them?”

“Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to sufferThe slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,And by opposing end them?” In the first metaphor, Shakespeare skilfully creates an image of life’s suffering being akin to the experience of being on a battlefield while airborne weapons are launched at you; hurt and pain are inevitable and inescapable. This passive acceptance of misery is then contrasted with taking an active approach t o our problem’s. However, with one of his most brilliant metaphors, Shakespeare suggests that any such attempts are doomed to fail. The image of attempting to battle the sea suggest a futile task which will overwhelm the protagonist.

• In his only soliloquy, Claudius reveals his guilt over his brother’s death:

“Oh, my offence is rank. It smells to heaven.It hath the primal eldest curse upon ’t,A brother’s murder. Pray can I not.”Shakespeare’s imagery of Claudius’ offence as

something that has gone off or is rotten illustrates how his acts of regicide and incest have created the corruption that overwhelms Elsinore.

• Through the character of Laertes, Shakespeare creates a direct contrast with Hamlet and his approach to revenge:

“Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit!I dare damnation. To this point I standThat both the worlds I give to negligence.Let come what comes, only I’ll be revengedMost thoroughly for my father.

“Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit!I dare damnation. To this point I standThat both the worlds I give to negligence.Let come what comes, only I’ll be revengedMost thoroughly for my father.• The use of alliteration is effective in highlighting Laertes’

rash disregard for the consequences of his actions. He cares little for what happens in this world or the next; he simply wants revenge. However, this allows him to be easily manipulated by Claudius.

• By the play’s final scene, hamlet has realised that there is a time when it is correct to take action:

• “He that hath killed my king and whored my mother,• Popped in between th' election and my hopes,• Thrown out his angle for my proper life• (And with such cozenage!)—is ’t not perfect conscience• To quit him with this arm? And is ’t not to be damned• To let this canker of our nature come• In further evil?”

“He that hath killed my king and whored my mother,Popped in between th' election and my hopes,Thrown out his angle for my proper life(And with such cozenage!)—is ’t not perfect conscienceTo quit him with this arm? And is ’t not to be damnedTo let this canker of our nature comeIn further evil?”

Shakespeare’s imagery here helps to highlight the poisonous effect that Claudius’ illegitimate rule has on Danish society. Therefore, by giving his life to end this unnatural and corrupted rule, Hamlet becomes a tragic hero. It is ironic that in this final scene, Claudius dies by his own poison.

• At the outset of his powerful speech, King highlights the lack of liberty experienced by African Americans in 1963:

• “One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacle of segregation and the chains of discrimination.”

• “One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacle of segregation and the chains of discrimination.”

• I found this to be a particularly emotive use of imagery. King compares the shackles used during slavery to the restrictions placed on the lives of African Americans. The allusion to the horrors of slavery is extremely powerful and suggests that its effects were still, shockingly, being felt ‘one hundred years later’.

• As the speech develops, King makes skilful use of an extended metaphor to highlight how the promises of the Emancipation Proclamation have not been kept:

• “In a sense we've come to our Nation's Capital to cash a cheque.”

• “In a sense we've come to our Nation's Capital to cash a cheque.”

In this metaphor, King compares the promises of justice and equality made in the Emancipation Proclamation to the promises of payment made by a cheque. These payments have been promised to African Americans for one hundred years but have not been fulfilled. This is an effective comparison because the references to money appeal to America’s capitalist values, and cheques were frequently used by most people in 1963, so it is an image they can easily relate to.

• As the speech progresses, King highlights the urgency of the situation:

“Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy.

Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.”

“Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.”

King uses anaphora here to stress the importance of an immediate end to America’s racial nightmare. He then uses antithesis and imagery to vividly depict the change he wishes to see in American society. The dull, plosive alliteration of ’d’ helps to emphasise the depressing nature of the situation faced by African Americans in 1963. Antithesis then contrasts the entrapment of this situation-being stuck in a valley- to the attractive ease of progression offered by a life of racial justice, as depicted by the image of the ‘sunlit path’.

• King also highlights the importance of non-violent action:

• “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.”

• “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.”

• I found King’s use of imagery here to be particularly successful. By comparing African Americans’ desire for liberty

• For me, the most powerful section of King’s speech is also the most famous:

• “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.”

• King’s speech has an extremely effective climax:• “And when this happens, and when we allow

freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old negro spiritual, "Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."

• “And when this happens, and when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old negro spiritual, "Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.“

• The repetition of ‘we’ helps to stress king’s message of unity. This is reinforced by the list of apparently contrasting groups who will join together to ‘hold hands’. This image is a simple yet effective climax to King’s speech. It would allow his audience to remember and take away this picture of the possibilities of racial unity.