Hamlet

• "A little ere the mightiest Julius fell" act 1 scene 1- Julius was a corrupt leader that was betrayed by his fellow people. This foreshadows the role that Claudius has within the play and also foreshadows how he will die.
• "Be as ourself in Denmark" Act 1 scene 2- they want Denmark to look united and strong against Fortinbras whilst also keeping eye on Hamlet. This is the beginning of the of the spying plot.
• "tis an unweeded garden"- Act 1 Scene 2- apart of Hamlets first soliloquy, it is a metaphor for the state of Denmark, and how the state is corrupt.
• "frailty, thy name is woman"- Act 1 Scene 2- first soliloquy. This is seen as misogynistic as he calling women weak and putting all women in a group due to his anger towards his mother.
• "wicked speed" and "incestuous sheets" - Act 1 Scene 2- first soliloquy. Hamlet is mad at how quickly Gertrude and Claudius got married after his fathers death. The word 'wicked' and 'incestuous' alludes to the idea their relationship was going on while Hamlets father was still alive.
• "violet in the youth of primy nature"- Act 1 scene 3- Laertes is warning Ophelia to be cautious around Hamlet. Ophelia has a motif of flower imagery that follows her throughout the play. The flower 'violet' is often symbolises love and honesty, this may have been to emphasises how youthful love can be dangerous.
• "as watchman of my heart"- Act 1 Scene 3- this shows how Ophelia hands over her freedom to the men that are apart of her life. That is why when every person who told her what to do and forced her into naivety dies or goes away she is drove into to hysteria.
• "show me the steep and thorny way to heaven"- Act 1 Scene 3- Ophelia is showing how she is not as easily controlled as some may think and that she does have some wit. Ophelia is telling Laertes to not make her life difficult
• "affection! pooh! you speak like a green girl" Act 1 Scene 3- Polonius is making Ophelia know her place by emphasising her youth when he states "girl". also the colour 'green' tends to have connotations of lust, jealousy and envy.
• "I shall obey my lord" - Act 1 Scene 3- all the men in Ophelia's life are controlling her and manipulating her into doing as they say.
• "something is rotten in the state of Denmark"-Act 1 Scene 4- once again highlighting how the state of Denmark is corrupt and foreshadows what is to come.
• "Leave her to heaven"-Act 1 Scene 5- this implies that Gertrude played no role in the murder of king Hamlet, however she must be left to deal with the guilt of marring Claudius in the form of "thorns that in her bosom"
• "have you given him any hard words of late"-Act 2 Scene 1- Polonius instantly blames his daughter for the reason of Hamlets madness.
• "Hamlets transformation"- Act 2 Scene 2- the action of 'transforming' has supernatural connotations of almost like a werewolf.
• "my too much changed son"- Act 2 Scene 2 - Hamlet is angry at his mother, Gertrude still shows sympathy for Hamlet and wants to help him.
• "His father's death and our o'ehasty marriage"- Act 2 scene 2- Gertrude is showing her guilt for remarrying so quickly, her guilt even goes as far as herself thinking she re-married to quickly.
• "dangerous lunacy"- Act 3 scene 1- Claudius is getting the feeling that Hamlets madness may be dangerous.
• "crafty madness"- Act 3 Scene 1- Polonius does not believe that Hamlet is actually mad and thinks that is all an act
• "To be or not to be: that is the question" - Act 3 Scene 1- the use of a caesura shows control Hamlet has both control and indecision as, the question acts as the opener to rest of his soliloquy however he himself does not the answer to question.
• "the dread of something after death" - Act 3 Scene 1- Hamlet is contemplating the thought of death and suicide however he is worried of what lies after death and how God will punish him as it is a sin. this is the first time we see Hamlets conflict with religion
• "to die, to sleep"-Act 3 Scene 1- this phrase is repeated through out his soliloquy, this possibly shows the endless cycle of life and shows how Hamlet is contemplating the idea of life.
• "rich gifts wax poor when giver proves unkind -Act 3 Scene 1- the use of this analogy has the meaning of even if the gifts is nice if it is given with the wrong intentions then their is no gift.
• "get thee to a nunnery" -Act 3 Scene 1- Hamlet is shaming Ophelia sexuality. implying she must go to a nunnery because no man will ever love her now she is not a virgin
• "marry a fool, for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them"-Act 3 Scene 1- Hamlet is blaming Ophelia. In this moment Hamlet is acting as a catalyst to Ophelia's hysteria.
• "for you look how cheerfully my mother looks, and father died within hours"-Act 3 Scene 2- Hamlet is still enraged with how quickly his mother remarried. this links to the Oedipus complex.
• "my stronger guilt defeats my stronger intent"-Act 3 Scene 3- this allows for the interpretation that Claudius killed King Hamlet for a good reason and he feels guilty for doing so.
• "corrupted currents of this world"-ACT 3 SCENE 3- the state of Denmark is beyond saving and is completely consumed in corruption.
• "damned and black as hell"-ACT 3 SCENE 3- the use of the simile allows for the idea that Denmark is actually Hell or the gateway to the entrance of Hell
• "you cannot call it love, for at your age"-ACT 3 SCENE 4" hamlet is once again shaming female sexuality.
• "my dull revenge"-ACT 4 SCENE 4- Hamlet is aware of his lack of action towards acting out his revenge against Claudius
• "delicate and tender prince"-ACT 4 SCENE 4- Hamlet sees how good Fortinbras lead his army and how he actually acts unlike Hamlet.
• "poison of deep grief"-ACT 4 SCENE 5- the cause of Ophelia's hysteria is that of grief
• "There's fennel for you" and the rest is just replaced with a different flower, "pansies" and "rue".-ACT 4 SCENE 5- 'pansies' symbolise love and happiness. 'fennel' symbolises flattery and adultery and 'rue' symbolises spiritual purification.
• "there with fantastic garlands did she make of crow flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples"-ACT 4 SCENE 7- crow flowers symbolises growth and rebirth. nettles symbolise fertility and abundance. daisies symbolise purity and childbirth.
• "dost thou think Alexander looked this fashion i'th' earth"-ACT 5 SCENE 1"- hamlet has had an epiphany in the idea of the afterlife and realised that there is no class system in death as we all end up in the same place after death
• "from her fair and unpolluted flesh may violets spring"-ACT 5 SCENE 1- out of all the characters within the play Ophelia was an innocent victim of a misogynistic world and was to pure for the corrupt world around her. the images of violets references back to when we are first introduced to Ophelia in Act 1 Scene 3.
• "good madam"-ACT 5 SCENE 2- This is the first time we see Hamlet and his mother relationship begin to heal.
• "i am justly killed with mine own treachery"-Act 5 Scene 2- Laertes is killed by his own plan, the consequences of anger
• "thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane"-Act 5 SCENE 2-the use of the triplet emphasises the consequences of his actions and the built up anger Hamlet has had towards him, however personally I think it took the murder of Hamlets mother to actually force hamlet to act on his revenge