15.4.13
I think this post has to be one of the most thoughtful posts I have ever written, so I would really, really appreciate it if you guys would spare a few moments and read this. (I don't think thoughtful is the word here but my word choice atm is being cockblocked by my knowledge in general so please excuse me)Tumblr Q: Have you read Hamlet yet? Do you have any personal favourite quotes/scenes?
Yes I have read Hamlet and it's my favourite Shakespearean play so far (in comparison to the others I've read) I don't know, but maybe because Hamlet is more philosophical which makes him more intriguing and the entire play more exciting to read? I guess in the end it's just personal preference.
Favourite quotes (chronologically):
- Act 1 Scene 3 Polonius sends his blessings to his son Laertes and offers him a few rules of life
Quote: Look thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue, nor any unproportioned thought his act. Be though familiar but by no means vulgar. Those friends though hast, and their adoption tried, grapple then unto thy soul with hoops of steel, but do not dull thy palm with entertainment of each new-hatched, unfledged comrade. Beware of entrance to quarrel, but being in, bear't that th' opposed may beware of three. Give every man thy ear but few thy voice. Take each man's censure but reserve they judgement. Costly the habit as thy purse can buy, but not expressed in fancy- rich, not gaudy, for the apparel oft proclaims the man, and they in France of the best rank and station are of a most select and generous chief in that. Neither a borrower nor a lender be, for a loan oft loses both itself and friend, and borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night they day, thou canst not then be false to any man.
Meaning: Don't say what you're thinking, and don't be too quick to act on what you think. Be friendly to people but don't overdo it. Once you've tested out your friends and found them trust worthy, hold onto them. Bu don't waste your time shaking hands with every new guy you meet. Don't be quick to pick a fight, but once you're in one, hold your own. Listen to many people, but talk to few. Hear everyone's opinion, but reserve your judgement. Spend all you can afford on clothes, but make sure they're quality, not flashy, since clothes make the man- which is doubly true in France. Don't borrow money and don't lend it, since when you lend to a friend, you often lose the friendship as well as the money, and borrowing turns a person into a spend thrift. And above all, be true to yourself. Then you won't be false to anybody else. - Act 2 Scene 2 - Hamlet's 3rd soliloquy
Quote: Hum, I have heard that guilty creatures sitting at a play have, by the very cunning of the scene, been struck so to the soul that presently they have proclaimed their malefactions
Meaning: I've heard that guilty people watching a play have been so affected by the artistry of the scene that they are driven to confess their crimes out loud - Act 4 Scene 3 (This is the scene where after Hamlet murders Polonius, Claudius asks him where he had hid the body and Hamlet suggests a place where the corpse is being eaten, a certain conference of worms is chowing his body. He then talks about how worms are the emperor of all diets, how we fatten up all creatures to feed ourselves, and we fatten ourselves for the worms to eat when we're dead- Hence the worm reference below)
Quote: A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm
Meaning: A man can fish with the worm that ate a king, and then eat the fish he catches with that worm - Act 4 Scene 5- Ophelia turns mad from her father's death and implies metaphorical meaning through flowers
Scene: There's fennel for you, and columbines- There's rue for you, and here's some for me. We may call it 'herb of grace' o' Sundays.- Oh you must wear your rue with a difference.- There's a daisy. I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died. They say he made a good end
Meaning: Here are fennel and columbines for you- they symbolise adultery (to Gertrude, who married her dead husband's brother, Claudius, shortly after his death) And here's rue for you- it symbolises repentance (to Claudius). We can call it the merciful Sunday flower. You should wear it for a different reason. And here's a daisy, for unhappy love. I'd give you some violets, flowers of faithfulness, but they all dried up when my father died.
I think I chose those four because not only do they speak to me, but is still applicable in our world now which is something I find really fascinating and amazing about Shakespeare.
