Hamlet Act 1 & 2 Quotes

“Frailty, thy name is woman” (line 150, Act 1, Scene 2) •Speaker: Hamlet (in soliloquy)•He’s referring to his mother as a weak and timid woman because she needed a “husband replacement” within a month after King Hamlet’s death•This is what Shakespeare believes about woman
“Give thy thought no tongue” (line 65, Act 1, Scene 3) •Speaker: Polonius (to son, Laertes)•His advice to not always say what he’s thinking/think more before speaking (especially with Ophelia)•The advice is good because Laertes can be too familiar and vulgar at times
“The serpent that did sting thy father’s life / Now wears the crown” (lines 45-7, Act 1, Scene 5) •Speaker: Ghost (to Hamlet)•Tells him how his father didn’t die from a poisonous snake bite but from his father’s brother who murdered him by pouring poison in his ear (King Claudius is the “snake” who killed King Hamlet)•Serpent = devil/evil
“Therefore, (since) brevity is the soul of wit, / And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, / I will be brief” (lines 97-9, Act 2, Scene 1) •Speaker: Polonius (to King Claudius + Queen Gertrude)•Speaking about Hamlet possibly being mad because he’s forbidden from Ophelia but before he reveals his reasons, he says that he’ll be brief (ironic cause he’s one of the most long-winded speakers)
“O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I” (line 577, Act 2, Scene 2) •Speaker: Hamlet (in soliloquy)•Demoralizes himself by saying that he’s being controlled by his urge to seek revenge- he must avenge his father’s murder but he feels that he’s the lowest form of being right now (coward)•Denmark = prison