hamlet acts 1-3

“a little more than kin, and less than kind.” speaker- hamletsituation- first royal audiencemeaning- hamlet’s attitude toward his uncle. he is saying that his relationship towards claudius is too close (incestuous). hamlet is too kin to him or related but he does not feel kindly toward him and he is not claudius’s kind of person
“i am too much in the sun.” speaker- hamletsituation- first royal audiencemeaning- hamlet saying he is too much in the limelight, to much in the kings royal presence, the sun was an emblem of the king and he is punning on the word son. hamlet finds the relationship is too close for him feels like claudius is making too much of it
“seems, madam… suits of woe.” speaker- hamletsituation- first royal audiencemeaning- hamlet picks up on the word seems and explains that he does not seem sad but he is sad. it is not his dark clothes, his sighs, his crying and his sad looks that express how he truly feels. anyone can fake all of this but what he has in himself is so much greater that he cannot show it.
“O that this… tongue.” speaker- hamlet situation- hamlet’s 1st soliloquy after claudius and gertrude leaveparaphrase- i wish my impure or solid body would dissolve or that i could commit suicide without going to hell. everything seems useless. denmark is like a garden that needs to be weeded. it is incrediable that my dad died less than 2 months ago and he was like a sun god compared to this half man, half beast. my father was so gentle and protective of my mother and she was so affectionate to him, yet she married right away. (calls his mother weak)–even before her funeral shoes got old, an animal would have grieved longer than she did. she married within a month before the swelling had left her eyes. how awful and sinful it is to gallop into an incestuous bed. bad will come of it but i cannot tell anyone how i feel
“he was a man, take him for all in all/ i shall not look upon his like again.” speaker- hamletsituation- 1st discussion with horatio meaning- notice the high praise implied in this understatement. he was the ideal of a man, which is even higher than a king.
“so oft it chances… fault.” speaker- hamletsituation- as he waits with horatio and others to see the ghostparaphrase- often in certain people becaise of some flaw, which could come from their family (not their fault) or their having too much of one characteristic (makes them irrational) or by some habit that radically alters their behavior these people have the signs of this one flaw, given to them by nature or by fate, and no matter how good the person is, he will be corrupted by his flaw.significance- this is hamlet’s “tragic flaw speech” in which shakespeare describes what he believes constitutes a tragic flaw by having Hamlet reflect on the tendency of one evil flaw to destroy an otherwise good character.
“though this be madness, yet there is method in ‘t.” speaker- poloniussituation- an aside as he tries to find out the reason for hamlet’s madnessparaphrase- although hamlet is acting crazy there seems to be some sense or rationality underneath what he is saying.
“we are oft to blame… the devil himself.” speaker- poloniussituation- polonius and claudus in the hall (he is talking to claudius after giving Ophelia a prayer book so that she will be pretending to pray when hamlet meets up with her)significance- we are often guilty of a false display of religious devotion. with appearance of religious belief and action, we could even make the devil look good.
“how smart a lash… heavy burden!” speaker- claudius situation- cladius and polonius in the hallsignificance- how correct this is and how guilty this makes me feel. the face of a **** covered with makeip is not seen as more horriible that are my false deeds- oh what a troubled conscience i have– ****s face= claudius’s deed of murder — makeup= claudius’s false actions (hypocritical)
“to be or not to be… pause.” speaker- hamletsituation- soliloquy before he meets ophelia in the hallsignificance- to live or die that is the issue. is it better to endure living in a troubled world or attempt to deal with the troubles and either die in the attempt or end the troubles. it would be great to end mt existence and be without pain but i may dream: and thats the probelm bc after death we may suffer (have bad dreams) a possibility that could cause us to avoid killing ourselves
“may one be pardoned… to give in evidence.” speaker- claudius (soliloquy)situation- after the playsignificance- can one be forgiven and keep their ill gotten gains? in the evil earthly world bribery can often relieve a sinner from judgement but not in heaven– there is not trickery. there our sins are clearly seen and the sinner must testify against himself.
“something is rotten in the state of denmark.” speaker- marcellussituation- while hamlet is talking to the ghostmeaning- a famous line which means what it says— something must be wrong for all of these ominous events to occur (dealth of old hamlet, old hamlets ghost, possible invasion by fortinbras)