Useful quotations

Last updated: 15/11/2023
Contributor: Nicola Ashton
Useful quotations
Main Subject
Key stage
Category
Drama: Shakespeare for key stage 3
Resource type
Exam preparation
Author
William Shakespeare
Authors
William Shakespeare
Title
Hamlet

Quotations from the whole play, with accompanying analytical explanations.

Examples:

‘A little more than kin, and less than kind’ (Hamlet aside about Claudius,1.1)

Uses puns to show that he’s unhappy with Claudius being so closely related now he’s wed Gertrude. First words from Hamlet – tells audience he’s witty, clever and not a fan of Claudius!

‘O, that this too too solid flesh would melt’ (Hamlet’s first soliloquy, 1.2)              

Considers suicide – won’t because it’s against God’s law. Blank verse shows status and soliloquy reveals honest emotions.

‘Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio’ (Hamlet to Horatio, 5.1)

Hamlet famously musing about physical and moral corruption.

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