Alex Hendershot
ENG 4U
Ms. Straus
May 23, 2015

Hamlet Quotation Test Quotation 1: “How all occasions do inform against me
And spur my dull revenge! What is a man,
If his chief good and market of his time
Be but to sleep and feed? a beast, no more.
Sure he that made us with such large discourse,
Looking before and after, gave us not
That capability and godlike reason
To fust in us unus’d.”
(Hamlet: IV, iv, 32­38) Literal Level: This quotation is from Act IV, Scene IV, when Hamlet observes Fortinbras leading the army through Denmark towards Poland. Hamlet learns that the Norwegians are going to war with the Polish over a small, worthless patch of land. In this soliloquy, Hamlet ponders how these men are willing to risk their lives for such a small cause, when he is still so hesitant to act on his revenge on Claudius for his father's murder. 1. This passage helps to develop Hamlet’s character and the plot of the play because it is in this scene that Hamlet realizes that he must act on his revenge plan or else he is just going to be a purposeless “beast”. Throughout the play, Hamlet struggles with whether or not to exact revenge on Claudius because he is not certain of all of the facts. When
Hamlet sees how willing the soldiers are to fight over such a small piece of land, he realizes that without action Hamlet is not taking advantage of the gift of life that God has given him. Hamlet realizes that humans have “capability and godlike reason” and that without action, he is no different than any other animal. When Hamlet makes this decision, it furthers the plot because it allows the main conflict between Claudius and
Hamlet to come to fruition.
2. This passage helps develop one of the many themes of the play, the complexity of action. Throughout the play, many of the characters act without the deep contemplation

that Hamlet has before he acts. This baffles Hamlet, this scene being a great example of that. Hamlet is obsessed with making the “right” decision by learning all of the relevant information possible before acting, which is why he refrains from acting on his revenge plan for most of the play. In this scene, Hamlet sees how the soldiers are willing to act with what seems to be very little consideration for the circumstance. This inspires him to take massive action, which leads to the many deaths in the preceding act. What separates Hamlet from the rest of the characters was his ability to restrain from taking bold action, and when he changes that, his fate is sealed.
3. This passage is essentially saying that “God” would not have given human the ability to think continuously about action if he wanted them to refrain from action. The literary device that dominates this passage is the rhetorical question. Because this is a soliloquy, it is presented in a way that Hamlet is talking directly to the audience. The way that
Hamlet interacts with the audience is through the use of contemplation and rhetorical questions. He is asking the audience, and himself, why “all occasions do inform against me[?]”, and “What is a man,/If his chief good and market of his time/Be but to sleep and feed?”. Like most of the play, Hamlet doesn’t understand why everyone else is able to make bold decisions without the amount of contemplation and uncertainty that he has, and why he does not take advantage of his ability to act upon his revenge. In this scene, the use of rhetorical questions is how Hamlet invites the audience to ponder one of the main themes of the play; the complexity of action.

Quotation 2: “And where the offence is let the great axe fall.”
(Claudius: IV, iv, 215) Literal Level: In this scene, Laertes is demanding to know who has killed Polonius, his father.
Laertes has experienced great loss by this point, as he has lost his father and his sister,
Ophelia, has gone mad. While Hamlet is hesitant to act upon his suspicions towards Claudius,
Laertes is quick to confront Claudius. Claudius manipulates Laertes, convincing him that he is not responsible for Polonius’ death, and to wait before getting his revenge. Claudius tells
Laertes that “the great axe [will] fall” on whoever is responsible. This scene is foreshadowing the duel between Laertes and Hamlet. 1. This passage helps develop the plot and the main conflicts between Laertes and Hamlet, and Claudius and Hamlet. This scene pushes the plot forward because at this point, all of the characters are so distraught, and have so much to be mad about that they decide to finally confront each other. Most of this play is about contemplation, and figuring out whether or not to act on a suspicion, but in this scene it appears that all of the main characters are going to take matters into their own hands. Laertes is so upset that it becomes obvious that him and Hamlet are going to have a confrontation, and this scene foreshadows that confrontation and pushes that conflict to the forefront of the play. This

passage also foreshadows the confrontation between Claudius and Hamlet. The act of
“the great axe fall[ing]” is a metaphor for all characters in Denmark being punished for their actions, implying that the “great axe” will somehow come down on Claudius for the murder of King Hamlet.
2. This passage helps develop the theme of the play because it focuses on the idea of justice, and the restoration of order. From the outset of the play, the idea of the “health” of Denmark as a nation has been in question. King Hamlet was portrayed as a great ruler, and Denmark was portrayed as a state in good health under his rule. When
Claudius takes the crown, chaos ensues, and characters begin to act deceitful and malicious towards each other. It is not until the “great axe” falls, and justice is restored, that the health of Denmark can be restored. The “great axe” falling represents all of the evil in Denmark being destroyed so that the nation can rebuild under a ruler who did not gain the crown from murder. It’s ironic that Claudius says this, because he is really the one who lead Denmark into the “rotten state” that it is in. One of the many themes of this play is the nation of Denmark as a dying body, and this passage helps to develop that theme because it illustrates how the actions of the people of Denmark of sent it into a dark state, and justice needs to be served to those who have done wrong before
Denmark can return to being a healthy nation.
3. This passage is Claudius summing up the entire fifth Act of this play; the “axe” coming down on all those who have done wrong. The main literary device being used in this passage is dramatic irony. Although it is not obvious that this is an example of dramatic irony because Claudius himself is not admitting to the audience that he is of any guilt, nor does he realize that he has been exposed for killing the King, it is still a great use of dramatic irony because the audience knows that the true meaning of this passage is that
Claudius is going to get his karma. Claudius is condemning those who have done wrong, specifically for the murder of Polonius, but at the same time he is condemning himself for the murder of King Hamlet. This is dramatic irony because Laertes has no idea that
Claudius is even more guilty than Hamlet, but the audience can see the irony in what
Claudius is saying.

Quotation 3:
Hear you, sir;
What is the reason that you use me thus?
I lov’d you ever: but it is no matter;
Let Hercules himself do what he may,
The cat will mew, and dog will have his day.
(Hamlet: V, I 290­295) Literal Level: This passage comes from Act 5, Scene 1, at Ophelia’s funeral. Laertes was so upset that he jumped into Ophelia’s grave, and Hamlet followed. At this point Laertes attacks
Hamlet. Hamlet then has a long speech where he talks about his great love for Ophelia, despite his questionable actions. Hamlet questions why Laertes would attack him when they have

always been friends, and then goes on to explain that what is going to happen in the following events is inevitable. Hamlet is set on getting revenge for his father’s murder, so much so that the death of Ophelia cannot distract him from his goal. 1. This passage develops the plot and the main conflict because it illustrates that Hamlet is done contemplating and has come to peace with the fact that he has to face those whom he has conflict with. This scene foreshadows the violence that is going to come in the next scene, as Hamlet explains how Hercules couldn’t even stop what is going to happen. This scene also helps develop the conflict because it is from this encounter that the duel between Hamlet and Laertes comes from. The death of Ophelia is the event that pushes both Laertes and Hamlet over the edge, and ultimately causes the fencing match the results in the death of pretty much everyone in the play. This scene also changes how the audience thinks of Hamlet, as he seems to be actually going mad, opposed to acting like it. It is very out of character for Hamlet to be decisive, and very odd that is comes at the time of the woman he loves. This passage is Hamlet saying that he is done messing around, and is going to revenge his father, regardless of what else is going on around him.
2. This passage helps develop the theme of the play because it illustrates the complexity of action, and contemplates the ideas of fate v.s. having control over your circumstances.
Hamlet
is a play that revolves around the need for certainty to take reasonable action.
Hamlet struggles with the idea of certainty, and whether or not you need to be completely certain before you take bold action. In this scene, Hamlet is essentially giving up control over what is about to happen. Hamlet has obsessed over what he is going to do, or if he is making the correct choices for the majority of the play, so when he forfeits that idea in this scene is represents a change is belief for Hamlet. Hamlet obsessed over the ability to control his actions, but now that he has committed to confronting Claudius, he has stopped trying to control everything. Hamlet doesn’t even think Hercules could stop what is going to happen in the next scenes. In a way, this represents the beginning of the end for the people of Denmark. This relates to the theme of justice and retribution in the play, because it is at this point that it becomes obvious that everyone who has done wrong is going to have their “karma” before Denmark can begin to prosper again.
This is the situation getting worse before it can get better.
3. The most important literary device used in this passage is the allusion to Hercules, the son of the God Zeus. When Hamlet says “[l]et Hercules do what he may”, he is implying that the mighty Hercules would not be able to stop what is going to happen in the following scenes. Hamlet is basically saying that vengeance, and the deaths that come along with that are inevitable, and even necessary to restore order. The allusion to
Hercules is so powerful because Hercules is known for having unnatural strength, and is often associated with war and heroism. Hamlet is foreshadowing the violence that is going to take place in the next scene, saying that the force at work is even stronger than
Hercules. Because Hercules is a demi­god, we can also assume that a force that is stronger than him must be a God, like his father Zeus. This can also be taken as a testament of Hamlet’s will to avenge his father. He could also being saying that even

Hercules could not take him off of his path towards avenging his father. The allusion to
Hercules in this passage adds conviction and implies that a great force is at work over
Denmark.