hamlet critic quotes

We need history to explain our individuality

Shakespeare constructs Gertrude through the eyes of Hamlet, who sees her new relationship as one of lust, not strategy

the presence of Polonius indicates Claudius’ own mistrust of Gerturde

The idea of human existence is relevant forever

unbridled imagination shows ways of breaking through unbearable social restraints

the character’s madness disguises their true meaning

Hamlet doesn’t seek revenge, he only wants to remember his father

hamlet struggles to kill Claudius because he identifies with him too muc

while Ophelia is objectified she is still central though this is only because she is eternally linked with hamlet- which is in itself further objectification

Hamlet is the mona lisa of literature

the play is a continuing pattern of revenge and death

death or a sinister ideal

malign

from the beginning, Hamlet is obsessed with suicide

hamlet is a play about death. or rather it is a play about the survival of the individual in the face of death, death is the picture, not the frame

polonius trained his daughter to be obedient and chaste and is able to use her as a piece of bait for spying

revenge is wild justice

hamlet is more of a thinker than a doer

instincts are towards undoing rather than doing

all duties seem holy for hamlet

hamlet is a prince who finds himself an outcast in his own land

his whole mind is poisoned

hamlet’s failure to act is seen as femenine

modern audiences are suspicious of the use of violence and do not care for paternal loyalty

hamlet has morality without action, the king has action without morality

we can imagine hamlet’s story without ophelia but ophelia literally has no story without hamlet

claudius is merely a product of the barbaric era

hamlet is rather an instrument than an agent

hamlet’s hesitation is right, the concept of blood revenge was the only thing

hamlet alternates between lethargy and rage

the nature of a tragedy is uncompensated suffering

piece of bait named ophelia

indescribable charm

hamlet is a figure of nihilism and death and has been poisoned by death

excellent diplomatist and king

revenge…is an act of injustice on behalf of justice

revenge is always in excess of justice

soft, obedient, dependent, unimaginative women who is caught miserably

romanticised symbol of fragility and madness

protested against picture of ‘insipid little creature’

in giving away her wild flowers…is symbolically deflowering herself

analytical knight

claudius is intelligent and well spoken…manipulative and dangerous

primarily a bitterly eloquent and princely avenger

truly suffering from a mental breakdown

women…two and only two choices: virgin and whore

to possess her body is to possess the state

many 19th and 20th century critics have neglected the political dimension of the play in favour of a personal one

feigned madness is a politically motivated in earlier iterations of the story

hamlets own misogyny remains an issue

part woman

ophelia complex - women, water and death

critics and readers of hamlet have readily accepted hamlet’s view of Gertrude without question

rosencrantz and guildenstern sacrifice the bond of human friendship

by examining horatio’s relationship with hamlet, we learn a lot about hamlet’s character

hatred overwhelms any other emotion, it is impossible to display love

love is ever present it just needs one characters commitment

the personal is political

unquiet walks of devil

illusions of the mind unhinged by melancholy or devils masquerading as spirits to lure the person they address to damnation

the ghost is the supreme reality, representative of the hidden ultimate power

trivial and unspiritual and vulgar

buffoonish statesman

questioned hamlet’s admirable qualities, feminist, focused on the treatment of poor ophelia

hamlet is characterised by failure