a constitutional tendency to be gloomy and depressed
Hamlet is an embarrassment to the new regime: why won't he forget? He is suicidal, melancholy, juvenile, misogynistic and rapidly losing touch with reality
the quality of doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong
And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch .The virtue of his will: but you must fear,
His greatness weigh'd, his will is not his own;
For he himself is subject to his birth
Then weigh what loss your honour may sustain,
If with too credent ear you list his songs,
Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure open
To his unmaster'd importunity.
marked by defiant disregard for danger or consequences
Hamlet is established as (1) suicidally reckless, not valuing his life above a pin, (2) prudish, disliking drunkenness, (3) philosophical, drifting easily into a disquisition on character from the discussion of drinking.
Hamlet is established as (1) suicidally reckless, not valuing his life above a pin, (2) prudish, disliking drunkenness, (3) philosophical, drifting easily into a disquisition on character from the discussion of drinking.
Hamlet's act of madness has failed in half of its purpose: he has hardly managed to avert others' suspicion. But it does allow him to vent feelings that would otherwise "break [his] heart" (I.ii).
this goodly frame, the
earth, seems to me a sterile promontory, this most
excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave
o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted
with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to
me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours.
a natural elevation (especially a rocky one that juts out into the sea)
this goodly frame, the
earth, seems to me a sterile promontory, this most
excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave
o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted
with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to
me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours.
a covering (usually of cloth) that serves as a roof to shelter an area from the weather
this goodly frame, the
earth, seems to me a sterile promontory, this most
excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave
o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted
with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to
me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours.
the apparent surface of the imaginary sphere on which celestial bodies appear to be projected
this goodly frame, the
earth, seems to me a sterile promontory, this most
excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave
o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted
with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to
me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours.
In mincing with his sword her husband's limbs,
The instant burst of clamour that she made,
Unless things mortal move them not at all,
Would have made milch the burning eyes of heaven,
And passion in the gods.'
In mincing with his sword her husband's limbs,
The instant burst of clamour that she made,
Unless things mortal move them not at all,
Would have made milch the burning eyes of heaven,
And passion in the gods.'
giving milk; bred or suitable primarily for milk production
In mincing with his sword her husband's limbs,
The instant burst of clamour that she made,
Unless things mortal move them not at all,
Would have made milch the burning eyes of heaven,
And passion in the gods.'
liver or meat or fowl finely minced or ground and variously seasoned
Am I a coward?
Who calls me villain? breaks my pate across?
Plucks off my beard, and blows it in my face?
Tweaks me by the nose? gives me the lie i' the throat,
As deep as to the lungs? who does me this?
Am I a coward?
Who calls me villain? breaks my pate across?
Plucks off my beard, and blows it in my face?
Tweaks me by the nose? gives me the lie i' the throat,
As deep as to the lungs? who does me this?
That I, the son of a dear father murder'd,
Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell,
Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words,
And fall a-cursing, like a very drab,
A scullion!
a kitchen servant employed to do menial tasks (especially washing)
That I, the son of a dear father murder'd,
Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell,
Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words,
And fall a-cursing, like a very drab,
A scullion!
I'll have these players
Play something like the murder of my father
Before mine uncle: I'll observe his looks;
I'll tent him to the quick: if he but blench,
I know my course.
The spirit that I have seen
May be the devil: and the devil hath power
To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps
Out of my weakness and my melancholy,
As he is very potent with such spirits,
When Hamlet speaks, he sounds as if there’s something important he’s not saying, maybe something even he is not aware of. The ability to write soliloquies and dialogues that create this effect is one of Shakespeare’s most impressive achievements.
any large scale calamity (especially when thought to be sent by God)
He is equally plagued with questions about the afterlife, about the wisdom of suicide, about what happens to bodies after they die—the list is extensive.
When he does act, it is with surprising swiftness and little or no premeditation, as when he stabs Polonius through a curtain without even checking to see who he is.
He seems to step very easily into the role of a madman, behaving erratically and upsetting the other characters with his wild speech and pointed innuendos.
refuse to acknowledge, ratify, or recognize as valid
He is extremely disappointed with his mother for marrying his uncle so quickly, and he repudiates Ophelia, a woman he once claimed to love, in the harshest terms.
dirge
