Act 2, Scene 2, Page 13
HAMLET
I will tell you why. So shall my anticipation
prevent your discovery, and your secrecy to the
king and queen moult no feather. I have of late—
but wherefore I know not—lost all my mirth,
forgone all custom of exercises, and indeed it
goes so heavily with my disposition that 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 vapors. What a piece of
work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite
in faculty! In form and moving how express and
admirable! In action how like an angel, in
apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the
world. The paragon of animals. And yet, to me,
what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights
not me. No, nor woman neither, though by your
smiling you seem to say so.
HAMLET
I’ll tell you why—so you won’t have to tell me and give
away any secrets you have with the king and queen.
Recently, though I don’t know why, I’ve lost all sense
of fun, stopped exercising—the whole world feels
sterile and empty. This beautiful canopy we call the
sky—this majestic roof decorated with golden
sunlight—why, it’s nothing more to me than diseasefilled air. What a perfect invention a human is, how
noble in his capacity to reason, how unlimited in
thinking, how admirable in his shape and movement,
how angelic in action, how godlike in understanding!
There’s nothing more beautiful. We surpass all other
animals. And yet to me, what are we but dust? Men
don’t interest me. No—women neither, but you’re
smiling, so you must think they do.
A lot of reflections on theatre life, life as a theatre (teatrum mundi), the nature of the job of actors, etc
(esp. on Acts 2 and 3). Critique of children’s companies, etc.
Telling the actors of the company how to act without affectation.
Act 4, Scene 4, Page 2
Hamlet
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 unused. Now, whether it be
Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple
Of thinking too precisely on th' event—
A thought which, quartered, hath but one part
wisdom
And ever three parts coward—I do not know
Why yet I live to say “This thing’s to do,”
Sith I have cause and will and strength and
means To do ’t.
My God! Everything I see shows me how wrong I am
and tells me to hurry up and get on with my revenge.
What is a human being if he just eats and sleeps?
Nothing more than a beast. God didn’t create us with
such a huge power of thought and a divine capacity
for reason in order for us not to use them. Now,
whether it’s animal-like mindlessness, or the cowardly
hesitation
that comes from thinking too much (thinking thoughts
that are one part wisdom, three parts cowardice), I
don’t know why I’m still alive to say “I have to do this
deed” rather than having done it already. I have the
motivation, the willpower, the ability, and the means to
do it.
Denmark in riot, turmoil, because of the king’s and Hamlet’s actions.
Act 4, Scene 7, Page 5
CLAUDIUS
That we would do,
We should do when we would, for this “would”
changes
And hath abatements and delays as many
As there are tongues, are hands, are accidents.
And then this “should” is like a spendthrift sigh
That hurts by easing.—But to the quick of th'
ulcer:
Hamlet comes back. What would you undertake
To show yourself in deed your father’s son
More than in words?
CLAUDIUS
We should do what we intend to do right when we
intend it, since our intentions are subject to as many
weakenings and delays as there are words in the
dictionary and accidents in life. And then all our
“woulds” and “shoulds” are nothing but hot air. But
back to my point:
Hamlet’s coming back. What proof will you offer—in
action, not just words—that you’re your father’s son?