The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Darkness by William Shakespeare

Shakespeare Project 2020

I've neither read nor seen Hamlet performed, yet I already know this is one I want and need to read again!

Shakespeare's longest play is full of complex themes of grief, madness, revenge and more.

Horatio (V.2): "...So shall you hear

Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts;

Of accidental judgments, casual slaughter;

Of deaths put on by cunning and forc'd cause;..."

Throughout the play we never really know if Hamlet's madness is genuine or contrived.

What did surprise me were the number of quotes I was familiar with but had no idea they were coined by Shakespeare and originated in Hamlet:

Polonius(I.3): "Neither a borrower nor a lender be;

For loan oft loses both itself and friend,

And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.

This above all - to thine own self be true,..."

Polonius(II.2): "Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit,..."

(this after he rambles on a bit!)

And again, Polonius (II.2): "Though this be madness, yet there is method in't."

Hamlet (III.4) "I must be cruel only to be kind;"

Of course, the biggies:

Hamlet (III.1): "To be, or not to be - that is the question;" 

(yet did you know, this is about him contemplating suicide??)

Queen (III.2): "The lady doth protest too much, methinks."
(which I had incorrectly attributed to Macbeth for some reason and is often misquoted)

And then there are ones I was unfamiliar with, but are now some of my favorites:

Polonius(II.2): "...What do you read, my lord?"

Hamlet: "Words, words, words."

Rosencrantz(II.2)"...for they say an old man is twice a child."

Hamlet(IV.5)"...In heaven; send thither to see; if your messenger

find him not there, seek him i' th' other place yourself."

There was a lot to unpack in Hamlet and I know I missed a lot, so this will definitely be one that I circle back to again!