All Questions
13
questions
1
vote
1
answer
112
views
What does this "slow leave" mean exactly in Hamlet?
In Hamlet Act 1, Scene 2, Polonius said:
He hath, my lord, wrung from me my slow leave
By laborsome petition, and at last
Upon his will I sealed my hard consent.
What does it mean by slow?
- 72.6k
5
votes
2
answers
341
views
Hamlet III.IV: "Then what I have to do will want true colour"
In Hamlet Act III Scene IV, Hamlet says to the Ghost,
Do not look upon me,
lest with this piteous action you convert
My stern effects. Then what I have to do
Will want true colour; tears perchance ...
- 56k
20
votes
6
answers
42k
views
The meaning of "The rest is silence" in "Hamlet"
Hamlet's very last words are
The rest is silence.
What do they actually mean? This being Shakespeare, I reckon the significance of these words cannot be only the banal comparison between death and ...
- 1
2
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Why does "less than" mean "not" in "A little more than kin, and less than kind"?
In Act 1, Scene 2, Line 65, Hamlet
[Aside] "A little more than kin, and less than kind"
does less than mean not? If so, what semantic notions underlie less than and not? How did less than ...
- 44.6k
7
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Meaning of "glimpses of the moon" in "Hamlet"
I read this in Hamlet act I scene IV:
What may this mean,
That thou, dead corpse, again in complete steel
Revisit'st thus the glimpses of the moon...
I'm unable ...
3
votes
2
answers
1k
views
"Which dreams, indeed, are ambition" in Hamlet Act 2, Scene 2
I am reading Hamlet; Act 2 Scene 2 contains the following exchange:
Hamlet: O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a
king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams.
...
- 44.6k
9
votes
3
answers
3k
views
"Too too sullied flesh" in Hamlet. Why twice?
Oh, that this too too sullied flesh would melt,
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew
(Hamlet, Act I, Scene II)
Why does "too" occur twice?
It is one in a series of repetitions which occur ...
- 44.6k
1
vote
1
answer
5k
views
Meaning of "apparel oft proclaims the man" in Shakespeare’s "Hamlet"?
Here is a speech of Polonius from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, act 1, scene 3:
Give every man thine ear; but very few thy voice:
Take each man’s censure: but reserve thy judgement:
Costly thy habits as thy ...
- 56k
2
votes
1
answer
294
views
"How say you then? Would heart of man once think it?" Hamlet Act 1 Scene 5
After Hamlet returns from speaking with the Ghost, he initially resists questioning about it, then suggests he will reveal what it said if the others can keep a secret,
How say you then? Would heart ...
- 44.6k
4
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Why does Horatio answer "a piece of him" when asked if Horatio is there?
In Hamlet, Act 1: Scene 1, when Bernardo asks if Horatio is there, Horatio responds "A piece of him":
MARCELLUS. Holla! Bernardo!
BERNARDO. Say, What, is Horatio there?
HORATIO. A piece of ...
- 24.1k
3
votes
1
answer
276
views
What is meant by 'patient' in Hamlet's famous soliloquy?
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin?
Is there a veracious etymological basis for the ...
- 44.6k
4
votes
1
answer
289
views
How can a "desk" be considered a secret keeper?
I was reading Hamlet, Act II, scene 2, when I encountered the following lines:
.....what might you,
Or my dear majesty your queen here, think,
If I had play'd the desk or table-book,
Or given my ...
CommunityBot
- 1
10
votes
2
answers
9k
views
What does the line “Excellent, i' faith, of the chameleon's dish. I eat the air, promise-crammed. You cannot feed capons so.” mean, from Hamlet?
“Excellent, i' faith, of the chameleon's dish. I eat the air, promise-crammed. You cannot feed capons so.”
Hamlet, act 3, scene 2
What does this sentence mean?
What are the chameleon, air and ...
- 44.6k