Hamlet
Prompt #26 · Hamlet
Prompt Type: Theme + Device
Shakespeare juxtaposes Hamlet's hesitation and philosophical contemplation with Fortinbras's decisive military action and Laertes's impulsive revenge. Analyze how these structural contrasts develop the play's exploration of different responses to injustice and the relationship between thought and action. Explain how it contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole.
Quote 1
“How stand I then, / That have a father kill’d, a mother stain’d, / Excitements of my reason and my blood, / And let all sleep, while to my shame I see / The imminent death of twenty thousand men / That, for a fantasy and trick of fame, / Go to their graves like beds,”
Act IV, Scene 4
Argument
This quote employs juxtaposition as a structural device, contrasting Hamlet's paralyzed inaction ("let all sleep") with Fortinbras's decisive mobilization of "twenty thousand men," using the simile "like beds" to emphasize how easily others embrace action while Hamlet remains trapped in contemplation despite having "a father kill'd, a mother stain'd."
Quote 2
“To hell, allegiance! Vows, to the blackest devil! Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit! I dare damnation.”
Act IV, Scene 5
Argument
Laertes's anaphoric rejection ("To hell, allegiance! Vows, to the blackest devil!") and hyperbolic declaration "I dare damnation" structurally contrasts with Hamlet's philosophical hesitation, demonstrating impulsive revenge that dismisses moral and spiritual consequences entirely—the opposite extreme of Hamlet's overthinking.
Quote 3
“Now might I do it pat, now he is praying. / And now I’ll do’t. And so he goes to heaven; / And so am I reveng’d. That would be scann’d: / A villain kills my father, and for that / I, his sole son, do this same villain send / To heaven. O, this is hire and salary, not revenge.”
Act III, Scene 3
Argument
This quote uses dramatic irony to expose Hamlet's paralysis through thought: even when presented with the perfect opportunity ("Now might I do it pat"), his philosophical contemplation about the theological implications of revenge ("And so he goes to heaven") prevents action, structurally contrasting with both Fortinbras's and Laertes's immediate responses to injustice.