“Sweets to the sweet.”

Gertrude says this about Ophelia right after she commits suicide.

Gertrude is saying in this that only sweet things should happen to sweet people and that Ophelia really shouldn’t have died. This applies to our world today because we most often hope for the best for the people who have been nice to us. When someone isn’t very nice to us we usually don’t care very much what happens to them. We also are usually sadder when sweet people have losses to because we feel they deserve only the best.

“Thus conscience does make cowards of us all…”

Hamlet says this as he watches the King pray and thinks about killing him right then.

When Hamlet says this I think he means that our conscience sometimes stops us from doing things that we may think are necessary. Hamlet thinks he needs to kill the King to get justice for his father, but his conscience doesn’t want to let him. I think this applies to us today because sometimes we may be just about to do something when our conscience comes and makes us feel differently. I think usually our conscience is a good thing though because it stops us from doing what we normally would have just gone ahead and done.

“Though this is madness, yet there be method to it.”

Claudius says this about Hamlet who had just gotten mad at Ophelia for no apparent reason.

I think when Claudius says this he means that even when Hamlet looks completely insane he does have a reason behind why he’s doing what he is. I think this applies to the world today because there is always a meaning to everything a person says and does even if you don’t quite understand what it is at first. I think we need to try to find out why a person may be acting crazy because then we can try and solve the problem. Instead of just using “they’re crazy” as an excuse as to why we can’t help them. There is always a reason why people are doing what they do and we shouldn’t just overlook those things.

“To thine own self be true and it must follow as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”

This is Polonius giving advise to his son Laertes.

Polonius is saying by this that we each need to be true to ourselves and live with integrity. I definitely think this is still true today. When we are being true to ourselves we will make better choices. Every choice we make has a consequence and if we live with integrity we will be making choices that will ultimately make us happier. I think that if you are living with integrity you wouldn’t ever want to be dishonest with another person because then you’re also being untrue to yourself as well.

"To be or not to be, that is the question."

"Whether 'tis nobler in the nink to suffer the lings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms agianst a sea of troubles and by opposing end them."

Hamlet says this as he speaks to himself looking into his father’s tomb.

Hamlet is saying in this quote that one of the toughest questions in life is whether to fight against something terrible or to leave it alone but have it haunt your mind for the rest of your life. This relates to the world today because I think that we all will one day have to make a hard decision about something where both sides of it look pretty bad. And we each will have to decide whether or not to act against it. Hamlet asks a really good question in this quote though, one that we all have to find an answer to at some point in our life.

“To be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man pick’d out of ten thousand.”

Hamlet says this to Polonius while they are in a library.

Hamlet means by this that to find an honest person is a very rare thing. I do think this is true today because it’s hard to find someone who is perfectly honest all the time. I think lying is very bad habit because once you start it’s hard to stop and just a little lie can soon become a very big one. I think even if you’re lying about just a small thing it still is lying and it’s best to just never lie at all.

“Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice.”

This is another piece of advice that Polonius gives to his Laertes and Ophelia.

Polonius means by this that talking a lot isn’t always the smart thing to do, but listening all the time is always a good idea. I think this is still true today because there is a lot you can learn through just listening. I also think we should always be careful what we say because once you say something you can never take it back and you may regret saying it later. I think we can learn a lot more through listening that through talking.

“Neither a lender or borrower be for loan oft loses both itself and friend.”

Polonius says this to Laertes and Ophelia as they are walking down the street. He is giving his advice to his son his who is going away for a while.

Polonius is saying by this that lending and borrowing aren’t ever very smart things to do because friends can be easily lost that way. This quote is very true today because I think we could prevent many arguments from happening if we never borrowed or lent things. Especially because something that is special to you may not be special to the person you’re lending it to, so they’re not going to take care of it like you would. I also think it’s very easy to be forgetful of something that’s not our own.

Is Hamlet sane throughout the play?

Hamlet, in my opinion is truly insane in parts of this play. At the first, I don’t think he was, but then having to deal with his father’s murder and having the weight of responsibility to kill his uncle, had a big affect on him and his sanity. I think anyone would go a little crazy under those circumstances, so I understand why he would go insane. I think if Hamlet was just pretending to be crazy he would have been normal at times too, but Hamlet never seemed to come out of it and he was insane all the time.

Why does the fact that Claudius does not stop Gertrude from drinking the wine condemn him even more in the reader’s eyes?

Claudius could have easily stopped Gertrude from drinking the poison, but by not doing so he shows that he is a very selfish man and he doesn’t care about anyone else’s well being. It was also surprising to me though because he had married Gertrude and usually when you marry someone you have some kind of love for them, but when he let her drink the poison he is also saying that their marriage meant nothing to him. This condemns him so much more because from this we know that Claudius would kill anyone who gets in his way of being King even innocent people who haven’t done anything to him.

How do you think you would react if your mother married your uncle?

If my mother married my uncle I would probably run away from home. :) Actually I’m not sure what I would do, but I’m sure it would be very angry about it. It would also be very confusing because all of my uncles have their own families so it would be more than just a new dad, it would be getting a whole new family too. I do like most of my uncles, but I would have a hard time accepting any of them as my dad, and I really can’t see any of them getting along very well my mom either.

Who and what are the people and things that you are most loyal to? Is loyalty still something that we value?

I am probably most loyal to my family because I know them better than most other people do. They are such a part of me, if someone insulted one of them it would be like insulting me. I think loyalty is an important aspect in many things, like loyalty to your family, your friends, your team and yourself. I think we still value loyalty because a person who is loyal makes a lot better friend than one you isn’t. You can always depend on someone who is loyal and everyone needs someone they can depend on and trust. That’s why loyalty is such an important value especially today.

If your parents really disliked the person that you wanted to marry, would you marry this person anyway?

I don’t think my parents would ever really dislike the person I wanted to marry because I want the same characteristics in a guy as my parents would want. If they still did dislike this person though, I would ask them their reasons why. If I didn’t see their point, or didn’t agree with them, I probably would still go and marry this person. I think that who you marry should ultimately be your own decision. I also think sometimes a parents’ judgment may be wrong, but I would definitely be curious to why they feel the way they do.

Is revenge ever the right thing to do?

I don’t think revenge is ever really the right thing to do. Even if you think it will make you feel better, it won’t in the long run. Because Hamlet tried to get revenge on his uncle, his mother was poisoned, Ophelia killed herself, and even Hamlet himself died in the end. If Hamlet had not tried to get revenge and kill his uncle, nobody would have ended up dead. Revenge never turns out good and it usually ends up hurting everyone and making things worse. In Hamlet’s days they thought revenge was the only way for a person who had been murdered to make it to heaven. That was why killing his uncle was a very important thing Hamlet needed to do.