Act I
"The serpent that did sting thy father's life now wears his crown."
Hamlet Sr.'s Ghost He means that Claudius is the one who killed him.
"Words. Words. Words."
Hamlet He's mocking Polonius for asking him what he's reading.
"To be or not to be--that is the question."
Hamlet He's wondering if it's better to live with suffering or to die to the unknown.
"O, from this time forth, my thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth!"
Hamlet He's reasserting himself to his cause: kill his uncle.
"What, art thou a heathen? How dost thou understand the scripture? The scripture says Adam digged. Could he dig without arms?"
First Gravedigger. He's mocking his fellow gravedigger over saying Adam had no arms.
"Do not forever with thy vailed lids seek for thy noble father in the dust."
Gertrude She means that it's time for Hamlet to stop mourning his father's death.
"See you now your bait of falsehood take this carp of truth."
Polonius He's describing how his plan to get information about Laertes is like fishing.
"A second time I kill my husband dead when second husband kisses me in bed."
Player Queen She's describing that marrying again after her husband's death is still a betrayal of her marriage vows.
"Hide fox, and all after!"
Hamlet He yells it just as he runs away, as part of a hide-and-seek game.
"Dost thou think Alexander looked o' this fashion i' th' earth?"
Hamlet He's trying to process the horror of Yorick's skull and wondering if even great men rot like this.
"But you must fear, His greatness weighed, his will is not his own, for he himself is subject to his birth."
Laertes He's warning his sister Ophelia that Hamlet has no choice in the matter of his own marriage, so it would be wise to not fall in love with him.
"That he's mad, 'tis true; 'tis true 'tis pity, and pity 'tis 'tis true."
Polonius He's expressing that it's a pity that Hamlet is crazy, but that it is true nonetheless.
"O heavy deed! It had been so with us, had we been there."
Claudius He's realizing that had he been behind the curtain, Hamlet would have killed him instead of Polonius.
"Is thy union here? Follow my mother."
Hamlet His last words to Claudius before he finally kills him.
"What if it tempt you toward the flood, my lord?...And there assume some other horrible form which might deprive your sovereignty of reason and draw you into madness?"
Horatio He's warning Hamlet to not follow the ghost because it could take another form and cause madness.
"Denmark's a prison. To me, it is a prison."
Hamlet He's expressing that he's always depressed and so miserable that even Denmark seems like a prison.
"Yet what can it, when one cannot repent? O wretched state! O bosom black as death!"
Claudius He desires to repent, but feels he cannot, so long as he still has the crown and the queen.
"To hell, allegiance! Vows, to the blackest devil! Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit! I dare damnation."
Laertes He's stating that he will kill the king and betray his country if it means that he can avenge his father's death.
"Thou art slain. No med'cine in the world can do thee good... The king's to blame!"
Laertes He gets to tell Hamlet he is going to die, as he realized that he himself will die too.
"We do it wrong, being so majestical, to offer it the show of violence."
Marcellus He's regretting trying to hit the ghost with his spear.
"Out, out, thou strumpet fortune!"
First Player He's reciting from the Aeneid, expressing Troy's fury at the fickle nature of fate.
"Do not forget...Conceit in weakest bodies strongest works."
Hamlet Sr.'s Ghost He's encouraging Hamlet to have more compassion on his mother.
"He is gone, and we cast away moan. God have mercy on his soul."
Ophelia She's singing a song about her father's death.
"Good night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest."
Horatio Bidding goodbye to Hamlet as he dies.