Hamlet Quotes Explanations

Act 1: Scene 5:

HAMLET
Haste me to know 't, that I, with wings as swift
30 As meditation or the thoughts of love,
May sweep to my revenge.


Translation:
HAMLET

Hurry and tell me about it, so I can take revenge right away, faster than a person falls in love.


As for Hamlet and his attentions to you, just consider it a big flirtation, the temporary phase of a hot-blooded youth. It won't last. It's sweet, but his affection will fade after a minute. Not a second more.




I found several lines/quotes to be very interesting. I was actually finding a lot of similarities between this play and As You Like It. There are lots of lines about the nature of love and how people act upon it. I noticed this in the speech Laertes gives to Ophelia and also the speech Polonius gives to Ophelia. When speaking with Ophelia, Laertes says:
"For Hamlet and the trifling of his favor,
Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood,
A violet in the youth of primy nature,
Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting,
The perfume and suppliance of a minute.
No more. "

He calls what Hamlet has for Ophelia a "toy in blood" and a "violet in the youth of primy nature." He implies that love/crushes are not permanent and that they are only there for the time being. They don't last, and therefore he's trying to convince Ophelia not to fall for Hamlet. He compares Hamlet's love for Ophelia to a perfume that only lasts for a minute. This reminds me of As You Like It as love is being described in a derogatory way. Touchstone doesn't take it seriously and everyone's so quick to marry one another as soon as they meet each other. They're quick to express emotions and we see a little bit of that going on between Hamlet and Ophelia. When Ophelia's father is speaking to her about Hamlet, he gives a rather long explanation from his perspective on the situation. He states, " When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul Lends the tongue vows." He too describes what Hamlet is feeling as a temporary feeling that will soon go away. In fact, he forbids her to see Hamlet. I'm kind of confused here though. Polonius says that Hamlet's vows are like brokers, not because of what their investments show, but how they disguise themselves in unholy and corrupted thoughts. Who are these brokers referring to? Priests? Individuals who are pretending to be religious when they aren't?

I also thought the lines ( 1.5.29-31) were interesting too. Hamlet's talking to the ghost of his father and he's telling him to hurry up and says how "with wings as swift as meditation or the thoughts of love" to describe how fast this whole "Oh I love you!" thing happens between people. It also reminds me of the random couplings in As You Like It. It'd kind of ironic to hear this from Hamlet because isn't he the one falling in love with Ophelia all of a sudden? Maybe he just needs someone there, after his father's death and maybe she seems attracting enough to be his last resort for some sort of satisfaction/joy. I also want to add that I think Polonius and Laertes do believe in true love, unlike Touchstone. They just think it takes time for it to develop and are afraid they might lose Ophelia to Hamlet's fake and flattering ways.