--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Hamlet’s soliloquy, you know; the most…" description: "\"“Hamlet’s soliloquy, you know; the most celebrated thing in Shakespeare. Ah, it’s sublime, sublime! Always fetches the house. I haven’t got it in the b..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f9/mark-twain-22_hamlet_hamlet-s-soliloquy-you-know-the-most-cel_2508266.jpg" --- # Hamlet’s soliloquy, you know; the most celebrated thing in… ![“Hamlet’s soliloquy, you know; the most celebrated thing in Shakespeare. Ah, it’s sublime, sublime! Always fetches the house. I haven’t got it in the book—I’ve only got one volume—but I reckon I can piece it out from memory. I’ll just walk up and down a minute, and see if I can call it back from…” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f9/mark-twain-22_hamlet_hamlet-s-soliloquy-you-know-the-most-cel_2508266.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f9/mark-twain-22_hamlet_hamlet-s-soliloquy-you-know-the-most-cel_2508266.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f9/mark-twain-22_hamlet_hamlet-s-soliloquy-you-know-the-most-cel_2508266.jpg) > ““Hamlet’s soliloquy, you know; the most celebrated thing in Shakespeare. Ah, it’s sublime, sublime! Always fetches the house. I haven’t got it in the book—I’ve only got one volume—but I reckon I can piece it out from memory. I’ll just walk up and down a minute, and see if I can call it back from recollection’s vaults.” So he went to marching up and down, thinking, and frowning horrible every now and then; then he would hoist up his eyebrows; next he would squeeze his hand on his forehead and stagger back and kind of moan; next he would sigh, and next he’d let on to drop a tear. It was beautiful to see him. By and by he got it. He told us to give attention. Then he strikes a most noble attitude, with one leg shoved forwards, and his arms stretched away up, and his head tilted back, looking up at the sky; and then he begins to rip and rave and grit his teeth; and after that, all through his speech, he howled, and spread around, and swelled up his chest, and just knocked the spots out of any acting ever I see before. This is the speech—I learned it, easy enough, while he was learning it to the king: To be, or not to be; that is the bare bodkin That makes calamity of so long life; For who would fardels bear, till Birnam Wood do come to Dunsinane, But that the fear of something after death Murders the innocent sleep, Great nature’s second course, And makes us rather sling the arrows of outrageous fortune Than fly to others that we know not of. There’s the respect must give us pause: Wake Duncan with thy knocking! I would thou couldst; For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely, The law’s delay, and the quietus which his pangs might take, In the dead waste and middle of the night, when churchyards yawn In customary suits of solemn black, But that the undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns, Breathes forth contagion on the world, And thus the native hue of resolution, like the poor cat i’ the adage, Is sicklied o’er with care, And all the clouds that lowered o’er our housetops, With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action. ’Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished. But soft you, the fair Ophelia: Ope not thy ponderous and marble jaws, But get thee to a nunnery—go! Well,”” [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A passionate, physical performance of Shakespeare’s soliloquy can convey deep emotion and insight, illustrating the power of embodiment in storytelling. **In simple terms:** Vivid acting brings Shakespeare to life. Key Takeaway Embody the text to reveal its depth. Themes theatre performance Shakespeare expression embodiment Mood dramatic introspective educational Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - stage productions - acting workshops - literature classes - public speaking Key Concepts soliloquy emotional resonance physicality Questions to Reflect On - How does physical expression affect audience perception? - What balance should actors strike between emotion and clarity? A Different Perspective Interpretation may vary, and over‑dramatic delivery can obscure meaning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hamlet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hamlet/) [Long life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-life/) [Middle of the night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-of-the-night/) [Soliloquy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soliloquy/) ## Related quotes > [“He raised an eyebrow. "Where did you get this? Is our Anne Boleyn suddenly from Mars?" He chuckled. "I always thought she hailed from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-kate/he-raised-an-eyebrow-where-did-you-get-this-is-our-anne-boleyn/) [Lauren Kate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-kate/) > [“ Hamlet's Cat's Soliloquy "To go outside, and there perchance to stay Or to remain within: that is the question: Whether 'tis better for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-n-beard/hamlet-s-cat-s-soliloquy-to-go-outside-and-there-perchance-to-stay-or/) [Henry N. Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-n-beard/) > [A remarkable thing about Shakespeare is that he is really very good in spite of all the people who say he is very good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/a-remarkable-thing-about-shakespeare-is-that-he-is-really-very-good/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [The remarkable thing about Shakespeare is that he really is very good, in spite of all the people who say he is very good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/the-remarkable-thing-about-shakespeare-is-that-he-really-is-very-good/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [“The thing about Shakespeare is you can only read his books if someone is making you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/the-thing-about-shakespeare-is-you-can-only-read-his-books-if-someone/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [The nice thing with Shakespeare from a modern point of view is that a lot of stuff that was tragic for him can read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-north/the-nice-thing-with-shakespeare-from-a-modern-point-of-view-is-that-a/) [Ryan North](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-north/) > [“Did I live the spring I’d sought? It’s true in joy, I walked along, took part in dance, and sang the song. and never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-payne/did-i-live-the-spring-i-d-sought-it-s-true-in-joy-i-walked-along-took/) [Roman Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-payne/) > [I've always wanted to do a Shakespearean soliloquy, or a fake Shakespearean soliloquy, and now I'm doing that more often in shows. Things I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-watts/i-ve-always-wanted-to-do-a-shakespearean-soliloquy-or-a-fake/) [Reggie Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reggie-watts/) > [Eloquence is heard; poetry is overheard ... All poetry is of the nature of the soliloquy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/eloquence-is-heard-poetry-is-overheard-all-poetry-is-of-the-nature-of/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw and resolve itself into a dew! (HAMLET)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/o-that-this-too-too-solid-flesh-would-melt-thaw-and-resolve-itself-2/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Iago's soliloquy - the motive-hunting of a motiveless malignity - how awful it is!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/iago-s-soliloquy-the-motive-hunting-of-a-motiveless-malignity-how/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [I ago's soliloquy--the motive-hunting of a motiveless malignity--how awful it is!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/i-ago-s-soliloquy-the-motive-hunting-of-a-motiveless-malignity-how/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [“Her soliloquy crystallized itself into little fragmentary phrases emerging suddenly from the turbulence of her thought, particularly when she had to exert herself in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/her-soliloquy-crystallized-itself-into-little-fragmentary-phrases/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [I am in the midst of a soliloquy! I wrote this out and memorized it and if you interrupt me I will completely screw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-am-in-the-midst-of-a-soliloquy-i-wrote-this-out-and-memorized-it/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“information, in a stream-of-consciousness soliloquy that revealed the extent to which he had internalised the adversarial fragmentation of American culture and made it a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/information-in-a-stream-of-consciousness-soliloquy-that-revealed-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) ## More by Mark Twain > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-creator-sat-upon-the-throne-thinking-behind-him-stretched-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [It's easy to quit smoking. I've done it hundreds of times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-s-easy-to-quit-smoking-i-ve-done-it-hundreds-of-times/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It is never wrong to do the right thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-never-wrong-to-do-the-right-thing/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-man-accustomed-to-american-food-and-american-domestic-cookery-would/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [There is nothing training can't cannot do. Nothing is above its reach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-is-nothing-training-can-t-cannot-do-nothing-is-above-its-reach/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-never-write-metropolis-for-seven-cents-because-i-can-get-the-same/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The higher animals get their teeth without pain or inconvenience. Man gets his through months and months of cruel torture; he will never get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-higher-animals-get-their-teeth-without-pain-or-inconvenience-man/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“As far as I can see, Italy, for fifteen hundred years, has turned all her energies, all her finances, and all her industry to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/as-far-as-i-can-see-italy-for-fifteen-hundred-years-has-turned-all/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Begin with the determination to succeed and the work is half done already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/begin-with-the-determination-to-succeed-and-the-work-is-half-done/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Many public-school children seem to know only two dates—1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/many-public-school-children-seem-to-know-only-two-dates-1492-and-4th/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If we could imagine such a man, that is a man who could invent the fly and send him out on his mission and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-we-could-imagine-such-a-man-that-is-a-man-who-could-invent-the-fly/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [You perceive, now, that these things are all impossible except in a dream. You perceive that they are pure and puerile insanities, the silly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/you-perceive-now-that-these-things-are-all-impossible-except-in-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/lord-save-us-all-from-a-hope-tree-that-has-lost-the-faculty-of/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) [Explore all 3,277 Mark Twain quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## More Hamlet quotes > [“The time is out of joint. O cursed spite,/That ever I was born to set it right!” Thus Hamlet. Yet he concludes: “Nay, come,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/the-time-is-out-of-joint-o-cursed-spite-that-ever-i-was-born-to-set/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [“Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-robinson/shakespeare-s-hamlet-there-is-nothing-either-good-or-bad-but-thinking/) [Ken Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-robinson/) > [Cannot you tell that? Every fool can tell that. It was the very day that young Hamlet was born, he that is mad and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/cannot-you-tell-that-every-fool-can-tell-that-it-was-the-very-day/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I was very moved to see that the name of the boat was Hamlet - an imaginary character becomes so important to people, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-was-very-moved-to-see-that-the-name-of-the-boat-was-hamlet-an/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [There are a thousand ways of playing a good classic. If it were effective, I would play Hamlet on a trapeze.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/there-are-a-thousand-ways-of-playing-a-good-classic-if-it-were/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [The two greatest plays ever written were Hamlet and Oedipus Rex, and they're both about father-son relationships.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-miller/the-two-greatest-plays-ever-written-were-hamlet-and-oedipus-rex-and/) [Arthur Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-miller/) > [“In the gravedigger scene in act V, Hamlet looks upon an anonymous skull and jokes that even Alexander the Great decomposed into dust that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-vowell/in-the-gravedigger-scene-in-act-v-hamlet-looks-upon-an-anonymous/) [Sarah Vowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-vowell/) > [The essential is to excite the spectators. If that means playing Hamlet on a flying trapeze or in an aquarium, you do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/the-essential-is-to-excite-the-spectators-if-that-means-playing/) [Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/) > [“The theater, bringing impersonal masks to life, is only for those who are virile enough to create new life: either as a conflict of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-jarry/the-theater-bringing-impersonal-masks-to-life-is-only-for-those-who/) [Alfred Jarry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-jarry/) > [I never want to see 'Hamlet' ever again! Never ever!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-elliott/i-never-want-to-see-hamlet-ever-again-never-ever/) [Marianne Elliott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-elliott/) > [I think Hamlet, as much as he loves his privacy and is kind of an introvert, he's a very functional introvert. When he has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chukwudi-iwuji/i-think-hamlet-as-much-as-he-loves-his-privacy-and-is-kind-of-an/) [Chukwudi Iwuji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chukwudi-iwuji/) > [I started to realise that it wasn't for me. Perhaps I didn't have to give my Hamlet before I died, that the world might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-mccormack/i-started-to-realise-that-it-wasn-t-for-me-perhaps-i-didn-t-have-to/) [Eric McCormack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-mccormack/) > [Hamlet has been played by 5,000 actors, no wonder he is crazy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/hamlet-has-been-played-by-5-000-actors-no-wonder-he-is-crazy/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Hamlet' is a real ensemble piece: you have to realise that he's just one part of the story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-pryce/hamlet-is-a-real-ensemble-piece-you-have-to-realise-that-he-s-just/) [Jonathan Pryce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-pryce/) > [“What do you read, my lord? HAMLET: Words, words, words.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/what-do-you-read-my-lord-hamlet-words-words-words/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) [Browse all 330 Hamlet quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hamlet/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Hamlet’s soliloquy, you know; the most celebrated thing in Shakespeare. Ah, it’s sublime, sublime! Always fetches the house. I haven’t got it in the book—I’ve only got one volume—but I reckon I can piece it out from memory. I’ll just walk up and down a minute, and see if I can call it back from recollection’s vaults.” So he went to marching up and down, thinking, and frowning horrible every now and then; then he would hoist up his eyebrows; next he would squeeze his hand on his forehead and stagger back and kind of moan; next he would sigh, and next he’d let on to drop a tear. It was beautiful to see him. By and by he got it. He told us to give attention. Then he strikes a most noble attitude, with one leg shoved forwards, and his arms stretched away up, and his head tilted back, looking up at the sky; and then he begins to rip and rave and grit his teeth; and after that, all through his speech, he howled, and spread around, and swelled up his chest, and just knocked the spots out of any acting ever I see before. This is the speech—I learned it, easy enough, while he was learning it to the king: To be, or not to be; that is the bare bodkin That makes calamity of so long life; For who would fardels bear, till Birnam Wood do come to Dunsinane, But that the fear of something after death Murders the innocent sleep, Great nature’s second course, And makes us rather sling the arrows of outrageous fortune Than fly to others that we know not of. There’s the respect must give us pause: Wake Duncan with thy knocking! I would thou couldst; For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely, The law’s delay, and the quietus which his pangs might take, In the dead waste and middle of the night, when churchyards yawn In customary suits of solemn black, But that the undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns, Breathes forth contagion on the world, And thus the native hue of resolution, like the poor cat i’ the adage, Is sicklied o’er with care, And all the clouds that lowered o’er our housetops, With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action. ’Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished. But soft you, the fair Ophelia: Ope not thy ponderous and marble jaws, But get thee to a nunnery—go! 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