Hamlet - One

Key Passage:

Hamlet: ...And yet, within a month,
A little month, or ere those shoes were old
With which she followed my poor father's body,
Like Niobe, all tears - why she (even she)
(O God, a beast that wants discourse of reason
Would have mourned longer!), married with my
uncle,
My father's brother, but no more like my father
Than I to Hercules. Within a month,
Ere yet the sald of most unrigheous tears
had left the flushing in her galled eye,
She married. O, most wicked speed, to post
With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!
It is not, nor it cannot come to good.
But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue.

Importance:

I chose this passage because I feel that it introduces the main problem in the play. Shakespeare uses allusions to create certain ideas about the characters introduced. This passage clearly shows that Hamlet dissaproves of the situation, and feels that his uncle is insufficient as a king and is nothing like his father. The line toward the end of the passage serves to foreshadow the issues that will come due to this situation. This line adds to the idea of an ominous occurance first brought up by Horatio when they saw the ghost.