shaxper, so many that I love that I find it diffficult to pick even a few. Certainly the signature I use now isa great line.
And I love "I am invisible" from
Midsummer. (If you ask me why, I'll be happy to tell you. I'm just warning you.)
There's Falstaff's "honour" speech; Iachimo's speech as he sneaks out of the box and molests the sleeping Imogen; Othello's speech to the Senate; a hundred others.
I love finding hidden gems: the Norwegian captain's exchange with Hamlet; "Kill Claudio;" Hotspur's dying words;"
And one of the funniest lines ever written, from
Merry Wives: "Look, there is a basket." Trust me, it kills.
I've always loved this little portion of Hamlet's father's description of his death...
"The leperous distilment; whose effect
Holds such an enmity with blood of man
That swift as quicksilver it courses through
The natural gates and alleys of the body,
And with a sudden vigour doth posset
And curd, like eager droppings into milk,
The thin and wholesome blood: so did it mine;
And a most instant tetter bark'd about,
Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust,
All my smooth body."
(
Hamlet, Act 1, scene 5, lines 71- 80)
These lines are haunting for more than a few reasons. First, of course, there’s the frightening and repulsive description of how the poison makes its way through the “gates and alleys” of the king’s body. What a perfect image for the arteries, veins and valves. Shakespeare seems to have had a good grasp of how blood travels. Calling them gates and alleys also makes the poison seem as if it’s an enemy sneaking through the body. (“Swift as quicksilver it courses…” Hear all those “s” sounds? Like a serpent.) Comparing the clotting blood to curds, those gooey chunks of congealed milk, is gross enough, but “curd” is also an ugly-sounding word, suggesting something spoiling, going bad, curdling…much like the rottenness of the state of Denmark. “Posset” is another unpleasant-sounding word, which adds to the grossness of the image.
Bad enough, but then the poor king tells us that his skin instantly became like the bark of a tree, rough, hard, and crusty. Reminds me of scenes in movies when a hero’s armor suddenly encases him…or like the Batmobile sealing itself up from harm with those plates of shiny armor. Unfortunate king that he is, Hamlet’s father becomes encased in rotting, scabrous skin. He compares himself to a leper ("Lazar-like;" remember the story of Lazarus the leper in the Bible?). No person in medieval times was lower on the unlikable scale. King to leper in moments…ironic and frightening.
And how about the way Shakespeare holds off on the words “my smooth body” and even sets them off in their own line? That emphasizes the suddenness, the shock of the transformation, and makes it that much more frightening.
When you say these lines, you can’t help but enjoy the sound of this parade of disgusting images. They’re shocking to hear, and with all those consonant sounds, they are fun to say, too. If you pronounce them carefully, you can’t help sounding scary.
Thus, in these few lines, we have the plot and the themes of the play in miniature. A king is murdered in a most horrific way, and his body is immediately ravaged by decay, just like his kingdom, a kingdom also being poisoned (the way in which snakes attack their victims), and by the same villain.