Hamlet declares that all of the displays of grief taken together—the wearing all black, sighing or sobbing (“windy suspiration of forced breath”), crying, a downcast face (“‘havior of the visage”: behavior or demeanor of the facial expressions, outward appearance)- cannot truly sum up the state in which he is in.

His state, in other words, is something more than typical grief, as we learn most directly in his soliloquy directly following the departure of the king, queen and court. He’s not simply grieving but utterly disenchanted with the world and existence in it.

Beyond this, his state of disenchantment and disgust at his mother’s overhasty marriage amounts to a sort of intuitive insight, a knowledge only confirmed by the Ghost’s message.

Hamlet’s first line, and a famous quote from the play, encapsulating as it does Hamlet’s bitter situation and rhetorical adeptness. Hamlet makes a play on words to imply that Claudius is more than family (or kin) because not only is he Hamlet’s uncle, he is now his stepfather as well—he is “a little too much kin,” suggesting that by doubling as uncle and father Claudius goes too far. Yet, he is also “less than kind”: he behaves “less than his kind,” meaning he does not live rightly according to human nature (living in something like an incestuous relationship), and he is not as kind as he should be as an uncle and step-father. “Less than kind” also suggests, in an understatement, that Claudius is by no means like Hamlet.

The line shows Hamlet’s deep separation from his uncle, and his own lack of kindness.

Although most modern editions of Hamlet indicate this line as an aside, and thus audible to the audience but not Claudius, it is not marked so in either the First Folio or the Second Quarto (the two most authoritative editions). Therefore, many actors have played this as a snarky comment directly to Claudius, while a few have played it as Hamlet talking to himself (or thinking it in his head in voiceover, as Kenneth Branagh presents it in his film). There is something fitting in the possibility that Hamlet’s first words are addressed only to himself.

The play begins shortly after a new king has been crowned. Hamlet’s father, King Hamlet, has died and his brother Claudius has taken the throne.

“Long live the king” is an expression by which Bernardo identifies himself as a loyal subject of the king, in response to Francisco’s command.

Throughout this scene we see a portrait of a kingdom in trouble. The appearance of the recently deceased former king, with a look of sadness and anger, subverts any initial audience impulse toward “rooting for” the current king. From 1.2 onward, the audience finds itself rooting against Claudius–and from 1.5 onward, rooting for Claudius to die.

The life and death of kings, and loyalty to vs. subversion of the king, will be key themes of the play.

From the Hamlet-inspired The Lion King (1994):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctJ9jZ-_fFc

Growing up in the ‘80s and '90s, the band members endured haircut trends such as the mullet, where the front and sides are cut short and the back is grown out.

Unsurprisingly, Sum 41 was heavily influenced by heavy metal bands, and they cite iconic acts Iron Maiden and Judas Priest as examples.

It’s also a play on words: ‘maiden and priest’ as in, nuns and priests, as the ‘gods that we praised’

He had an alternate perception of his girlfriend, and references that his views on her were artificially constructed based on her dishonesty, and not reality or the truth.

When someone is about to cry, or “choked up,” difficulty swallowing or the feeling of a lump in the throat is commonly cited.

The National Guard was called in to put down the out-of-hand riots. While they shot off tear gas, it matched the smoke from the burning buildings.

“Smoke from all around” is an allusion to a line from Public Enemy’s “Burn Hollywood Burn.”

36 Chambers