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Since love united our hearts and Hymen united our hands in mutual, sacred bonds.


Hymen was the Greek god of marriage.

bands suggests wedding rings as well as the metaphorical “ties that bind.”

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borrow’d sheen: borrowed light (from the sun).

“Thirty dozen” = 360. The reference is to the number of months in 30 years. Tellingly, Hamlet himself is 30 years old (as we learn in 5.1), so this was the approximate length of King Hamlet and Gertrude’s marriage.

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The witches are back from doing their thing: killing pigs, placing curses on a sailor whose wife angered them. They encounter Macbeth and Banquo on the heath as the two soldiers return from battle. The witches, a.k.a. the Weird Sisters, make three prophecies:

1) Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor. Promotion!
2) Then he’ll become king. Details here are vague.
3) Banquo will never rule in Scotland, but he’ll father a line of future kings.

The witches disappear. Ross and Angus arrive with the message that the king has given Macbeth the thaneship of Cawdor. Macbeth and Banquo can’t believe it: the first prophecy has come true.


From Macbeth (1971), starring Jon Finch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEidcxBTu0E

From the 1978 production starring Ian McKellen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k79AO7c0Zog

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Ophelia, daughter of Polonius and love interest of Prince Hamlet, helps her brother Laertes prepare for his impending journey to France. Laertes warns Ophelia against emotional and physical intimacy with Hamlet, urging her to distance herself from him. He fears that her attraction is hopeless because, even if Hamlet’s love is sincere, he can’t choose his wife for political reasons. Ophelia listens to these warnings, but doesn’t necessarily take them to heart. She lightheartedly reminds her brother to practice what he preaches.

Polonius enters and advises his son on his coming journey. He stresses the importance of honor and integrity. His advice contains the famous phrase: “This above all: to thine own self be true.”

After Laertes departs, Polonius stays with his daughter and asks her what she and Laertes were discussing. Ophelia tells him, and Polonius echoes her brother’s warnings. He cautions that Hamlet’s love is not sincere and that he only intends to use her. In contrast to Laertes' more nuanced objections, Polonius dismisses Hamlet’s vows altogether and forbids her even to spend time with him. Ophelia agrees to obey her father’s warnings.

From the David Tennant Hamlet (2009):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI8T5DPxY5Y

From the Mel Gibson Hamlet (1990):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JyxfJo-iiA

From the Ethan Hawke Hamlet (2000 – with Bill Murray as Polonius!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n13FhFrtu_8

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President Barack Obama’s remarks at the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington, D.C., April 17, 2013.

Conan O'Brien, who followed, had this to say about the President’s remarks:

“He’s so funny and he’s so good at this. He’s like the coolest president we’ve had, maybe since John F. Kennedy, and his timing is so good and he has such good material that you’re thinking two things at the same time: A) this is really hard to follow, which it is, and B) he’s warming them up, he’s getting them laughing.”

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Brutus is asking Lucius to light him a candle in his office.

Tapers

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You are naughty, you are naughty: I’m going to listen to the play.


naught: naughty (which could have a stronger meaning back then, similar to “wicked”); also a possible pun on “naught” as in “nothing.”

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That they are not a flute for Fortune’s finger to block whatever stop (hole) she pleases – i.e., that they are not mere instruments or playthings of fate.

The Greek goddess Fortuna was the deity that controlled a person’s luck.

Hamlet returns to, and extends, this metaphor–this time in reference to himself–during his conversation with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern later in the scene:

…do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe?

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Elizabeth finally meets the much-mentioned Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

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Lady Macduff anguishes over her husband’s departure to England. Ross advises her to be patient and exits, leaving her alone with her son.

Though she has told her son that his father is dead, the boy is too smart to believe her and teases her affectionately about it. A Messenger appears to warn Lady Macduff that the two of them are in danger. Macbeth’s Murderers pounce, killing the boy and chasing Lady Macduff offstage.

A gruesome scene and a grim illustration of what Macbeth’s reign has done to his morality.

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