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All Site ContentHamletAct 1Scene 5
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Lethe
Context and Language Videos
Act 1,
Scene 5
Lines 31b-40a

An exploration of the allusion to Lethe in Act 1, Scene 5 of myShakespeare's Hamlet.

myShakespeare | Hamlet 1.5 Allusion: Lethe

Ghost

                                              I find thee apt, 
And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed 
That roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf
Wouldst thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet, hear.
It's given out that, sleeping in mine orchard,
A serpent stung me. So the whole ear of Denmark
Is, by a forgèd process of my death,
Rankly abused. But know, thou noble youth,
The serpent that did sting thy father's life
Now wears his crown.     

Hamlet

Ghost 

[Exit.]

Hamlet 

 [Hamlet takes out his notepad and writes.]
Video Transcript: 

SARAH: The ghost says that if Hamlet does not take revenge on Claudius, he'll be duller than a weed that grows on Lethe wharf.

RALPH: This is another reference from Greek mythology. Lethe is one of the 5 rivers in Hades, the ancient underworld. It was the river of oblivion or forgetfulness; when the souls of the dead drank its waters, they forgot their past earthly experiences. A wharf is a dock where ships moor, but Shakespeare is using it metaphorically here to mean the riverbank.

SARAH: A striking image: if Hamlet does not avenge his father, it would be as if he had drunk from the Lethe river, and the ghost's command had been removed from his memory, rendering him as useless as the weeds growing along that river of forgetfulness.

RALPH: The ghost's emphasis on memory and forgetfulness will become a theme that runs throughout the scene - the ghost's last words to Hamlet are "remember me", and then Hamlet will pick up the theme in his own monologue after the ghost leaves.