All 4 Uses of
wanton
in
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
- 'And in part him;—but,' you may say, 'not well: But if't be he I mean, he's very wild; Addicted so and so;' and there put on him What forgeries you please; marry, none so rank As may dishonour him; take heed of that; But, sir, such wanton, wild, and usual slips As are companions noted and most known To youth and liberty.†
Scene 2.1 *
- I have heard of your paintings too, well enough; God hath given you one face, and you make yourselves another: you jig, you amble, and you lisp, and nickname God's creatures, and make your wantonness your ignorance.†
Scene 3.1
- Not this, by no means, that I bid you do: Let the bloat king tempt you again to bed; Pinch wanton on your cheek; call you his mouse; And let him, for a pair of reechy kisses, Or paddling in your neck with his damn'd fingers, Make you to ravel all this matter out, That I essentially am not in madness, But mad in craft.†
Scene 3.4
- Come, for the third, Laertes: you but dally; I pray you pass with your best violence: I am afeard you make a wanton of me.†
Scene 5.2
Definitions:
-
(1)
(wanton) of something considered bad: excessive, thoughtless indulgence -- such as waste, cruelty, violence, and (especially in the past) sexual promiscuity
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) In classic literature, wanton can also describe people who are playful or plants that are growing profusely.