SPONGE

11th March 2024

Photo Credits: Underwater Spongia officianalis (AlexeyMasliy GI); Dried Sponge (coffeechocolate GI), CANVA

QUOTATION

ROSENCRANTZ: Take you me for a sponge, my lord?

HAMLET: Ay, sir, that soaks up the King’s countenance, his rewards, his authorities.

But such officers do the King best service in the end. He keeps them

like an ape an apple in the corner of his jaw, first mouthed, to be last swallowed.

When he needs what you have gleaned, it is but squeezing you,

and, sponge, you shall be dry again.

ROSENCRANTZ & HAMLET: Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 2

SPONGE (E.g. Spongia officinalis & Hippospongia communis)

Rosencrantz is compared by Hamlet to a sponge, gathering information to be shared with King Claudius and then squeezed dry.

Sponges, growing in the shallow waters of the Mediterranean, have been collected and used for millennia for cosmetic, hygiene and decorative purposes.

Sponges are marine animals in the Phylum Porifera. They are characterised by pores and channels which allow water to pass through them. They feed on bacteria and microscopic food particles in the water. There are between 5 and 10,000 Sponge species known and some of the more familiar commercial Sponges are in the Genera Spongia and Hippospongia.

More Information

Folger Shakespeare Library: Search Shakespeare’s Works

Pronzato, R. & Manconi, R. 2008 Mediterranean commercial sponges: over 5000 years of natural history and cultural heritage. Marine Ecology, June 2008 (free access online Wiley Library)

World Porifera Database: Visit Site