"The lady doth protest too much, methinks" is a line from the play ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'' by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. It is spoken by

Queen Gertrude In William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet'', Gertrude is Hamlet's mother and Queen of Denmark. Her relationship with Hamlet is somewhat turbulent, since he resents her marrying her husband's brother Claudius after he murdered the king (young Haml ...

in response to the insincere overacting of a character in the

play within a play A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometime ...

created by

Prince Hamlet Prince Hamlet is the title character and protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Hamlet'' (1599–1601). He is the Prince of Denmark, nephew of the usurping King Claudius, Claudius, and son of King Hamlet, the previous King of Denmark. At ...

to elicit evidence of his uncle's guilt in the murder of his father, the King of Denmark. The expression is used in everyday speech to indicate doubt of someone's sincerity, in particular the suspicion that someone who denies something very strongly is hiding the truth. In this sense the line is often misquoted as "Methinks the lady doth protest too much."

In ''Hamlet''

The line is in

iambic pentameter Iambic pentameter ( ) is a type of metric line used in traditional English poetry and verse drama. The term describes the rhythm, or meter, established by the words in each line. Meter is measured in small groups of syllables called feet. "Iambi ...

. It is found in Act III, Scene II of ''Hamlet'', where it is spoken by Hamlet's mother

. Hamlet believes that his father the king was murdered by his uncle

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...

, who then married Gertrude. Hamlet stages the play ''Murder of Gonzago'' which follows a similar sequence of events, to test whether viewing it will trigger a guilty conscience in Claudius. Hamlet, Gertrude, Claudius, and others watch the play-within-the-play, in which the Player Queen declares in flowery language that she will never remarry if her husband dies. Hamlet then turns to his mother and asks her, "Madam, how like you this play?" She replies, "The lady doth protest too much, methinks", meaning that the Player Queen's declarations of love and fidelity are too excessive and insistent to be credible. The quotation comes from the Second Quarto edition of the play, while later versions include the simpler line, "The lady protests too much, methinks".

Everyday usage

The line's allusion to Gertrude's (lack of) fidelity to her husband has become a

cliché A cliché ( or ; ) is a saying, idea, or element of an artistic work that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning, novelty, or literal and figurative language, figurative or artistic power, even to the point of now being b ...

of sexually fickle womanhood and a shorthand expression conveying doubt of a person's truthfulness, even when the subject is male. It is commonly used to suggest that someone who denies something very strongly must be hiding the truth; however, in the play, ''protest'' has the older meaning of 'vow' or 'declare' rather than 'deny'. The phrase is often shortened to too much". A common misquotation places ''methinks'' first, as "Methinks the lady doth protest too much."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lady doth protest too much, methinks Hamlet Shakespearean phrases English-language idioms

In ''Hamlet''

Everyday usage

See also

References