"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 tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 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 Hamle ...

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 sometimes c ...

created by

Prince Hamlet A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

to prove his uncle's guilt in the murder of his father, the King of Denmark. The phrase is used in everyday speech to indicate doubt of someone's sincerity, especially regarding the truth of a strong denial. A common misquotation places ''methinks'' first, as in "methinks the lady doth protest too much".

In ''Hamlet''

The line, like most of Shakespeare's works, 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 that line; rhythm is measured in small groups of syllables called " feet". "Iam ...

. 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 (who then married Gertrude). Hamlet decides to stage a play, the ''Murder of Gonzago'', that follows a similar sequence of events, in order to test whether viewing it will trigger a guilty conscience on the part of Claudius. As Hamlet, Gertrude, Claudius and others watch the play-within-the-play, the Player Queen, representing Gertrude, 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?", to which she replies, "The lady doth protest too much, methinks", meaning that the Player Queen's protestations of love and fidelity are too excessive to be believed. The quotation comes from the

Second Quarto The earliest texts of William Shakespeare's works were published during the 16th and 17th centuries in quarto or folio format. Folios are large, tall volumes; quartos are smaller, roughly half the size. The publications of the latter are usually a ...

edition of the play. Later versions contain the simpler line, "The lady protests too much, methinks".

Later usage

The line's allusion to Gertrude's (lack of) fidelity to her husband has become a cliché of sexually fickle womanhood and a shorthand expression conveying doubt in a person's truthfulness, even when the subject is male. It is commonly used to imply that someone who denies something very strongly is hiding the truth; however, in the play, "protest" has the older meaning of "insist (that something is true), vow," not "deny." It is often shortened to " protest too much".

References

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

In ''Hamlet''

Later usage

See also

References