7/2017
Common usage of a phrase out of Hamlet has been misquoted and misinterpreted for as long as the play has been written.
Commonly one hears, “Methinks she doth protest too much,” should actually be, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” (Hamlet Act 3, Scene 2, William Shakespeare). (1) The implication is that the individual denies something so much that the listeners do not believe the denial. The old cry wolf thingy. (2) But in Hamlet, the case is different.
Contrary to common usage and assumption, “protest” isn’t intended to mean to object or to deny. The meaning of “protest” in Shakespeare’s day was to vow or to declare solemnly, a meaning preserved in our use of “protestation,” ie to affirm.
The Queen in the play, the one who protests too much, seems too deeply attached to her dead first husband to ever even consider remarrying, ie. that about which she is protesting. She repeatedly denies the King’s advances.
Gertrude, the one making the statement so often misquoted, has remarried after the death of her husband and feels that the Queen is protesting strongly and, therefore, will not remarry.
What is this world coming to when you can’t believe Shakespearean quotes?
Simple musings from your grumpy Uncle/Brother Dave.
- http://www.bardwords.org/famous-shakespeare-quotes/methinks-thou-dost-protest-too-much.htm
- Far antedating Shakespeare’s time is Aesop’s Fables. Hence, we assume that repeated cries for help are false. http://fablesofaesop.com/the-boy-who-cried-wolf.html
Weary