The lady doth protest too much, methinks - wikipedia The lady doth protest too much, methinks The Queen in `` Hamlet '' by Edwin Austin Abbey The lady doth protest too much, methinks is a figure of speech originally found as a quotation from the c. 1600 play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. It is used in everyday speech to indicate doubt in someone 's sincerity. Contents 1 Original usage 2 Contemporary usage 3 See also 4 Notes 5 References Original usage The line, like most of Shakespeare 's works, is in iambic pentameter. It is found in Act III, Scene II of Hamlet, where it is spoken by Queen Gertrude, 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 matches Hamlet 's theory in its basic storyline, 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. '' Gertrude ( who seems to at least suspect that the queen in the play is a stand - in for her ) is saying that the Player Queen is being too effusive. Hamlet replies, `` O, but she 'll keep her word. '' Gertrude uses the line in response to the insincere overacting of the Player Queen stating her love for her husband. The quotation comes from the Second Quarto edition of the play. Other versions contain the simpler line, `` The lady protests too much, methinks ''. Contemporary usage The line is typically quoted ( or misquoted, as in `` methinks the lady doth protest too much '' ) to suggest that someone who is strongly denying something is hiding the truth, or to imply doubt in a person 's sincerity. The phrase can be used this way even when the subject is male. In rhetorical terms, the phrase can be thought of as indicating an unintentional apophasis -- where the speaker who `` protests too much '' in favor of some assertion puts into others ' minds the idea that the assertion is false, something that they may not have considered before. The quotation 's meaning has changed somewhat since it was first written : whereas in modern parlance `` protest '' in this context often means a denial, in Shakespeare 's time to `` protest '' meant `` to make protestation or solemn affirmation ''. See also Streisand effect methinks, Wiktionary Notes References ^ Jump up to : Delaney, Bill ( 30 March 2010 ). `` Shakespeare 's Hamlet ''. The Explicator. ^ Jump up to : Delahunty, Andrew ; Dignen, Sheila ( 2012 ). Oxford Dictionary of Reference and Allusion. OUP Oxford. p. 238. ISBN 0199567468. ^ Jump up to : Garber, Marjorie ( 2008 ). Shakespeare After All. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 40. ISBN 9780307490810. ^ Jump up to : Garber, Marjorie ( 2008 ). Profiling Shakespeare. Routledge. pp. 280 -- 281. ISBN 9781135891893. Jump up ^ Rogers, Lance J. ( 30 September 2015 ). `` Exigency Created by Pot Odor and Door Slam ''. Bloomberg Criminal Law Reporter. Jump up ^ OED, `` protest '' 1b William Shakespeare 's Hamlet Characters Hamlet Claudius Gertrude Ghost Polonius Laertes Ophelia Horatio Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Fortinbras The Gravediggers Yorick Soliloquies `` To be, or not to be '' `` Mortal coil '' `` What a piece of work is a man '' `` Speak the speech '' Words and phrases `` The lady doth protest too much, methinks '' `` Thy name is '' `` Primrose path '' Terminology Dumbshow Induction Quiddity Substitution Sources Criticism Legend of Hamlet The Spanish Tragedy Ur - Hamlet Critical approaches Bibliographies Horwendill Saxo Grammaticus House of Gonzaga Damon and Pythias Influence Common phrases from Hamlet Hamlet in popular culture References to Ophelia Language of flowers Human skull symbolism Performances Moscow Art Theatre ( 1911 -- 1912 ) Richard Burton ( 1964 ) On screen 1900 1907 1908 1912 1913 1917 1921 1935 1948 1954 1961 1964 1969 2000 2011 Adaptations Films The Rest Is Silence ( 1959 ) The Bad Sleep Well ( 1960 ) Ophelia ( 1963 ) Johnny Hamlet ( 1968 ) One Hamlet Less ( 1973 ) The Angel of Vengeance -- The Female Hamlet ( 1977 ) Strange Brew ( 1983 ) Hamlet Goes Business ( 1987 ) The Lion King ( 1994 ) Let the Devil Wear Black ( 1999 ) The Banquet ( 2006 ) Tardid ( 2009 ) Karmayogi ( 2012 ) Haider ( 2014 ) Hamlet A.D.D. ( 2014 ) The Lion King ( 2019 ) Novels Gertrude and Claudius ( 2000 ) Dating Hamlet ( 2002 ) Ophelia 's Revenge ( 2003 ) The Dead Fathers Club ( 2006 ) Something Rotten ( 2007 ) Hamlet 's Father ( 2008 ) The Story of Edgar Sawtelle ( 2008 ) Plays Hamletmachine ( 1977 ) Dogg 's Hamlet ( 1979 ) Fortinbras ( 1991 ) Musicals Rockabye Hamlet ( 1973 ) The Lion King ( 1997 ) Television Hamlet ( Australian TV, 1959 ) Hamlet at Elsinore ( BBC, 1964 ) Hamlet, Prince of Denmark ( BBC, 1980 ) Hamlet ( BBC 2, animated, 1992 ) Hamlet ( BBC 2, 2009 ) Parodies 15 - Minute Hamlet The Complete Works of William Shakespeare ( Abridged ) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Io, Amleto The Klingon Hamlet `` Lyle the Kindly Viking '' To Be or Not to Be : That is the Adventure Songs `` My Robin is to the Greenwood Gone '' ( 16th century ) `` Pull Me Under '' ( 1992 ) `` Song for Athene '' ( 1997 ) Opera / classical Hamlet ( Thomas ) Amleto ( Faccio ) Hamlet ( Tchaikovsky ) Tristia ( Berlioz ) Die Hamletmaschine ( Rihm ) Hamlet ( Dean ) Story within a story Films To Be or Not to Be ( 1942 ) Acting Hamlet in the Village of Mrdusa Donja ( 1973 ) To Be or Not to Be ( 1983 ) Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead ( 1990 ) Renaissance Man ( 1994 ) In the Bleak Midwinter ( 1995 ) Hamlet 2 ( 2008 ) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead ( 2009 ) Three Days ( 2012 ) Plays Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead ( 1966 ) Stage Blood ( 1974 ) I Hate Hamlet ( 1991 ) To Be or Not to Be ( 2008 ) Novels Hamlet, Revenge ! ( 1937 ) Theatre of War ( 1994 ) `` The Undiscovered '' ( 1997 ) The Shakespeare Stealer ( 1998 ) Interred with Their Bones ( 2007 ) Television `` The Producer '' ( 1966 ) Slings & Arrows ( 2003 ) Art Ophelia Affe mit Schädel Video game Last Action Hero ( 1993 ) Hamlet ( 2010 ) Intertextuality Asterix and the Great Crossing The Seagull Sharpe 's Havoc Related Hamlet and Oedipus Hamlet Had an Uncle Hamlet and His Problems Hebenon Hamlet Q1 Ostalo je ćutanje The Chronicles of Amber `` Symphony No. 65 '' ( Haydn ) War Highlander II : The Quickening The Hobart Shakespeareans Gertrude -- The Cry Poor Murderer Something Rotten ! `` The Conscience of the King '' `` Born to Be King '' Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_lady_doth_protest_too_much,_methinks&oldid=818669738 '' Categories : Hamlet Irony Shakespearean phrases English - language idioms Quotations Hidden categories : All articles that may contain original research Articles that may contain original research from April 2017 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 4 January 2018, at 22 : 16. 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Question: who said methinks he doth protest too much
Answer: Hamlet