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All Site ContentHamletAct 1Scene 3
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"dye"
Wordplay
Act 1,
Scene 3
Lines 127-131

An explanation of the wordplay on “dye” in Act 1, Scene 3 of myShakespeare’s Hamlet.

 

Polonius 

Do not believe his vows, for they are brokers
Not of that dye which their investments show,
But mere implorators of unholy suits,
Breathing like sanctified and pious bawds
The better to beguile. This is for all —

In this wordplay, “dye” can be read in two ways:

  • the color (of the brokers’ clothes)
  • the general nature of something (as in, the nature of Hamlet’s vows)