Termagant and Herod
Allusion
Act 3,
Scene 2
Lines 1-14
[Enter Hamlet, and two or three of the Players (actors)]
Hamlet
Termagant, who Christians believed was an Islamic God, and King Herod of Israel were frequently portrayed in medieval religious plays as loud raging tyrants. By Shakespeare’s time, the word “termagant” was used as an adjective to describe any violent or bullying person. Since then, the word has became increasingly associated with women, eventually becoming a synonym for “shrew.”