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All Site ContentHamletAct 4Scene 3
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"convocation," "worms," "emperor," and "diet"
Allusion
Act 4,
Scene 3
Lines 17-25

An explanation of the allusion to the Diet of Worms in Act 4, Scene 3 of myShakespeare’s Hamlet.

Claudius   

Now Hamlet, where's Polonius?

Hamlet

At supper.

Claudius   

At supper? Where?

Hamlet

Not where he eats, but where he is eaten. A certain 
convocation of worms are e'en at him. Your worm
is your only emperor for diet. We fat all creatures else to    
fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots. Your fat king and
your lean beggar is but variable service to dishes but
to one table. That's the end.

In 1523, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V called a convocation (a general assembly). Such a convocation was called a Diet. This one took place in the city of Worms in Germany. Its purpose was to hear Martin Luther defend the principles of his attack on Catholicism. This would have been a well known event to Hamlet, a student at Wittenberg University (also in Germany) where Martin Luther taught.

(Luther at the Diet of Worms, Anton Von Werner, c. 1877)