You are here

All Site ContentHamletAct 3Scene 2
Back to the Play
"Tropically"
Wordplay
Act 3,
Scene 2
Lines 219-225

An explanation of the pun on “tropically” in Act 3, Sene 2 of myShakespeare’s Hamlet.

Claudius   

What do you call the play?

Hamlet

"The Mousetrap." Marry, how? Tropically. This play    
is the image of a murder done in Vienna. Gonzago is the
Duke's name, his wife Baptista; you shall see anon. 'Tis
a knavish piece of work, but what o' that ? Your majesty
and we that have free souls, it touches us not. Let the
galled jade wince, our withers are unwrung.    

Here, Hamlet makes a pun:

  • “Tropically” means related to tropes, or figures of speech.
  • But trope sounds like “trap,” playing on the play’s title, “The Mousetrap.”