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All Site ContentHamletAct 3Scene 2
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"keen"
Wordplay
Act 3,
Scene 2
Lines 225-232

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

Hamlet

galled jade wince, our withers are unwrung.    
[Enter Lucianus.]
This is one Lucianus, nephew to the king.

Ophelia

You are a good chorus, my lord. 

Hamlet

I could interpret between you and your love, if I
could see the puppets dallying.

Ophelia

You are keen, my lord, you are keen.

Hamlet

It would cost you a groaning to take off my edge.    

Ophelia

Still better, and worse.    

Hamlet plays on three meanings of the word "keen" in more bawdy wordplay:

  • witty (Ophelia’s meaning)
  • sexually aroused (Hamlet’s interpretation)
  • having a sharp edge. It would require Ophelia’s groaning (having sex) to remove Hamlet's keenness.