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"ungored"
Irony
Act 5,
Scene 2
Line 189

A discussion of the irony of the use of the word "gored" in Act 5, Scene 2 of myshakespeare's Hamlet.

Laertes 

To keep my namenamegored. But all that time

In Shakespeare’s day, to be gored meant to be stabbed by a sharp weapon, or as it’s used almost exclusively today, pierced by the horns of an animal. It’s ironic that Laertes has chosen “ungored” to describe his desired image because another meaning of gored was to be cover in gore, in blood – which is exactly how he will be seen if his planned murder of Hamlet comes to light.