You are here

"fret"
Metaphor and Wordplay
Act 3,
Scene 2
Lines 339-347

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

Hamlet

Why, look you now, how unworthy a thing you 
make of me! You would play upon me, you would seem
to know my stops, you would pluck out the heart of my
mystery, you would sound me from my lowest note to the
top of my compass. And there is much music, excellent
voice, in this little compass, yet cannot you make it.
Why, do you think that I am easier to be played on than
a pipe? Call me what instrument you will; though you
fret me, you cannot play upon me.     

Hamlet uses a pun on the word “fret” to metaphorically compare himself to an instrument. To “fret” is to play a string instrument that has frets—like a guitar. But it can also mean to irritate or worry.