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"frankly"
Irony
Act 5,
Scene 2
Lines 183b-192

An explanation of the word “frankly” in Act 5, Scene 2 of myShakespeare’s Hamlet.

Laertes 

                                    I am satisfied in nature, 
Whose motive in this case should stir me most
To my revenge. But in my terms of honor,
I stand aloof and will no reconcilement
Till, by some elder masters of known honor,
I have a voice and precedent of peace
To keep my namenamegored. But all that time
I do receive your offered love like love,
And will not wrong it.

Hamlet

                                       I embrace it freely,
And will this brother's wager frankly play.     

There’s a bit of dramatic irony in Hamlet’s word choice here. Hamlet uses “frankly” to mean freely, without constraint. The word can also mean lacking concealment or deception, which—little does Hamlet know—is the opposite of Laertes’s devious intentions.