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All Site ContentHamletAct 5Scene 2
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"mutes or audience to this act"
Wordplay
Act 5,
Scene 2
Lines 274-282a

An explanation of Hamlet’s use of double meaning in Act 5, Scene 2 of myShakespeare’s Hamlet.

Laertes 

Nor thine on me!
[Laertes Dies.]

Hamlet

Heaven make thee free of it! I follow thee. 
I am dead, Horatio. Wretched queen, adieu.
You, that look pale and tremble at this chance,
That are but mutes or audience to this act,    
Had I but time — as this fell sergeant, Death,
Is strict in his arrest — oh, I could tell you ... 
But let it be. Horatio, I am dead.
Thou livest; report me and my causes right

This line has a double meaning:

  • The nobles who have silently witnessed the action that has unfolded at Elsinore.
  • The audience and the mutes (actors with non-speaking roles) watching the play.