The Name Edward de Vere Hidden in Hamlet

This post will show some potential word play on the name of Edward de Vere, 17^th Earl of Oxford, in the version of Hamlet that appears in Shakespeare’s First Folio (1623).

There is word play throughout the play; however, because I cannot possibly address all of them in a single post, I will address only the word play in part of Act 2, scene 2.  I will focus on the part of the scene where Polonius asserts that Hamlet has gone mad over his love for Ophelia and attempts to prove his theory in a conversation with Hamlet.  Hamlet is only pretending to be mad and plays Polonius for the fool.  There are several instances of word play that show the scene is designed to hide Edward de Vere’s name from a casual reader.

As background, Polonius has instructed Ophelia to avoid Hamlet.  However, after his encounter with the ghost of his father on the castle ramparts, Hamlet is pretending to be mad as part of his plan to extract revenge on his uncle, the king.  After Hamlet appears to Ophelia behaving erratically, and after sending her a love letter (I may write a separate post on that subject later), Polonius informs the king and queen that he believes Hamlet has gone mad due to his unrequited love for Ophelia--

And he repulsed. A short Tale to make,

Fell into a Sadnesse, then into a Fast,

Thence to a Watch, thence into a Weaknesse,

Thence to a Lightnesse, and by this declension

Into the Madnesse whereon now he raues,

And all we waile for.

   King. Do you thinke 'tis this?

   Qu. It may be very likely.

   Pol. Hath there bene such a time, I'de fain know that,

That I haue possitiuely said, 'tis so,

When it prou'd otherwise?

   King. Not that I know.

   Pol. Take this from this; if this be otherwise,

If Circumstances leade me, I will finde

Where truth is hid, though it were hid indeede

Within the Center.

"Hamlet (Folio 1, 1623)." Internet ShakespeareEditions. University of Victoria, NaN undefined NaN. Web. 18 Dec. 2023.

 

Polonius specifically states that Hamlet has fallen into madness by “declension” because Ophelia has rejected him.  In this context, the plain meaning of declension is “a descending slope; a descent.” Essentially, Polonius states that Hamlet has descended into madness.  However, declension has another meaning.  It can refer to the inflection of words in certain languages, such as Latin.  Declensions may apply to nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and articles to indicate number (e.g. singular, dual, plural), case (e.g. nominative case, accusative case, genitive case, dative case), gender (e.g. masculine, neuter, feminine), and a number of other grammatical categories.  Meanwhile, the inflectional change of verbs is called conjugation.  Old English was an inflectional language, but inflections were largely abandoned with the advent of Modern English.

Therefore, the use of the word “declension” in the text hints at the transformation of certain words into other words, particularly into a word of another language.  I believe the language the words are to be transformed into is probably Latin, and I will proceed on that general assumption.

The first potential word play transformation seems to be in these lines:

 

   King. Do you thinke 'tis this?

   Qu. It may be very likely.

   Pol. Hath there bene such a time, I'de fain know that,

That I haue possitiuely said, 'tis so,

When it prou'd otherwise?

First, the text contains the appearance of the phrase “very likely.”  Obviously, the word “very” sounds like the name de Vere.  In Latin, ipse (adjective; self, mere, very, identical, actual) can also mean very, and it can mean self.  In Latin, likely translates to verisimile, another word with “ver” in it, so the phrase “very likely” could be the hidden message “I, myself, am de Vere.”

Subsequently, Polonius’ lines include the phrase “When it prou’d otherwise.”  The Latin word for prove is probare; however, it can also be translated as adsevero (verb; act seriously, act earnestly, do earnestly, declare, make positive declaration, prove) or assevero (verb; declare, assert, act seriously, act earnestly, prove).  Both of these alternative Latin words for prove include letters spelling “vero,” which means” in truth” or “indeed” (adverbs) in English.

The word “truth” is closely associated with Edward de Vere through his motto: Vero Nihil Verius (“Nothing more true than truth” or “Nothing truer than truth”).

The word “otherwise,” in the phrase “When it prou’d otherwise,” can also be transformed into a word containing letters that sound like “de Vere” in the Latin word diversus (adjective; diverse, different, various, distinct, several, otherwise).  Thus, there are again two words, “proved” and “otherwise,” appearing next to each other in the text, that can be transformed into Latin words that include letter variations on the de Vere name.

The exchange between the king, the queen, and Polonius continues with Polonius making this assertion:

 

   Pol. Take this from this; if this be otherwise,

If Circumstances leade me, I will finde

Where truth is hid, though it were hid indeede

Within the Center.

 

As mentioned previously, translated into Latin, the word “otherwise” is diversus, the word “truth” is veritas, and the word “indeed” is vero or vere, so the text can be transformed into—

 

    Take this from this; if this be [de Vere],

If Circumstances leade me, I will finde

Where [de Vere] is hid, though [de Vere] [VVere] hid

Within the Center.

The message is that the subsequent exchange between Hamlet and Polonius hides the name of Edward de Vere and that that name can be revealed with careful reading.

I will skip the intervening text and proceed to the exchange between Hamlet and Polonius:

 

Enter Hamlet reading on a Booke.

 

   Qu. But looke where sadly the poore wretch

Comes reading.

   Pol. Away I do beseech you, both away,

Ile boord him presently. Exit King & Queen.

Oh giue me leaue. How does my good Lord Hamlet?

   Ham. Well, God-a-mercy.

   Pol. Do you know me, my Lord?

   Ham. Excellent, excellent well: y'are a Fishmonger.

   Pol. Not I my Lord.

   Ham. Then I would you were so honest a man.

   Pol. Honest, my Lord?

   Ham. I sir, to be honest as this world goes, is to bee

one man pick'd out of two thousand.

   Pol. That's very true, my Lord.

   Ham. For if the Sun breed Magots in a dead dogge,

being a good kissing Carrion-----

Haue you a daughter?

   Pol. I haue my Lord.

   Ham. Let her not walke i'th'Sunne: Conception is a

blessing, but not as your daughter may conceiue. Friend

looke too't.

   Pol. How say you by that? Still harping on my daugh-

ter: yet he knew me not at first; he said I was a Fishmon-

ger: he is farre gone, farre gone: and truly in my youth,

I suffred much extreamity for loue: very neere this. Ile

speake to him againe. What do you read my Lord?

   Ham. Words, words, words.

   Pol. What is the matter, my Lord?

   Ham. Betweene who?

   Pol. I meane the matter you meane, my Lord.

   Ham. Slanders Sir: for the Satyricall slaue saies here,

that old men haue gray Beards; that their faces are wrin-

kled; their eyes purging thicke Amber, or Plum-Tree

Gumme: and that they haue a plentifull locke of Wit,

together with weake Hammes. All which Sir, though I

most powerfully, and potently beleeue; yet I holde it

not Honestie to haue it thus set downe: For you your

selfe Sir, should be old as I am, if like a Crab you could

go backward.

   Pol. Though this be madnesse,

Yet there is Method in't: will you walke

Out of the ayre my Lord?

   Ham. Into my Graue?

   Pol. Indeed that is out o'th' Ayre:

How pregnant (sometimes) his Replies are?

"Hamlet (Folio 1, 1623)." Internet Shakespeare Editions. University of Victoria. Web. 18 Dec. 2023. https://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/doc/Ham_F1/complete/index.html.

As it so happens, Polonius’ greeting to Hamlet— “Oh giue me leaue. How does my good Lord Hamlet?”— begins on the 17^th line from the top of the page.  Alexander Waugh has posited that the number 1740 is associated with Edward de Vere.  The number 17 is his earl number, and the number 40 is another reference to de Vere.  See “The Incalculable Genius of John Dee” https://www.youtube.com/@alexanderwaugh7036/videos (video lecture by Alexander Waugh). 

There may be a word or line count related to 40 that is significant that I am missing.  The word count is tricky because of hyphenated words (e.g., God-a-mercy [God have mercy]) and contractions (e.g., y’are) that I do not know whether to count as single words or multiple words.  (I usually count them as single words, but I am not sure if that rule should be applied to “God-a-mercy.”)  If the word count is started at Polonius’ greeting, the 40^th word falls on “man,” “Honest,” or “Lord” in these lines—

 

   Ham. Then I would you were so honest a man.

   Pol. Honest, my Lord?

 

There is some significance to a “Lord Honest” message.  In Latin, “honest” can be translated as verus (adjective; real, true, proper, genuine, actual, honest), so it could be a reference to Lord Oxford, Edward de Vere.

 

These lines contain a word puzzle hiding the names de Vere and Tudor:

   Ham. I sir, to be honest as this world goes, is to bee
one man pick'd out of two thousand.
   Pol. That's very true, my Lord.

As far as I can determine, the simplest solution to this word puzzle is to translate the words "out of" into Latin. In Latin, "out of" is foris. Foris also means "out of doors." In the scene, Hamlet is walking out of doors in the lobby (i.e., a portico, covered way, gallery). Later in the scene Polonius asks Hamlet if he will "walk out of the air" (come indoors). It is an easy step to transform "out of doors" into "out of [the] Tudors." The message is that Edward de Vere is in a sense two men, a de Vere and a Tudor, and as a de Vere (one man of the two) he is excluded from the Tudor succession.

 

Returning to the text, Hamlet identifies Polonius as a “fishmonger.”  A quick search of the Internet reveals that “fishmonger” was slang for a pimp, baud, or panderer. Polonius’ behavior and the exploitation of his daughter Ophelia in his spying fits this description.  Another way to interpret this insult that it is a way of saying that Polonius procures one human being for another.  In the sense that de Vere’s name is hidden in the text, the questioning of Polonius functions to procure, produce, or reveal the hidden person’s name— Edward de Vere —for a careful reader.

The insult passes over Polonius’ head, and he denies that he is a fishmonger.  Hamlet replies that he wishes Polonius “were so honest a man.”  As shown above, the word “honest” (i.e., true) is verus in Latin, so with the word “were” (VVere), which looks like the name Vere, there are two hidden references to the name de Vere.  The word “honest” is repeated in the next line— “Honest, my Lord?” —followed by these lines:

   Ham. I sir, to be honest as this world goes, is to bee

one man pick'd out of two thousand.

   Pol. That's very true, my Lord.

 

I cannot determine if Hamlet’s response is hiding a message—perhaps it went over my head—but Polonius’ response— “very true” —clearly does.  Both words have already been discussed and are verus and verum in Latin, respectively.

The following lines have Hamlet taking jibes at Ophelia and Polonius, with Polonius commenting.  Although I may be missing things, this is what I noticed:

Significantly, Polonius comments that "he is farre gone, farre gone."  One Latin translation for "far" or "remote" is diversus--

 

diversus -a -um, turned away, turned in different directions; of places, out of the way, remote; of character, fluctuating, irresolute; in gen., different, unlike, hostile. 

 

(by D. P. Simpson. Cassell's Latin Dictionary : Latin-English, English-Latin. New York :Cassell ; Macmillan, 1987.) (Entry under Latin definition of diverto).

 

 

Thus, the hidden message is that "he is diversus," or "he is de Vere."

 

Polonius again uses the words “truly” and “very” (vere and verus). 

Polonius also says that he will “speake to him again.”  The word “speak” is related to the word “speech,” and if that is a legitimate substitution, the word “speech” can be translated to vox (noun; voice, sound, word, expression, tone, speech) in Latin.  The words “speak to” can be translated as adfor (verb; speak to, address).  Thus, the letters in the Latin words vox and adfor are an anagram for Oxford (perhaps “a Oxford, V[ere]”?).

Polonius then askes, “What do you read my Lord?,” and Hamlet responds “Words, words, words.”  In Latin “words” translates to verba, so Hamlet’s line would read “Verba, verba, verba,” for three Ver[e]s in a row.

These lines follow—

  

   Pol. What is the matter, my Lord?

   Ham. Betweene who?

   Pol. I meane the matter you meane, my Lord.

   Ham. Slanders Sir….

 

The reference to slanders is an inside joke that the name of de Vere is being bandied about in an inappropriate, unserious, and untrue way in the comic dialogue.

Hamlets next nonsensical remarks are an insult to Polonius’ old age which contain more word play on the name de Vere—

 

   Ham. Slanders Sir: for the Satyricall slaue saies here,

that old men haue gray Beards; that their faces are wrin-

kled; their eyes purging thicke Amber, or Plum-Tree

Gumme: and that they haue a plentifull locke of Wit,

together with weake Hammes. All which Sir, though I

most powerfully, and potently beleeue; yet I holde it

not Honestie to haue it thus set downe: For you your

selfe Sir, should be old as I am, if like a Crab you could

go backward.

 

The word for “powerful” and “potent” in Latin is fortis, which is pronounced like “forties.”  As discussed previously, the numbers 17, 40, and 1740 are associated with Edward de Vere, so the Latin word fortis alludes to Edward de Vere.  The word honesty (honest; verus) is again used for another de Vere reference.

Hamlet’s line, “For you your selfe Sir, should be old as I am, if like a Crab you could go backward” is another humorous line with hidden meaning.  One translation of the word “backward” in Latin is rusum versum, for another instance of letters spelling “ver.”  As it so happens, if 17 words are counted backwards from this point, one reaches a point in the text where “de…you…you” (u and v were interchangeable), so a “de VV” is hinted at.  Edward de Vere sometimes signed his letters as “double V,” and V is the 20^th letter of the Elizabethan alphabet, so two V’s can represent the number 40. 

There is possibly another name that can be spelled with the letters falling on the right margin of the page at this point in the text too – the name Tudor.  I wonder if that is a coincidence.  Who would be so dishonest to set that name down in print at this point in the text?

The exchange concludes with these lines:

 

   Pol. Though this be madnesse,

Yet there is Method in't: will you walke

Out of the ayre my Lord?

   Ham. Into my Graue?

   Pol. Indeed that is out o'th' Ayre:

How pregnant (sometimes) his Replies are?

 

The word “air” sounds very similar to “heir,” and considering the reference to pregnancy, I wonder if “heir” is intended as the hidden meaning.  As the word “indeed” is vero in Latin (in the emphatic, vere).  The hidden message is that de Vere is “out of the [heir]” or out of the succession.  The question is, which de Vere is out of the succession of what family?  Could a de Vere be out of the succession of the de Vere family line?  That doesn’t seem to make much sense.  Could a de Vere be out of succession of the House of Tudor?  Hmm….?

 

And what would one of my posts be without some images?