In this week’s Dispatches from The Secret Library, Dr Oliver Tearle delves into the origins of a famous Shakespeare quotation
‘Methinks the lady doth protest too much’ is a phrase people sometimes use in jest, especially the sort of folk who are fond of talking of heading to the nearest hostelry for flagons of ale and addressing each other as ‘good sir’. The meaning of the phrase is relatively straightforward, but what about its origins?