Quote Analysis

Still speaking to Claudius, Hamlet says that those with 'free souls' need not worry about the play's content—only the guilty ('gall'd jade') will react.

The metaphor of the 'gall'd jade' (a horse with saddle sores that winces when touched) animalizes guilt as a physical wound that cannot help but flinch when pressure is applied. Hamlet's false reassurance—'it touches us not'—is a dare: if Claudius reacts, he proves his 'withers' are indeed 'wrung' (rubbed raw). The agricultural language makes guilt seem like an injury that will inevitably betray itself through involuntary response, turning Claudius into a body that cannot lie.

Use this to argue that Hamlet's 'mousetrap' relies on the assumption that the body cannot dissemble—he treats guilt as a physiological condition that will reveal itself despite the guilty person's intentions.