Horatio, I am dead, / Thou liv’st; report me and my cause aright / To the unsatisfied.
Act V, Scene 2 · Hamlet
Context
Hamlet, knowing he is about to die, urgently asks Horatio to survive and tell the truth about what happened to those who don't yet understand.
Analysis
The verb 'report' frames Hamlet's life as a story that needs accurate transmission—he's concerned with how he'll be remembered, not just that he'll be remembered. 'My cause aright' insists on correctness, implying there are wrong versions already forming. 'The unsatisfied' names the audience (both onstage courtiers and theatre-goers) as people owed an explanation, positioning Horatio as the authorized narrator who can satisfy their confusion.
Essay Tip
Support a thesis that Hamlet is obsessed with narrative control to the end—this quote shows him directing Horatio to tell the 'right' version of events, revealing his anxiety that meaning will be lost or distorted without an authorized interpreter.