Quote Analysis

Osric, serving as referee for the fencing match, announces that Hamlet has scored a clear point against Laertes in their first exchange.

The doubled emphasis 'a hit, a very palpable hit' makes a minor success sound absurdly momentous. 'Palpable' means obvious or tangible, but its Latinate formality (versus plain 'clear') gives Osric's commentary a pompous, over-eager tone. This courtly exaggeration is comic, but the repetition also foreshadows the real, lethal 'hit' coming soon—when wounds will be genuinely palpable.

Use this to argue that Shakespeare contrasts trivial and tragic 'hits'—Osric's fussy language about scoring points becomes darkly ironic once the poisoned blade makes contact, showing how courtly games can mask mortal stakes.