Quote Analysis

Claudius asks what Hamlet means by his talk of worms and fish. Hamlet responds by summarizing his point: a king's body can travel through the digestive system of a beggar, completing the reversal of their social positions.

The word 'progress' is a loaded choice—it was the term for a royal journey through the kingdom, a public display of power and majesty. By placing that word inside 'the guts of a beggar,' Hamlet turns the symbol of sovereignty into a joke about digestion. The effect is to make Claudius's authority look temporary and faintly ridiculous, undercutting the king's control of the conversation.

Use this to argue that Hamlet's language is a form of resistance—he cannot challenge Claudius openly, so he uses puns and grotesque images to destabilize the king's authority in ways Claudius cannot directly punish.