Colley Cibber was not well received. In the middle of the play, he whispered to fellow actor Benjamin Victor that he wanted to go home, perhaps realising he was too old for the part and its physical demands. Cibber also essayed tragic parts in plays by Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, John Dryden and others, but with less success. By the end of his acting career, audiences were being entranced by the innovatively naturalistic acting of the rising star David Garrick, who made his London debut in the title part in a production of Cibber's adaptation of "Richard III" in 1741. He returned to
The lady doth protest too much, methinks subject is male. As in the play, it is commonly used to imply that someone who denies something very strongly is hiding the truth. It is often shortened to "[X] protest[s] too much", or misquoted with "methinks" at the beginning, as in "methinks the lady doth protest too much". The lady doth protest too much, methinks "The lady doth protest too much, methinks" is a line from the play "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare, where it is spoken by Queen Gertrude in response to the insincere overacting of a character in the play within a play created by Prince Hamlet to