The word “doubt” originated in Latin and moved through Old French into Middle English. Doubt has grown two branches of meaning: uncertainty or mistrust and fear or suspicion. The latter branch is archaic and mostly obsolete but was common in Middle English. Both meanings coexisted in Shakespeare’s time.
When Hamlet hears of his father’s ghostly roaming, he says, “My father’s spirit in arms! all is not well; / I doubt some foul play: would the night were come! / Till then sit still, my soul: foul deeds will rise, / Though all the earth o’erwhelm them, to men’s eyes” (1.2.254-257). Here, he is using the word in the meaning of “to suspect,” although there may also be an undercurrent of fear implied. Either way, an overall feeling of intrigue hovers over the scene, a distinct presence of the unknown.
The king uses “doubt” to mean “to fear” after he witnesses Hamlet’s dismissal of Ophelia: “There’s something in his soul / O’er which his melancholy sits on brood, / And I do doubt the hatch and the disclose / Will be some danger . . .” (3.2.158-161). Although the king does not know exactly what Hamlet is thinking, he realizes there is a method to his madness. He fears Hamlet’s plots. If we read this line without knowing the alternate meaning of “doubt,” it reads opposite to what the king is saying, as in he does not think danger is likely. Yet the coexistence of these meanings invites us to consider the entirety of the word: suspicion and uncertainty alongside the main definition Shakespeare referred to.
Shakespeare does, however, use “doubt” to mean “to be uncertain or divided in opinion about” throughout the play. Hamlet employs this modern meaning in his poem to Ophelia: “Doubt thou the stars are fire; / Doubt that the sun doth move; / Doubt truth to be a liar; / But never doubt I love” (2.2.115-118). Hamlet’s passionate character is on full display in this poem, but it need not be strictly an avowal of love. We can easily interpret the poem as a firm disavowal of love if we read “doubt” with another definition, as in “never suspect I love.” Considering Hamlet’s turbulent attitude toward Ophelia, this double entendre fits well.
If we understand the meaning and history of the word “doubt”, the following aspects of Hamlet are illuminated: the suspicion, fear, and uncertainty dominating Hamlet’s atmosphere and the intersection between these often contradictory emotions.
I’ve never read the poem that way–wow!