Act 3

The full line, “That inward breaks, and shows no cause without,” continues Hamlet’s metaphor about wealth being like an abscess. Here, Shakespeare deepens the metaphor, emphasizing that the “impostume” of wealth is something that destroys from the inside but has no visible signs on the outside—until it inevitably ruptures.

The phrase speaks to the hidden dangers of greed, ambition, or any kind of unchecked excess. Outwardly, things might seem fine, but internally, something destructive is festering. Hamlet is pointing to the idea that wealth—or any corrupting force—can quietly cause moral, psychological, or societal decay without any external indication, until the damage is so great that it can no longer be contained.

This also ties into Hamlet’s broader existential reflections. He’s grappling with the unseen internal forces that drive human action: desires, greed, ambition, and the destructive consequences they can lead to, even when everything appears normal from the outside. Shakespeare’s use of this metaphor suggests that the consequences of unchecked ambition or greed are inevitable, even if they remain hidden for a time.

It can be applied not just to individuals but to entire societies: when corruption or moral decay is left unchecked, it can lead to a sudden and catastrophic collapse, seemingly out of nowhere.