Daily Inspiration Quote by William Shakespeare

A line like this lands as a social dagger dressed in perfect manners. Shakespeare’s speaker isn’t just refusing to answer; he’s rejecting the entire premise that conversation is a customer-service transaction. “Bound” does the heavy lifting: it’s the language of obligation, contracts, and fealty. By invoking it, the speaker frames the other person’s demand as an attempt at control, then calmly denies that power. The sting comes from the restraint. No shouting, no elaborate insult. Just a cool reminder that entitlement is not a right.

“Please thee” sharpens the insult by narrowing the other person’s motive to gratification. The speaker implies the question isn’t asked in good faith or curiosity but as a test: perform, satisfy, comply. Shakespeare often stages dialogue as a battleground where status is negotiated sentence by sentence, and this is a clean repositioning move. The speaker refuses the role of subordinate and, by doing so, claims agency over both information and tone.

In dramatic context, this kind of retort usually appears when someone of lower formal standing finds leverage through wit, or when a character asserts moral or strategic independence against social pressure. It’s also metatheatrical in a sly way: audiences expect answers, revelations, plot. Shakespeare reminds us that withholding can be more powerful than disclosure. The line weaponizes silence without being silent, turning refusal into spectacle and making “no” sound like a principle rather than a tantrum.