This is hardly the worst of it.
Contumely, okay, is a bit of scornful speech – which, granted, can cut a person to the quick. But somehow coming from a proud man, it feels a little less painful. I mean, because you can go, “Well, that guy’s proud, maybe too proud, so his putting me down is some weird ego trip.”
Unless, of course, it’s a scornful speech to a proud man, a bit like the proud man getting his come-uppance. . .in which case. . . ouch. You’ve got a long way to fall if you are riding high on pride.
And once again this bit of the speech is so ABSTRACT. Not like. . .ooh, burn on Claudius or whatever. It’s an almost academic remove, this whole section. Baffling almost in its formality.
The Hamlet Project 