Note to Hamlet, 5.2.53: "changeling"


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Hamlet,
Act 5, Scene 2, line 53
"Changeling" is Hamlet's humorous way of referring to the letter he forged and which he substituted for the letter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were carrying to England at the command of King Claudius.

In folklore, a changeling was a fairy child substituted for a stolen human child.

evil-looking changeling in a cradle