What a piece of work is a man. "What a piece of work is man!" is a phrase within a monologue by Prince Hamlet in William Shakespeare's play of the same name. Hamlet is reflecting, at first admiringly, and then despairingly, on the human condition. Likewise, people ask, which dreams are indeed ambition?
Act 2 Scene 2
| Original Text | Modern Text |
| GUILDENSTERN Which dreams indeed are ambition, for the very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream. | GUILDENSTERN Dreams are a sign of ambition, since ambition is nothing more than the shadow of a dream. |
Similarly, who said for there is nothing either good or bad? Quote by William Shakespear: “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinki”
Simply so, why is Hamlet suspicious of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?
Hamlet is suspicious of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as he is mistrustful of their motives for being in the court and very wary of responding to their inquiries about his mental state.
Why is it a woodcock?
When Laertes' is cut by his own sword, again he speaks for Hamlet, "Why, as a woodcock to mine own springe, Osric. I am justly killed with mine own treachery." Traps from which they cannot extricate themselves catch both Hamlet and Laertes.
Related Question Answers
What does there is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so mean?
Why, then, 'tis none to you, for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. To me it is a prison. HAMLET. Well, then it isn't one to you, since nothing is really good or bad in itself—it's all what a person thinks about it. And to me, Denmark is a prison. Do you hear let them be well used?
(to POLONIUS) Good my lord, will you see the players well bestowed? Do you hear, let them be well used, for they are the abstract and brief chronicles of the time. After your death you were better have a bad epitaph than their ill report while you live. (to FIRST PLAYER) Very fine. How do both Polonius and Claudius express distrust for their sons?
Both Polonius and Claudius exhibit distrust and deception when dealing with their heirs. When Polonius ushers in Cornelius and Voltemand — Claudius' ambassadors to Norway — the old man entices the King with a promise that he knows something about the Lord Hamlet that Gertrude and Claudius cannot know. What does for there is nothing either good or bad?
Why, then, 'tis none to you, for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. To me it is a prison. Well, then it isn't one to you, since nothing is really good or bad in itself—it's all what a person thinks about it. And to me, Denmark is a prison. Who says what a piece of work is man?
Prince Hamlet
Why does the ambition make one?
Why then, your ambition makes it one. 'Tis too narrow for your mind. That must be because you're so ambitious. It's too small for your large mind. What does To be or not to be mean?
What does it really mean? Its the dilemma of accepting or refuting a pregnancy. “To be, or not to be: TO BE BORN, OR NOT BORN that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer TO ALLOW SEED TO GROW INTO A LIVING BEING The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. What is Hamlet's plan to catch Claudius?
So when Hamlet tells us "the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king," he's saying that Claudius' guilty conscience will shine through when he's watching the play that Hamlet's arranged. It's literal. He wants to catch Claudius red-handed—or red-faced, so to speak. What two main purposes is Polonius sending Reynaldo to Paris?
1. Why does Polonius send Reynaldo to Paris? To take money and notes to Laertes and to spy on him to make sure he is not gaming, drinking, fencing, swearing, or going to brothels. What is Hamlet's excuse for his behavior?
Hamlet uses “madness” as a disguise, allowing him to get the information he needs about Claudius' actions. He also uses it as an excuse for his actions, mainly Polonius' murder. Claudius also uses it as an excuse to have him exiled instead of executed since Hamlet is very popular with the Danish people. How does Hamlet know Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were sent for?
2.2 Rosencrantz and Guildenstern arrive in Elsinore and suck up to King Claudius. He mixes up their names. 2.2 After sucking up to Claudius, they meet up with Hamlet. He guesses what they're up to right away, and they admit they were sent for by the King and Queen. Why is Polonius statement brevity is the soul of wit ironic?
If something can be said in one sentence, Polonius will say it in a paragraph; if something can be spoken in 30 seconds, Polonius will speak it in 5 minutes. The fact that he says "brevity is the soul of wit" is an ironic self-indictment--he's not brief, so he lacks wit. What has upset Ophelia?
Ophelia becomes so upset when she speaks with her father because Hamlet had came to talk to her while she was sewing and he was acting in a strange way. He does this because he doesn't believe that Hamlet's love for Ophelia is the sudden change in his behavior. How do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern die?
When their ship is attacked by pirates, Hamlet returns to Denmark, leaving Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to die; he comments in Act V, Scene 2 that "They are not near my conscience; their defeat / Does by their own insinuation grow." Ambassadors returning later report that "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead." Why would Hamlet want to hear the speech about Pyrrhus?
The speech tells about the bloody revenge Pyrrhus takes for the death of his father Achilles. Hamlet probably wants to hear this because its similar to his situation with his father's death. Hamlet is sane because his silly lines have meaning and his soliloquy's show he can analyze his own situation. Are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern aware of Claudius intentions?
Are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern aware of Claudius's intentions? Why does Claudius feel certain that his request will be carried out? No. He believes the king of England will do what he asks because he owes him a favor. Why has Fortinbras changed his plan to attack Denmark?
Why has Fortinbras changed his plan to attack Denmark? Fortinbras change of plans were king of Denmark requested permission to pass through Denmark to Poland. Why does Claudius hire Rosencrantz and Guildenstern spies? He wants to find out if Hamlet is mad or not. Who said I must be cruel only to be kind?
When Hamlet realized the person he killed was Polonius, he spoke those words above. " I must be cruel only to be kind; Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind." The quotation is from Shakespeare's famous play Hamlet. Who said brevity is the soul of wit?
Polonius
What does Ophelia report to her father about Hamlet's behavior?
Ophelia tells her father exactly what Hamlet expected she would tell him. Hamlet is using Ophelia; he wants King Claudius to start being nervous about him, and he knows that if he acts weird to his girlfriend, Ophelia, she will tell her father, Polonius. What does Hamlet mean when he says he is but mad north northwest?
Beyond the chaos, Hamlet is saying that he knows a hunting hawk from a hunted "handsaw" or heron. Hamlet means that he is able to distinguish his enemies and friends. This pointed comment is meant for his "friends" Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. When sorrows come they come not single spies?
The quote “When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions” was used by Claudius in Shakespeare play, Hamlet, Act IV, Scene V. Claudius meant that, when bad incidents occur, they do not happen alone and many other bad happenings occur simultaneously to contribute to human tragedy. What is Hecuba to him?
Clearly the actor is so connected to Hecuba's emotion that his entire body communicates it fully even though Hecuba in reality means nothing to him: "What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, / That he should weep for her?" As the mother of Hector, Hecuba features in Homer's epic poem The Iliad, an Ancient Greek text. Who said there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so in Hamlet?
Quote by William Shakespear: “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinki” What majesty should be what duty is?
What majesty should be, what duty is, Why day is day, night night, and time is time, Were nothing but to waste night, day and time. The proverb "brevity is the soul of wit" was thus popularized by Shakespeare by his using it in his play Hamlet. What is this quintessence of dust?
Man is the noblest of all God's pieces of work, the "quintessence of dust" (the fifth, or purest, extract from the dust of which all things are compounded). But despite the nobility, the reason, the grace, and the beauty of man, Hamlet cannot be delighted. 
