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All Site ContentHamletAct 1Scene 2
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"coldly"
Wordplay
Act 1,
Scene 2
Lines 176-183

An explanation of Hamlet’s wordplay on “coldly” in Act 1, Scene 2 of myShakespeare’s Hamlet.

Horatio

My lord, I came to see your father's funeral.

Hamlet 

I pray thee, do not mock me, fellow student.
I think it was to see my mother's wedding.

Horatio 

Indeed, my lord, it followed hard upon.

Hamlet 

Thrift, thrift, Horatio! The funeral baked meats
Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables. 
Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven
Ere I had ever seen that day, Horatio.

Hamlet’s wordplay allows us to read these lines in two ways:

  • Cold can mean lacking sensitivity, as in the marriage took place so soon after the funeral.
  • But it could also refer to cold food. Hamlet’s saying sarcastically that the wedding took place so soon after the funeral, the leftover baked meats from the memorial service could be served cold at the wedding reception.