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All Site ContentHamletAct 4Scene 2
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"counsel"
Wordplay
Act 4,
Scene 2
Lines 4-12

An explanation of the pun on counsel in Act 4, Scene 2 of myShakespeare’s Hamlet.

Rosencrantz

What have you done, my lord, with the dead body?

Hamlet

Compounded it with dust, whereto 'tis kin.

Rosencrantz

Tell us where 'tis, that we may take it thence
And bear it to the chapel.

Hamlet   

Do not believe it.

Rosencrantz   

Believe what?

Hamlet

That I can keep your counsel and not mine own.
Besides, to be demanded of a sponge, what replication
should be made by the son of a king?

When Rosencrantz requests Hamlet to tell them where the body is located, he responds with a pun on the two senses of the word “counsel”. He tells Rosencrantz that they:

  • should not believe that he’s going to “keep” (follow) their “counsel” (advice) to reveal the location of the body
  • and not keep his “counsel” (secret) of where the body’s located.