Alas, poor man! Grief has so wrought on him he takes false shadows for true substances

Alas, poor man! Grief has so wrought on him he takes false shadows for true substances

In William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, the character of Hamlet speaks the famous line, "Alas, poor man! Grief has so wrought on him he takes false shadows for true substances." This line is spoken by Hamlet in Act 3, Scene 4, as he observes his mother, Queen Gertrude, reacting to the play within the play that he has staged to expose the guilt of his uncle, King Claudius, in the murder of his father, King Hamlet.