text: Niobe 's iconic tears were also mentioned in Hamlet 's soliloquy ( Act 1 , Scene 2 ) , in which he contrasts his mother 's grief over the dead King , Hamlet 's father - `` like Niobe , all tears '' - to her unseemly hasty marriage to Claudius .
simplified: Niobe 's iconic tears were also mentioned in Hamlet 's soliloquy ( Act 1 , Scene 2 ) , in which he contrasts his mother 's grief over the dead King , Hamlet 's father â '' `` like Niobe , all tears '' â '' to her unseemly hasty marriage to Claudius .