A play within a play Quotes and analysis

“The plays the thing Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king”

• Rhymes “thing” and “king” makes Hamlet seem mischievous.

• The single pronoun “I’ll” highlights Hamlet’s isolation as he keeps his motives hidden

What does Hamlet rename the murder of Gonzago too? and why?

• The mouse trap

• Referencing his intentions to trap the king by exposing his guilt

“The purpose of playing is to hold as ‘twere the mirror up to Nature”

• Hamlet giving the players a lecture

• Shows how hamlet is a true theatre-lover however also reveals the slippery distinction between performance and reality

• Hamlet believes performance should be as close to reality as possible

• Reflects the audiences difficulties in distinguishing if Hamlet’s madness is performance or reality

“What’s Hecuba to him, or he to her, That he should weep for her?”

• Hamlet amazed to see the actor weep

• The player weeping for someone they don’t know Hamlet compares this to the fact he has done nothing to avenge his father

• This contrast creates a new layer of doubt within Hamlet

“Mourning has a physical task to perform”

From Kerrigan pointed out by Freud.

“Contrives the scene of the play to have surer proof of his uncle’s guilt”

Critique by Hazlitt

“Rests satisfied with this conformation of his suspicions, and the success of his experiment, instead of acting upon it”

Critique by Hazlitt