The Significance of the Players in Hamlet Essay - 899 Words

The Significance of the Players in Hamlet Most characters in Hamlet present themselves as something other than themselves or how as we, the audience, or another character thinks they should appear. Two of the main characters in this play, Hamlet and King Claudius, are constantly acting as something other than their true nature. Ironically, the characters that invoke changes in Hamlet and King Claudius to reveal their real personalities are the players, merely actors themselves, not showing true emotion: (in this short analysis, I will attempt to display the truth revealed by the players) they agitate King Claudius and allow Hamlet to see their appearance as more accurate to the truth than the appearance of real life†¦show more content†¦The players speech was meant to strike emotion into a cowardly Hamlet, or the play would be going in circles because up to this point, Hamlet does not know what to do about what the ghost has told him. It also suggests an idea to Hamlet to see if the actors can muster up emotion or guilt in the king during The Players reenactment of King Hamlets death. Since his confrontation with the ghost, Hamlet has been fickle on his decision and of the ghosts credibility, but now he knows how to reveal the guilt within King Claudius and takes action due to The Players. Through acts 1 and 2, the audience sees virtually no personality in King Claudius. Only in act 3, scene 1, are we shown that maybe the King has something on his mind when he responds to a conversation between Polonius and Ophelia. Polonius tells his daughter that it is okay to pretend and the King responds in an aside saying, How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience! (49). I feel as though Shakespeare is working up the audiences suspicion of the King for when he is confronted by the performance of the players. Finally, in act 3, scene 2, we are shown the true nature of King Claudius. The players enact the same scenario described to Hamlet by the ghost. The King rises and calls for lights, showing the players, Hamlet, and the audience that what has just been acted has shocked him tremendously.Show MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Shakespeare s Hamlet 886 Words   |  4 Pages â€Å"The play’s the thing†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Hamlet 2.2 .581) The meta-theatrical play The Mousetrap is central to Hamlet. The play-within-a play is a catalyst to the plot and works to illuminate character. This essay will argue that the scene places Hamlet into the role of a playwright who employs theatrical conventions in order to manipulate his audience rather than entertain. Hamlet transforms The Mousetrap play into an accusatory analogy of King Claudius. 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