Drama assignment no.

Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark

A commentary on a quotation from (ACT III, SC. II) starting from, “What do you call the play?...” till the
part, “…Lights, lights, lights.”

This quotation is taken from the revenge tragedy, Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, which is written
between (1599-1601) by the most famous Elizabethan dramatist, Shakespeare. This quote is extracted
from ACTIII, SC.II, the scene of the play-within-a play. The dialogue occurs between Hamlet and Claudius.

Hamlet is the prince of Denmark, son of the late king hamlet and Queen Gertrude, and nephew of
Claudius. He is a young man of philosophical and premeditated nature, and a student at the University
of Wittenbirg. He has returned home to find his father’s mysterious death and his mother’s hasty
remarriage with his uncle who usurps the throne, which leaves him in a distracted state of mind. His
father’s ghost appears, tells of the “most foul and unnatural murder” by his uncle, and urges hamlet to
avenge both that horrible murder and the “incestuous marriage”. Hamlet then undergoes a series of
procrastinating this revenge and reproaching of himself as a result. When a group of actors visits the
country, he determines to stage a play that portrays the murder of his father to verify the ghost’s words
and have more evidence from observing the king’s reaction of it.

Claudius, the king, has murdered his brother, Hamlet’s father, and married Queen Gertrude. Claudius is
contrasted with Hamlet as a man of action. He is strong-minded, and makes his plans and proceed
accordingly. He is a great actor who deceives the whole kingdom showing great care and love for
Hamlet, calling him son “son” while in fact, he is a murder, a villain, and a usurper of the throne.

In this scene, Claudius asks Hamlet of the plot of the play and if there were any offences in it to the king
and the queen. Hamlet, in answering his question, calls the play “the mousetrap”. He claims that it has
no offences to the king or any of the royal family as they “have free souls, it touches us not: let the gall’d
jade wince, our withers are unrung” and observes his reaction. After that, in the play-within-the play,
enters Lucianus, a nephew to the player-king to murder the player-king Gonzaga by pouring poison in his
ears then marrying Baptista, Gonzago’s player-wife. Hamlet explains this scene to the king, as a reaction
to it, the king rises and calls for the play to stop and give him some light withdrawing to his room and
leaving Hamlet dancing and singing in the hall with the actors.

The theme of acting is prevailed in this scene. Many people pretend to be what they are not; they are
like actors in a play.it is a world in which “one may smile, and smile, and be a villain”. It’s in this scene
that the acting of the king is revealed through his reaction to the play which is observed by Hamlet, and
Horatio, Hamlet’s dearest and most trustworthy.

This scene is set in a hall in the castle of Elsinore in Denmark. In the presence of a group of players,
attendants, the king, the Queen, Ophelia, Polonius, Hamlet, and Horatio.

The theme of revenge is referred to in this quote through the key word “revenge”. The significance of it
appears when he asks the player to hurry up to the part of the murder and skip the useless gestures.
This shows that he is eager for revenge by seeking that reaction of Claudius.