Play-Acting Motif

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Play-Acting as a Motif in Hamlet

Shakespeare’s play is obsessed with the idea of play-acting and references to it become a recurring motif in the play.

Hamlet's initial behaviour

In the first scene where we meet Hamlet, he argues with his mother about how his behaviour caused by his father’s death “seems”.
Hamlet argues that outward shows of grief are “forc’d” and fundamentally dishonest: “But I have that within which passes show, / These but the trappings and the suits of woe”.

Hamlet on his uncle's deception

Later, when he learns of Claudius’ crime, Hamlet rails against his uncle’s deception: “one may smile, and smile, and be a villain”.
Hamlet sets up an opposition between “show” and reality which will become increasingly complicated throughout the play.
Having denounced Claudius’ play-acting as villainous, Hamlet then decides to put on a “show” himself, adopting his “antic disposition” to set about his revenge mission.

Acting Within the 'Play Within a Play'

The motif of play-acting is most relevant in the 'play within a play' scene.

Hamlet's response to the player

Hamlet is unnerved by the power of the player’s performance in ‘The Murder of Gonzago’.
- The player “weeps” when he recounts a speech on the destruction of Troy.
The player’s ability to blur fantasy and reality prompts the soliloquy in which Hamlet reproaches himself for his lack of action while the player can “drown the stage with tears”. However, the player’s powerful performance also inspires Hamlet’s idea to use a “play” as the way to “catch the conscience of the King”.

Relationship: performance & reality

By using a play to strike Claudius “to the soul” and to force him to reveal his guilt, Shakespeare invites his audiences to reflect on the relationship between performance and reality. Can drama be used to reveal the truth about the human condition?

Double re-enactment of the murder

The murder is re-enacted twice, first as a dumb-show (mime) and then in the play proper.
The dumb show provokes no verbal reaction from Claudius and many productions devise a way of Claudius actually missing it.

80-line 'inner play'

The 'inner play' has over 80 lines. By including so many lines from another, older play (‘The Murder of Gonzago’), Shakespeare allows his audience to compare the old-fashioned bombast (overblown rhetoric) of an older form of revenge tragedy with his more sophisticated drama.
As the action moves towards the inevitable murder, Shakespeare is able to build tension. The audience, like Hamlet and Horatio, has their eyes fixed on Claudius for any signs of guilt.

Player Queen's remarriage

'The Murder of Gonzago’ directly addresses the issue of the Player Queen’s remarriage. She protests that she would never remarry after the death of her husband and many productions of Hamlet have Gertrude becoming increasingly agitated during this scene, particularly at the Player Queen’s lines, “In second husband let me be accurst! / None wed the second but who kill'd the first”.

Why does Claudius interrupt?

The reason why Claudius interrupts the play is a decision that each new production of Hamlet must make. Has Claudius been affected by the play or by Hamlet’s increasingly excitable behaviour and running commentary on the play? Does Claudius act out of guilt or fear? Has he perhaps acted on behalf of Gertrude, upset by the lines of the Player Queen? Each interpretation is possible.

1Introduction

1.1Introduction & Background to Hamlet

1.1.1Introduction to Hamlet

1.1.2The Literary Tradition of the Hamlet Story

1.1.3Introduction to the Settings in Hamlet

1.1.4Introduction to Social Issues Raised

2Plot Summary

2.1Act 1: Key Events & Ideas

2.1.1Act 1, Scene 1

2.1.2Act 1, Scene 2

2.1.3Act 1, Scene 3

2.1.4Act 1, Scenes 4-5

2.2Act 2: Key Events & Ideas

2.2.1Act 2, Scene 1

2.2.2Act 2, Scene 2

2.3Act 3: Key Events & Ideas

2.3.1Act 3, Scene 1: Key Events

2.3.2Act 3, Scene 1: Key Ideas

2.3.3Act 3, Scene 2

2.3.4Act 3, Scene 3

2.3.5Act 3, Scene 4

2.4Act 4: Key Events & Ideas

2.4.1Act 4, Scene 1

2.4.2Act 4, Scenes 2-3

2.4.3Act 4, Scene 4

2.4.4Act 4, Scene 5: Key Events

2.4.5Act 4, Scene 5: Key Ideas

2.4.6Act 4, Scene 6

2.4.7Act 4, Scene 7

2.5Act 5: Key Events & Ideas

2.5.1Act 5, Scene 1: Key Events

2.5.2Act 5, Scene 2: Key Events

2.5.3Act 5, Scene 2: Key Ideas

3Character Profiles

3.1Hamlet

3.1.1Hamlet's Speech & Mind

3.1.2Hamlet's Heroic Status

3.1.3Hamlet's State of Mind

3.1.4Hamlet's Indecision/Action Taking

3.2Claudius

3.2.1Claudius' Crime

3.2.2Changing Impressions of Claudius

3.3Gertrude

3.3.1Mystery & Hamlet's View of Gertrude

3.3.2Gertrude's Character

3.3.3Gertrude's Relationship with Hamlet

3.4Ophelia

3.4.1Ophelia

3.5Polonius

3.5.1Portrayal of Polonius & Treatment of Ophelia

3.5.2Polonius' Spying & Death

3.6Laertes

3.6.1Laertes' Popularity & Relationship with Ophelia

3.6.2Laertes' Character Traits

4Key Themes

4.1Regicide in Hamlet

4.1.1Regicide in Hamlet

4.2Madness in Hamlet

4.2.1Madness in Hamlet

4.3Guilt & Punishment in Hamlet

4.3.1Guilt in Hamlet

4.3.2Punishment in Hamlet

4.4Settings in Hamlet

4.4.1Physical Settings & Historical Setting of Hamlet

5Writing Techniques

5.1Structure

5.1.1Structure of Hamlet

5.1.2'Play Within a Play' Structure

5.1.3Play-Acting Motif

5.2Form

5.2.1Soliloquy

5.2.2Comedy

5.3Imagery

5.3.1Imagery of Corruption & Decay

5.3.2Imagery: Healing, Performance & Costume

5.4Language

5.4.1Word Usage & Hendiadys

5.4.2Questions & Classical Allusions

6Context

6.1Social & Historical Context

6.1.1Elizabeth I & Succession

6.1.2Cosmic & Social Hierarchy

6.1.3Renaissance & Emergence of Humanism

6.1.4Regicide

6.1.5The Reformation

6.2Literary Context

6.2.1Seneca Tragedy

6.2.2The Revenge Tragedy

6.3Performance & Textual History

6.3.1Performance History of Hamlet

6.3.2Textual History of Hamlet

7Critical Debates

7.118-19th Century Responses to Hamlet

7.1.1Introduction to Critical Debates

7.1.218th Century Commentary on Hamlet

7.1.3Romantic Commentary on Hamlet

7.220th Century Responses to Hamlet

7.2.1Freudian Response to Hamlet

7.2.2Other Early 20th Century Responses to Hamlet

7.3Feminist Readings of Hamlet

7.3.1Introduction to Feminist Criticism

7.3.2Feminist Readings of Hamlet

7.3.3Presentation of Ophelia

7.4Marxist/Political Readings of Hamlet

7.4.1Introduction to Marxist Criticisms

7.4.2Marxist Readings of Hamlet

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