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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
In three pages this paper examines the purpose of ‘the play within a play’ in Act III of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and considers how it provides a commentary on the action of the actual play itself. Five sources are listed in the bibliography.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TG15_TGplayham.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
the so-called "a play within a play" (Fendt 67). This refers to Hamlets staging of a play called The Mousetrap in Act III, Scene II to be performed before
his mother Queen Gertrude, and her husband of three months and former brother-in-law, King Claudius. As everyone familiar with the plot knows, prior to this performance, Hamlet is confronted
by the ghost of his murdered father, who reveals Claudius to be his killer in a conspiracy to claim the throne as his own. King Hamlets ghost also demands
that his son avenge his fathers murder by going after Claudius. Hamlet, who is prone to depression and fits of melancholy, is hardly up to such a formidable challenge.
However, he cannot deny a direct command from his father and his King. Hamlets purpose for this play within a play is to incriminate Claudius (and perhaps also
Gertrude since she may have been a co-conspirator or at the very least an adulteress) by forcing them to watch a Player King and Queen whose relationship mirrors their own
and gauge their reactions. Another possible purpose for staging this play is to verify what the Ghost has revealed to the young Prince. Despite his antic disposition or
pretending to be mad as another ploy to ensnare Claudius in his revenge trap, maybe Hamlet is beginning to question his sanity and whether or not his encounter with his
fathers Ghost was legitimate or a delusion (Cahn 84). In terms of this staged plays purpose to the overall action of the play, it is likely Shakespeare included this
scene to give viewers or readers pause to consider the action that has transpired up until then and to speculate about what is to come and the motives, guilt, or
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