Act 3 Scene 2

The scene opens with Hamlet, instructing the actors on how to portray the play with passion. He mentions how theatre is meant to act as a mirror for humanity, and how he can’t stand it when actors do a bad job. The actors leave and Horatio enters. Hamlet compliments Horatio on his ability to not let his passion and emotions get the better of him, and Hamlet reveals that he has told Horatio of the nature of his father’s death. He asks Horatio to take note of Claudius as the play proceeds. The nobility enter, and Hamlet resumes his mad disposition. He makes fun of Polonius, refuses to sit next to his mother, and torments Ophelia with a bunch of sexual innuendo. The players perform a show that mimics Claudius’s murder of King Hamlet. After one of the characters is killed by means of poison being poured in his ear, Claudius freaks out and orders that the play be stopped. Everyone exits except for Horatio and Hamlet, and Hamlet rejoices at the success of his plan. R&G re-enter, and they tell Hamlet that both Claudius and Hamlet’s mother are upset by the play performance. They say that Gertrude wants to see Hamlet in her room before he goes to bed, and Hamlet agrees. He then accuses R&G of trying to manipulate him as they would a musical instrument. He claims that they do not have to power to do so, and when Polonius enters to again relay Gertrude’s message, Hamlet makes him say the imaginary shapes that he suggests are in the clouds. After that, everyone exits except for Hamlet, and he says that he will not hurt his mother when he goes to visit her. He promises to revile her verbally, but will cause her no physical harm.

The significance in this scene lies in the fact that Hamlet (in his mind) now has irrevocable proof that Claudius killed his father. He knows now that the ghost was right, and he can proceed with his plans to kill Claudius. He no longer has to base his reasons for killing Claudius on the words of a ghost that may not have been his father’s spirit.

I really like Hamlet’s comment on how the purpose of acting is to hold “the mirror up to nature; to show virtue to her own feature, scorn her own image” (3.2.18-19). As an actress, I completely agree with this statement and the fact that theatre’s purpose is to portray the issues the go on in modern society. I think that this is another example of Shakespeare’s way of implementing his own thoughts into his work. The fact that one of his most famous characters loves the purpose of theatre in society is not simply a coincidence. Theatre’s importance to society is mirrored through the play’s importance to the plot. Just as Claudius is prompted to act after seeing the play, people in society are prompted to act and feel emotion after viewing a play or movie.