2nd part of Act II – William Shakespeare's Hamlet – Dr Thamir Az-Zubaidy – Wasit University

Act III, Scene ii.

This scene takes place inside the castle. It begins with Hamlet speakinh to a player and giving his directions
of how the lines he added to the text of the play of The Murder of Gonzago should be said in front of King
Claudius and the other person who attended the performance of the play: 'Speak the speech, I pray you, as I
pronounced it to you,' (III , ii, 1). Before the performance of The Murder of Gonzago, Hamlet shares its
details with Horatio. He tells him that that the group of players will perform a play in which one scene is
similar to the story of his father's death as narrated by the Ghost. The Murder of Gonzago is Hamlet's means
to know the truth about the Ghost's story and Claudius' role in his father's death. Hamlet calls it 'mouse trap'.
Starting from Act II, Hamlet follows two main ways to find out reality: the first is by pretending to be mad
and second by having a group of players performing The Murder of Gonzago. We also know that Hamlet
added about 12-16 lines to the original text of the play. In the following speech, Hamlet asks Horatio to
observe his uncle during the performance of the play and, in particular, the moment when the speech he has
added to the play is mentioned by the character. Hamlet, now, is in a decisive moment and he intends to rely
on Horatio's judgment rather than solely on his own:

'There is a play tonight before the king;

One scene of it comes near the circumstances,
Which I have told thee, of my father's death.
I prithee, when thou sees that act a-foot,
Even with the very comment of thy soul
Observe my uncle. If his occulted guilt
Do not itself unkennel in one speech,
It is damned ghost that we have seen,
And my imaginations are as foul
As Vulcan's stithy. Give him heedful note;
For I mine eyes will rivet to his face,
And, after, we will bouth our judgments join
In censure of his seeming.' (Act III, scene ii, 71-83)

Hamlet states that if Claudius does not react in a guilty fashion during the performance of the play, then he
is innocent and the Ghost 's story about his murder of Hamlet's father by poisoning him is not true. If
Claudius reacts and betrays himself, then the Ghost is his father's true spirit and the story is correct.

The Murder of Gonzago is called 'the play-within-the play' because it is performed in the middle of the
original play which is Shakespeare's Hamlet. As being performed in Scene ii, The Murder of Gonzago is
divided into two parts, the dumb-show, which is acted without words, and the other one which is performed
with dialogue. In the dumb-show, we watch a person who comes closer to a sleeping king and poisons him
in his sleep. Then, appears his queen who expresses sadness and gestures of mourning. After a while, the
queen receives the amorous advances of the poisoner. Claudius is not paying attention to the performance of
the dumb-show and, thus, is not moved by it. When the play-within-the play, The Murder of Gonzago,
begins, we see two characters playing the role of King Gonzago and Queen Baptista. In his speech to the
queen, Gonzago says that they have been married for thirty years and they are still united by love. Yet, he
believes that he is going to die soon. The queen, Baptista, interrupts him saying that may the rest of what he
intends to say be cursed and declares that 'None wed the second but who killed the first.' (III, ii, 168).
Baptista means that no woman shall marry a second husband except the one who kills the first. She adds that
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if she expresses love to her second husband, it means killing her first husband a second time. The King
responds that what people wish to happen and what is planned by fate are so much at variance. Still, the
queen goes on to deliver a sort of curses against herself, which calls for many terrible consequences if she
should marry again after losing her husband. Then, the king states that he is tired and wants to rest and sleep.
When he sleeps, the queen exits.

Then, Lucianus, the king's nephew, enters and explains that this is a good opportunity for him to murder the
king and take the thrown. Referring to a vial of poison in his hand, he adds that this poison is made from
herbs collected at midnight and is three times corrupted by the cure of Hecate, goddess of the underworld.
Then, he starts pouring the poison into the King's ear while he is sleeping. At this moment, Hamlet takes the
opportunity to comment on the performance so as to increase the impact of the murder on the viewers,
especially his uncle, Claudius. Hamlet says that Lucianus poisons the king in the garden and that the
murderer will gain Gonzago's wife's love. It is this episode which makes Claudius rise suddenly and shout:
'Give me some light!' (255) Claudius' sudden jump reveals his guilt. When Horatio confirms the change in
Claudius' complexion and also his reaction to the incident of poisoning, Hamlet announces that now he is
sure that Ghost's story is true and that the Ghost he met is the ghost of his father. At this moment,
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enter to inform Hamlet that the King is his room and that he is extremely
angry. They would like to know what Hamlet knows and what he is planning to do. Polonius arrives to tell
Hamlet that his mother would like to speak with now. When he is left alone, Hamlet speaks his fifth
soliloquy:

'Tis now the very witching time of night,

When churchyards yawn, and hell itself breathes out
Contagion to this world. Now could I drink hot blood,
And do such bitter business as the day
Would quake to look on. Soft! Now to my mother. –
O heart, lose not thy nature; let not ever
The soul of Nero enter this firm bosom.
Let me be cruel, not unnatural;
I will speak daggers to her, but use none;
My tongue and soul in this be hypocrites –
How in my words soever she be shent,
To give them seals, never, my soul, consent! (360-373)

In the above lines, Hamlet says that night is the special time for supernatural powers to show themselves.
Hamlet speaks of bitter and bloody deeds but he is on his way to see his mother who sends for him. Thus, he
asks his heart not to change its nature. Moreover, he wishes that he would not be evil and hurt his mother as
Nero. Nero was an emperor of Rome who had his mother murdered. Then, he notes that he will be cruel
with his mother and will speak daggers to her, i.e., hurt her with his words, but will not hurt or murder her.

This scene is important because it includes the play-within-the play, which is a turning point of the whole
drama because Hamlet's suspicions about his uncle's role in his father's death are confirmed and from now
on the action centres on the struggle between Hamlet and Claudius. This episode marks the climax of the
play since it reveals Claudius' guilt. Moreover, as revealed during the performance of the play-within-the
play, Claudius becomes aware that Hamlet is his adversary and poses threat to his security as King of
Denmark. Thus, he starts to think of a plan to send Hamlet away.

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