Hamlet Post 2

In Act II of Shakespeare's Hamlet, the main character, Hamlet, decides to find out if his uncle/stepfather, Claudius, has in fact killed his late father, Hamlet Sr. He plans to put on a play in which Claudius will be in the audience. Of course during the play, Hamlet offers sarcastic commentary to the King and Queen. Then, when the main character dies, Claudius runs out. Now Hamlet is convinced the ghost of his father was correct. I thought that by putting this play within the play was very abstract and clever of Shakespeare. Instead of conventionally having Hamlet confront the new King, Shakespeare plays on the quirkiness of his main character by having him create an elaborate plan to corner Claudius in his lie. I also thought that this made Hamlet's character seem smarter than the murderer Claudius. The King thought he was going to enjoy the theater the night of Hamlet's play but little did he know how wrong he was. This was one of my favorite scenes in the play because it was so dramatic and clever. I also love whenever Hamlet acts a little crazy and he certainly does during his play within Act II.

A highlight of the play in Act II is the demise and downfall of King Claudius which begins when he runs out of Hamlet's play. From there on, almost every decision he makes turns out to be detrimental to the character. From sending Hamlet to England but secretly sending him there to be killed (which happens to backfire) to attempting to poison Hamlet but accidentally killing his wife in the process.