Blog Post #2

In act 3 scene 2 of Hamlet, The protagonist Hamlet finds himself plotting to figure out if Claudius really did commit the crime that his ghostly father described to him. A few scenes earlier, Hamlet received a visit from his dead father who was in the form of a ghost. The ghost visited Hamlet, so his son could avenge his murder. Hamlet's father explains that Claudius, Hamlet's uncle/father poisoned him in a "foul and most unnatural murder" when he was sleeping in the garden. The ghost is upset to say that the one who murdered him is now wearing his crown. Hamlet is then desperate to seek revenge over the man who corrupted Denmark and his mother, Gertrude.

Players come to the castle to act as entertainers for Hamlet. As the protagonist is defending into maddens, he hatches a plan to catch Claudius showing remorse for what he did to Hamlet's father. Before Hamlet kills the king, he wants to make sure the ghost was not telling him false information. Hamlet tells the players to perform a piece that he has written himself. The scene depicts the Ghost's account of the king's murder, interpreted through Hamlet's eyes. Throughout the evening of the performance, Hamlet portrays a bright and cheerful character. He tells his friend Horatio to keep a close eye on how the king reacts to the play, so he has a second opinion.

In front of the king and the whole court, the players perform the father of Hamlet's murder. Claudius has to stop the play, due to the extreme amount of guilt that the performance makes him feel. Hamlet is excited when he knows for sure that the ghost was telling the truth about the king. He wants to avenge his father's death immediately after the play.

This scene is extremely important to the play as a whole, as well as character dynamics. Audience members can see how invested Hamlet is to get rid of Claudius for good. There is a common theme of guilt throughout the play, and this scene helps to highlight it. This moment was very successful for the protagonist, and all of his motives. Even though Hamlet seems quite harried throughout the play, this scene was one of the moments where he acted in an articulate manner to plan something. Act 3 scene 2 reveals a lot about Hamlet because he could have just taken the Ghost's word and killed Claudius right away, but instead the protagonist created an elaborate plan to figure out the real truth before he attempted to do something detrimental. Overall this scene helped Hamlet to figure out the truth behind the ghost. The ghost being truthful and real may be why Hamlet went crazy, but at the end of the play he achieved what he was asked to do by his dead father, which was what geared the characters to each end up dead.