Act III Scene II

   In Act III Scene II, Hamlet creates a script for the actors to perform. He calls his play "The Mousetrap." Hamlet's desired purpose of the play is to make Claudius feel guilty and maybe even admit to killing the king and marrying Hamlet's mother, the Queen. Which is basically what takes place in the play that is performed. Whether the play was a good idea or not...that is what I will discuss. To answer the question bluntly, yes. For the goal that Hamlet was trying to achieve, yes, the play was a good idea because Hamlet succeeded in making his uncle feel guilty. At least, we as readers, think that Claudius feels guilty because he stands up during the play and says, "Give me some light. Away!," then leaves the room (3.2.275). Claudius does this right after Hamlet finishes summarizing the part of the play where the "nephew of the king" poisons the king in the garden (3.2.267-271). However, the scene ends before the reader gets to find out why the King and the Queen are so upset with Hamlet. They could be upset at something else that the reader is not aware of. You never know with Shakespeare, he can be known to be unpredictable.

      However, I always feel like Hamlet was being too over the top with it all. For example, when Hamlet is telling his mother and uncle what the play is called and what it is about he says, "'Tis a knavish piece of work, but what of that? Your Majesty, and we that have free souls, it touches us not. Let the galled jade winch; our withers are unwrung" (3.2.246-249). He is basically saying that it can be a convicting play but "why does it matter? Everyone here is innocent of such behavior so we can watch without being bothered or feeling guilty." To me, it sounds like Hamlet is just beginning to be rude about it. I know he wants to know the truth, but he may be going to far. He should not want to make it so obvious that the whole play was set up and written by him for a specific purpose. In conclusion, Hamlet's play was a good idea for the purpose he was trying to execute, but he made it a little obvious that it was planned by the way he was acting.