I have always been interested in the “play within the play” idea.  After all, Hamlet says “the play's the thing/Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King” (Act 2, scene 2).  Hamlet’s “Mousetrap” idea is ingenious.  I also find the complicated aspects of a play inside of another play to be fascinating.  It is not an uncommon device, but in Hamlet it serves such an important purpose to the plot.

Hamlet's soliloquies are my favorite part of the play. Of course, he is known for his extreme sense of self-awareness, and we see very clearly just what a complex character he is through his soliloquies. The "to be or not to be" soliloquy is probably the most famous, but I think he reveals just how tormented, angry, and even scheming, he is in his soliloquy in Act 2, scene 2 that begins with "O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!" It is also where he announces his clever scheme to determine whether the king is guilty of murdering his father by portraying a similar scene in a play.