What dramatic features of Hamlet enhance your appreciation of the play? I am interested to gather several views from anyone regarding Hamlet. I want to know what connected with you the most from this timeless tragedy.

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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.

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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.

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