Discussion Topic
Significance of "The Murder of Gonzago" in Hamlet
Summary:
"The Murder of Gonzago" is a play within Shakespeare's Hamlet used to confirm King Claudius's guilt. Hamlet arranges for actors to perform a play mirroring his father's murder to observe Claudius's reaction. Claudius's disturbed response to the enactment of regicide provides Hamlet with the evidence he needs to believe the Ghost's accusation. This scene is crucial in advancing the plot and themes of revenge, as well as highlighting the motif of "acting" throughout the play.
What is "The Murder of Gonzago" in Hamlet, act 2, scene 2?
This is the play within a play. Hamlet asks traveling actors to put on a play that is similar to the circumstances of his father's death. Hamlet also inserts lines into the original play to sharpen the focus on King Hamlet's murder. Hamlet and Horatio carefully watch King Claudius for any signs of recognition or guilt, recognition that Claudius does reveal. This is the proof that Hamlet needs to determine that the Ghost is an honest ghost and that Claudius did kill King Hamlet.
This is the play that Hamlet asks a traveling troupe of actors to perform. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern originally asked the troupe to perform at the castle, and Hamlet is delighted when he discovers they are coming. Hamlet adds some lines to the play to be spoken by the actors.
"The Murder of Gonzago" mirrors the events that have occurred in Denmark, specifically...
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Claudius's murder of King Hamlet. The play is about a king who is poisoned by another man, but before the king dies, he talks with his wife about love, death, and remarriage. This scene is where Hamlet has asked the actors to add lines in the play that reflect what Hamlet what Hamlet wants to test about Claudius's regicide and his mother's betrayal of his father.
In "The Murder of Gonzago," the queen promises never to remarry, especially not someone who murders her husband, but the king says she will forget her promise once he is gone. Claudius takes offense at the scene and, when they get to the point where King Gonzago is poisoned, Claudius gets up and leaves. Hamlet determines he has proven that Claudius killed King hamlet, Hamlet's father.
What is the significance of "The Murder of Gonzago," in Hamlet, act 2, scene 2?
It is useful also to think of 'Hamlet' in the context of Jacobean drama. 'Hamlet' is a Revenge Tragedy (with capital letters) in the tradition of, for example, Kyd's 'Spanish Tragedy' and Webster's 'Duchess of Malfi'. One of the conventions of Revenge Tragedies was the play within a play, which would be designed to cause distress or stir up guilt or help reveal truth.
Other conventions are followed by Shakespeare. Revenge Tragedies included the appearance of a ghost; a depressed (or melancholy) revenger; a violent ending where most of the protagonists die. There are more conventions if students wish to study this area.
Yet, 'Hamlet' goes beyond all other Revenge Tragedies of the time. The main protagonist is complex and psychologically accurate, the language exquisite, and the relationships are subtly and superbly drawn.
The play within the play is used by Hamlet to give him evidence against Claudius. Hamlet has not yet carried through with his plan to avenge his father's death. He blames himself and believes that this inaction is cowardly:
Am I a coward?
Who calls me villain? breaks my pate across?
Plucks off my beard and blows it in my face?
Tweaks me by the nose? gives me the lie i' the throat, As deep as to the lungs? Who does me this? Ha!
However, he also suggests, perhaps to make himself feel better, that he has no concrete evidence that Claudius is guilty. The Ghost may have been a "devil" and not to be believed:
The spirit that I have seen
May be a devil; and the devil hath power
T' assume a pleasing shape
Therefore, he uses the play to assure himself that Claudius deserves to be punished:
I'll have grounds
More relative than this. The play's the thing
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King.
The play does indeed do this. Claudius' reaction is enough to spur Hamlet into action. Unfortunately, that action quickly gets stymied then transferred into the mistaken murder of Polonius. But the play-in-a play provides the moment when Hamlet begins to move his thought into action.
This "internal play" is significant not just for the plot progression. It is also significant because, symbolically, the "acting" of the players mirrors, represents, the "acting" that is happening elsewhere: Hamlet "acting" mad, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern "acting" like friends, and Hamlet beginning to "act" upon his vengeance.