Brief Context
- Hamlet asks a group of actors to spontaneously perform a scene from Aeneid. Despite their lack of preparation and real connection with the characters involved, they manage to portray such convincing emotion to the point where Hamlet begins to question his own.
Summary of Meaning and Theme
- Hamlet’s realization encapsulates the destructive yet motivational influence of jealousy and inferiority. When seeing someone achieve success in our personal areas of weakness, we may feel inclined to berate ourselves and feel resentment towards them, much like how Hamlet’s anger was portrayed in the soliloquy. However, such feelings can act as inspiration to diminish that gap and improve our situation.
Revelation of Character
- Hamlet is frustrated with his lack of drive to get revenge on Claudius, as he is only able to express a mere fraction of the enthusiasm the actors had when performing their artificial scenario. Eventfully, those same feelings prompted him to escalate his plan, having the actors re-enact Claudius' crime to expose his guilt.