ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I am a Dawson Pure and Applied Science student in my second session, and I recently arrived in Canada from Algeria. While my academic pursuits revolve around STEM, I have always nurtured a deep passion for literature and the artful play of language. My Amazigh heritage gives language a deeper meaning not just as a means of communication but as a connection to history and identity. The Amazigh language, with its rich oral tradition and unique script, has shaped my appreciation for the power of words, both spoken and written.

–Maya Kaci

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Hamlet is not merely a prince, but rather someone performing the role of one. From his feigned madness to his cunning staging of The Mousetrap, Shakespeare’s protagonist maneuvers through a world where appearances often obscure reality. Even Polonius assumes the role of a playwright, scripting the actions of others to serve his schemes. When the “play-within-a-play” unfolds, it becomes clear that Shakespeare’s Hamlet is far more than a tale of revenge and madness; it is a profound exploration of the masks we wear and the roles we play. In Shakespeare’s longest play, life is portrayed as a series of performances, revealing how individuals navigate a world of deceit and manipulation by playing prescribed roles. This theme emerges in Hamlet’s deliberate act of feigned madness, a calculated performance to conceal his intentions; the theatricality of The Mousetrap, which uses performance as a tool to expose the truth; and Polonius’s manipulation of Ophelia, where he directs her behaviour like an actor in the king’s and his scheme. Through these layers of performance, Shakespeare suggests that life itself is no more than a stage where survival depends on the ability to act.

Hamlet’s act of madness serves as a striking example of how Shakespeare uses performance to manipulate perception and control the narrative around him. After encountering the ghost of his father and learning of his murder, he confides in Horatio, saying, “ As I perchance hereafter shall think meet / To put an antic disposition on” (1.5.191-192). This act of manipulation is also suggested by the young prince’s famous soliloquy contemplating the burdens of life and the uncertainty of death: “To be or not to be – that is the question:/ Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, / Or to take arms against a sea of troubles /And, by opposing them, end them.” (3.1.64-68). Hamlet’s words suggest that he wants to put on an act of madness, a strange performance, to influence his surroundings. After learning of his father’s murder, Hamlet resolves to plot his revenge. The first step in his plan is to act deranged, reflecting his desire to conceal his true intentions. This ties into the second passage, where Hamlet’s internal conflict between action and inaction becomes evident. The real question in this soliloquy is not “To be or not to be,” but “To act or not to act.” Hamlet is torn between two options: if he remains passive, he will have to live with the torment of his father’s death without any resolution, while if he takes action, he can end his suffering but at the cost of his own life. This soliloquy is closely tied to Hamlet’s performance. His decision to act depends on his ability to perform, to play a role, in the sense that acting here is not just about doing but about staging a performance. His plot for revenge requires him to put on a mask and deceive the court. Hamlet’s “antic disposition” is a metaphor for putting on a costume, emphasizing that his madness is a deliberate performance to obscure his true intentions, essentially turning his quest for justice into a carefully orchestrated act. In conclusion, the entire revenge plot, including his feigned madness, is a staged performance that echoes Jaques’ famous line in As You Like It’s Act 2, scene 7: “All the world’s a stage, / And all the men and women are merely players.” Hamlet, in this sense, is a player on the stage of life.

Hamlet’s act of madness demonstrates how performance can obscure reality, but it is through his reflections on acting that Shakespeare delves deeper into the blurred lines between truth and illusion. Shakespeare uses metatheatre to question the boundary between reality and illusion. We can see the boundary-breaking point during Hamlet’s speech to the players: “For anything so o’erdone is from the purpose/ of playing, whose end, both at the first and/ now, was and is to hold, as ‘twere, the mirror up to/ nature” (3.2.21-24). Shakespeare uses the metaphor of “holding a mirror up to nature” to describe the purpose of acting. By comparing performance to a mirror that reflects reality, Hamlet suggests that theater is not a mere illusion but a means of exposing the truth. This idea blurs the boundary between illusion and reality, making the stage a reflection of life and revealing hidden truths through the act of performance, suggesting that the purpose of playing is to reflect nature. In this metaphor, theatre is defined as a reflection of real life in a mirror. Hamlet instructs the players in preparation for the performance of The Murder of Gonzago, a play he designs to closely mirror the circumstances of his father’s murder, intending to present it before the entire court. This scene exposes Claudius’s guilt to the audience, using theater as a tool for political and social awareness. By forcing Claudius’s reaction for the audience, Hamlet sparks a collective recognition of the king’s corruption, prompting the court and audience to question his legitimacy and call for justice. For that reason, the play is not simply an imitation of reality; rather, it breaks the illusion of being a separate reality. Metatheatre exposes deeper truths and relies on the audience’s engagement to uncover them, blurring the line between fiction and reality. As mentioned in the article Metatheatre published by the University of Cornell: “It [Metatheatre] may on the other hand, break the fence of the ‘fourth wall’ of conventional theater” (1). It dwells on the boundaries between imagination and real life. The Mousetrap serves as a prime example of metatheatre, where Shakespeare blends reality and illusion to reveal deeper truths. Metatheatre, as defined by scholars, breaks the “fourth wall” and invites the audience to question the relationship between the stage and real life. Through this technique, the play exposes the blurred boundaries between performance and reality.

While Hamlet’s actions blur the line between reality and illusion, Polonius’s control over Ophelia demonstrates how he treats her as a pawn in both his and the king’s larger plans. Just as Hamlet manipulates his own behaviour, Polonius shapes Ophelia’s actions to fulfill the desires of both himself and Claudius. The king, along with his queen and advisor, devises a plan to observe Hamlet’s manners by using Ophelia: “Ophelia, walk you here. ―Gracious, so please you, / We will bestow ourselves. [To Ophelia.] Read on this book” (3.1.48-50). Polonius’s instructions to Ophelia transform her into a character in a carefully scripted performance. Instead of acting as a caring father, he adopts the role of a director, orchestrating her every move to manipulate Hamlet and uncover the truth behind his madness. By making her appear passive and innocent, Polonius manipulates her as a tool to serve both his own and the king’s objectives. The plan is not just to observe Hamlet’s behaviour but to create a scenario in which he reveals his true feelings, further blurring the lines between reality and performance. Through this interaction, Shakespeare underscores the theme of manipulation, where even the most intimate moments are carefully staged for political purposes. In this way, Ophelia is not allowed the freedom to act on her own but is instead moulded by those in power, reducing her to the role of a pawn in their larger narrative. In conclusion, this scene highlights how Polonius uses Ophelia as a tool in a staged performance designed for the king, the queen, and himself, emphasizing the performative nature of Shakespeare’s characters and the manipulation of reality for political gain.

In conclusion, Shakespeare’s Hamlet presents life as a series of performances, where characters constantly shift between what is real and what is fake. Through Hamlet’s act of madness, the Mousetrap play, and Polonius’s control of Ophelia, the play highlights how people must play roles to survive in a world full of deceit. These performances make the audience think about the characters’ true intentions and how they blur the line between fiction and reality. Ultimately, Shakespeare’s view of life as a stage leads us to ask: how much of our own lives is shaped by the roles we are given or choose to play.

 

Works Cited

Cornell University. “Metatheatre.” ENGL 3270 – Shakespeare’s Theatrical Worlds, www.courses.cit.cornell.edu/engl3270/327.meta.html. 

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine, Folger Shakespeare Library, Simon & Schuster, 2012.