Metatheatre, a form of self-reflexivity in theater, plays a central role in Shakespeare's Hamlet and in Tom Stoppard's parody version, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. Self-reflexivity is conveyed through metatheatrical scenes, or scenes staged like plays, "stupid shows", and through the in-depth comments made on the mechanics and structural qualities of theater, in both pieces. In the Shakespearean original, characters consciously participate in instances such as the player's training speech, Hamlet's instructions to the players, and their support in "The Mousetrap". Hamlet also embraces the importance of linguistic expression over physical expression in the theater. Similarly, in Stoppard's play, the characters literally "play" with language and reduce it to its simple communicative purposes. Ros and Guild imitate Hamlet and various other characters obsessively throughout the text and a production similar to "Mousetrap" leaves the pair confused and questioning their existence. Although metatheatrical qualities are predominant in both Shakespeare's tragedy and Stoppard's tragicomedy, the function is divergent: in Hamlet, self-reflexivity is used to take revenge on the guilty soul of Claudius and reveal the ultimate Truth, while in Stoppard's parody the cast fails to recognize truth and human purpose. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essayHamlet is essentially a play about plays, as it blurs the line between actor and character roles. Throughout the dialogue, references are made to theater constructions and acting techniques, and most importantly, to the inclusion of a "meta-play", "The Mousetrap" in Act 3. Self-reflexivity reveals one of the major thematic concerns of acting, the nature of acting and the distinction between acting and "authentic" life. This distinction can be placed primarily in the group of "Players", a group of actors who participate in the production of meta-plays within the broader context of the play Hamlet. This complexity is initiated by Hamlet's request for the Player's famous speech: "I remember someone saying that there were no sallets in the lines to make the subject savory, nor any phrase that could accuse the author of affectation, but he qualified it as an honest method, as healthy as gentle, and much more beautiful than fine… It was the story of Aeneas to Dido, and on this subject especially when he speaks of the massacre of Priam. » (Act 2, scene 2) Hamlet's description of aesthetically pleasing dialogue resembles the dialogue that the characters themselves use. This level of self-reflexivity transforms into the “speech” demanded by Hamlet, the “Murder of Gonzago,” the story inserted into the play that Hamlet directs. The story follows circumstances similar to those of the murder of King Hamlet; Prince Hamlet, after adding additional lines, plots to reveal the corruption behind Claudius's actions: "The play is the thing, / Where I will catch the king's conscience." (Act 2, Scene 2) Hamlet's intention for the meta-play is rooted in the vengeance of his father's spirit, which qualifies itself as a "revenge tragedy." By interacting with the conventions associated with the genre, the play attempts to represent a life outside of the theater. The distinction between man and character continues in Hamlet's speech on the ambiguities of nature: "Oh, there are players that I have seen.