When Hamlet's father orders him to kill Claudius, Hamlet's reaction is one of questioning and disbelief. Although he is deeply affected by his father's murder and longs to discover the killer, he harbors suspicions about the truth behind the ghost's shocking accusation against his uncle Claudius. So, Hamlet decides to put on a play: a trap to expose the king's potentially tainted conscience. Without examining the results of this diagram, its basic structure is that used by almost every character in the play. They do not immediately attack the culprit; instead, the characters set small, contained traps and patiently wait for the results. These traps are not always disastrous, as evidenced by Polonius' plan to uncover Hamlet's intentions in loving Ophelia. From a broader perspective, the play as a whole is a complex and deeply intertwined web of traps and intrigues, from which only Horatio escapes by the end of the play. As a commentary on human behavior, Shakespeare includes this theme to indicate that there is always a winner and a loser, or, in Polonius's terms, a spring and a woodcock. Ironically, the winner is not always the spy and the loser is not always the culprit. As a result, the line between hero and villain does not remain consistent throughout the play. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Hamlet's purpose for the play is obvious: he calls it "The Mousetrap." Had he lacked evidence before, or had feared that his personal feelings would cloud his judgment, the king's own performance in "The Mousetrap" may very well hold the key to Hamlet's later actions. The trap is installed in the traditional way. There is from the outset a spring (Hamlet) and a woodcock (Claudius), and the results will be explicit: either the king reacts and Hamlet is victorious, it is his private game of cat and mouse, or the king does not does not react and Hamlet even faces it. no more doubt than before the play. Finally, the room does the trick: “Give me some light. Far away” (3.2.275). For those familiar with the situation, Claudius' reaction confirms all suspicions. As Hamlet so eloquently noted: “What, afraid of the false fire” (3.2.272). Indeed, Claudius is trapped by his own actions. No actual accusations were made, at least not directly. But the fact that he was so disturbed by what he saw could only mean that, as Hamlet had hoped, he understood the subtle message being sent. For Claudius, this amounted to someone calling him out, denouncing him as the murderer he is in front of the world. When the room overwhelms him, Claudius calls for light. The meaning of “light” has a meaning specific to Claudius, his loved ones, and Hamlet. For Hamlet, it is irrefutable proof and a desperate man's last measure of escape. For the court of Claudius, it is a simple order of light. And for Claudius, it is a cry for air, for a way out of the trap into which he slipped without knowing it by taking his place in the theater. By rewatching the scene from “The Mousetrap” alone, Hamlet is the hero in the eyes of the reader. He has suspicions about his corrupt uncle and they are confirmed by Claudius' reaction to the play. He has a clear path to expose his uncle as the murderer and sufficient motives to take deadly revenge. In contrast, Claudius is the obvious villain, having now killed Hamlet's father, married his mother, and essentially revealed his conscience to Hamlet. Thus, “The Mousetrap” establishes lucid definitions of both the hero and the evildoer. However, considera second spy scene which takes place just after the play. Claudius prays in a confessional, admitting his wrongdoings before God. Hamlet enters the room to hear Claudius pray and secretly slips into the cabin adjacent to the king's for a closer view. After a few minutes of spying on Claudius, Hamlet draws his dagger and mentally prepares to put an end to the king. However, he thought twice, lowered his sword and secretly fled the chapel. Once again, in this scene, there are two distinct outcomes: Hamlet kills Claudius and carries out his father's orders or he hesitates, overwhelmed by his conscience and his flair for the dramatic. He does the latter, fearing that killing Claudius at the moment of absolution would give Claudius a justice that Hamlet's father never received at the time of his death. In a short period of time, the reader's opinion of Hamlet changes dramatically from complimentary to slightly disappointed. If Hamlet had killed Claudius in the church, he would have been the hero. Instead, his actions are underhanded and shady, even dishonorable. As a spy, by the definitions established by the scene in “The Mousetrap,” we expect, even hope, that Hamlet emerges on a better footing against his uncle. However, Claudius's prayer casts him in a more positive light, while Hamlet's escape casts a villainous shadow. By blurring this line between hero and villain, Shakespeare projects the moral uncertainty experienced by Hamlet onto his audience, who must decide for themselves. “The mousetrap” is one of several important “mini-traps” in Hamlet. The theme is first established by Polonius in Act One, Scene Three: “Yes, he springs forth to catch woodcocks. I know,/When blood burns, how prodigal the soul is/Lend the language of wishes. These flames, my daughter, / Giving more light than heat, extinguished in both cases, / Even in their promise, for she is a creation, / You must not take them for fire” (1.3.115-20 ). Warning his daughter Ophelia of Hamlet's tricks, Polonius ironically foreshadows his own demise at the hands of Hamlet while he was spying. In fact, he foreshadows the demise of his entire family. There are three different cases where the use of entrapment by Polonius, Ophelia, or Laertes leads to their respective ruin. The first is when Polonius uses Ophelia as bait while he and the king work to find out what is ailing Hamlet. Ophélie is not the mastermind behind the plan, but she willingly participates in it. Of course, Hamlet, upset at seeing his father's ghost, is discouraged and angrily condemns all women after his unsuccessful relationship with his mother. He is aggressive and sometimes downright violent with Ophélie. She, thinking that the plan was nothing more than a harmless observation of her lover, finds herself shattered by Hamlet's rebuke: "And I, of the most dejected and miserable ladies... Oh, woe is me /I saw what I saw, see what I see” (3.1.158-64). As the story unfolds, Ophelia collapses into childish madness, still tortured by Hamlet's reckless misogyny. Where once she was the mainspring of the plan to trap Hamlet, she is now the woodcock, trapped by her own naivety. The second instance occurs when Polonius decides to hide behind a curtain in Gertrude's room while she is arguing with Hamlet about his recent behavior. He uses a woman as bait in his plan to uncover Hamlet's madness, and once again he finds himself worse off. There are three main actors here: two springes (Polonius, Gertrude) and a woodcock (Hamlet). However, as in the past, the outcome is almost predictable. Polonius makes a noise, causing Hamlet to blindly pass his sword through the curtain behindfrom which Polonius hides, killing him in turn. His response to Gertrude is less physical and more verbal, although there are suggestions that Hamlet may have assaulted his mother. Entering the stage, Hamlet has just managed to surprise his uncle with the play and has just finished telling Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that he is aware of their deceitful intentions: "Well, look at you now, how you do one thing unworthy of me! You would play on me; you would seem to know my games… Call me what instrument you want, even if you can worry me, you cannot play on me” (3.2.371-81). In short, the audience wants Hamlet to rise from the ashes as a hero with a clear path to glorious vengeance. However, his condescending tone towards Polonius' death and misogynistic actions towards his mother lead the audience to a different conclusion by the end of this scene. Shakespeare's use of traps and images of good versus evil creates two categories of characters: the hero and the villain. And although Hamlet often enters the entrapment scenes with the enthusiasm of a hero, he emerges in the guise of one because of his actions toward others. Alas, here is the final trap: the king, Laertes, and the sick body. Politics against Hamlet, who has recently returned to England. If the previous two plots were traps, this last one is a minefield: Claudius and Laertes create traps, contingency plans, etc. all with the end goal of killing Hamlet. First, “He, being careless,/Very generous and free from all ingenuity,/Will not go through the foils, so that with ease,/Or with a little shuffling you may choose/A sword without respite, and, in a pass of practice,/Require it for your father” (4.7.134-9). Second, “I will anoint my sword…I will touch my point/With this contagion, that, if I slightly irritate it,/Perhaps it is death” (4.7.140-9). Third, “…And if he asks for a drink, I will have prepared for him/A chalice for the moment, from which he will only sip,/If by chance he escapes your trapped venom,/Our aim can rest there » (4.7.159-62). Three shots for a final and climatic scene where someone, even if he is not yet sure, is going to die. In context, Hamlet killed Laertes' father and drove his sister mad. He unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate the king and killed others (e.g. Polonius). For the first time, Hamlet is the true villain entering a scene, his crimes far fresher in the audience's minds than those of the king at this point in the play. So when Hamlet dies heroically, and not Laertes, the roles are reversed one last time. Even Laertes recognizes this cycle: “Why, like a woodcock that mines its own spring,/Osric,/I am justly slain by my own treachery” (5.2.307-8). This statement recalls Polonius' first statement, ironically ending his family's history. This statement, on a more general level, also reverses the roles of springe and woodcock in relation to Polonius' statement at the beginning of the play. Laertes points out that in traps it is not the role that matters, but rather the role you possess after exiting the plot. This idea is accentuated by the permanence of the final scene: all the roles are assured without possibility of change thereafter. The traps are not only set in public space, but also on a personal level. So far, the analysis has focused on two-person traps with a clear winner and loser. Yet some of the play's most important pitfalls, those that are figurative, never reach clear conclusions. Hamlet is trapped by his tendency to overthink situations. He is delayed by his academic activities, because he cannot enter the field of.