Analysis Of The Hecuba Scene In Hamlet

One may conclude that the Hecuba scene is among the most pivotal parts of the play. Hamlet formed the plan to expose the guilt in Claudius by putting on a play that reenacts King Hamlet’s murder. This idea is inspired by the deep emotional and powerful speech recited by the First Player.

The speech tells a gruesome story about Priam, the king of Troy, and his queen Hecuba. Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles has come after Priam to avenge his father’s death, which is very similar to what Hamlet will do by the end of the play. Pyrrhus snuck into Troy by hiding in a wooden statue of a horse. Killing anyone in his path, Pyrrhus finds Priam and Hecuba defenseless. Pyrrhus at first attacks Priam, but stops himself in the middle of the act. However, Pyrrhus changes his mind and kills Priam anyway and proceeds to cut him into pieces in front of Hecuba. While she watched this horrific scene, Hecuba screams and cries hysterically.

Hamlet showed obsession with avenging his father earlier in the play, after the ghost revealed King Hamlet’s murder. He showed much interest in this speech even though it wasn’t very popular, possibly because it reminded him of his own situation. Both Pyrrhus and Hamlet had a similar goal to exact revenge for their

Hamlet was frustrated with himself for contemplating when and how to exact revenge on Claudius, because he wasn’t sure of the ghost’s true intentions. There was the question of the ghost being a demon and only wanted to use Hamlet for evil. The speech reassured Hamlet that he couldn’t just sit around anymore, he had to do something. In fear of being damned to hell, Hamlet decided he would test the authenticity of what the ghost said. He concluded that he would use the powerful emotion of the players on Claudius. By watching a reenactment of the murder he committed, Claudius would be overwhelmed with emotion and show that he was