The mouse trap or play within the play is one of the important and significant literary terms used back in Shakespeare's time. Hope my presentation will help you understand it :)

1. The play within the play in
HAMLET
Or The Mousetrap
Shehneela Naz
SN-163
Batch-6

2. OUTLINE
 Meaning of the literary term “play within the play”.
Origin of the term.
Relationship between Freudian dream theory and “play within the
play”.
Play within the play in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Significance of play within the play.
Play within the play in Shakespeare’s other texts.

3. “Play within the play”- Definition
▪ A play that is being
performed in the confines
of another play.
▪ The character of the play
watch the play being
performed.
▪ The readers are not the
intended audience of the
play within the play.

4. Origin of the term
▪ The term “play within the play”
was first introduced byThomas
Kyd in “The SpanishTragedy”
in 1589.
▪ He is also known as the author
of original “Hamlet”

5. Connection between Freudian dream
theory and Play within the play
▪ Play within the play can be related to familiar
psychological mechanism seen in dream work,
namely, a dream within a dream.
▪ According to Freud, dreams have two contents,
a manifest content which is the dream that one
actually experiences and a latent content which
is the meaning of the dream as discovered by
interpretation.
Literature can be thought of in the same
manner, as a figment of the imagination whose
underlying truth can be discovered through
interpretation

6. Play within the play in Shakespeare’s
HAMLET
▪ In act II, scene II Hamlet conceives the
plan of staging a play called “The
murder of Gonzago”
▪ Hamlet wanted to make sure that the
ghost of his father was not devil in
disguise.
“The spirit that I have seen
May be the devil; and the devil hath power
To assume a pleasing shape’’

7. ▪ The play-within-a-
play tells the story
of Gonzago, the
Duke ofVienna,
and his wife,
Baptista, who
marries his
murdering
nephew, Lucianus.

8. “The play’s the thing
Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.”
• In act III, scene II, Hamlet ask Horatio to watch
the kings face in the course of the
performance.
• As soon as the play becomes offensive not
only to Claudius but also to Queen.
• Claudius leaves the play instead of stopping it.
• Conversation between Claudius and Hamlet-
Claudius: Is there no offense in’t?
Hamlet : No, no, they do but jest- poison in jest.
No offense i’th’ world.

9. Significance of the play within the play
▪ Plot progression
▪ Hamlet attempts to “catch the conscience of the king”
▪ The reason Hamlet chose this play was to trap Claudius
▪ Exposes the true characters and their relationships
▪ Uncovers Hamlet’s madness

10. Play within the play in Shakespeare’s other
Texts
▪ A Midsummer Night’s Dream
▪ Twelfth Night
▪ Loves Labours Lost