Subversive Power of the Theater Revealed in Hamlet an Othello :: The Tragedy of Hamlet Essays

Subversive Power of the Theater Revealed in Hamlet and Othello      Ã‚   Theatrical performance is vital not only to the presentation of Hamlet and Othello, but it is vital to each of the play's respective stories. Several key characters control, manipulate, or script a theatrical performance of their own. Through subtle suggestion and explicit or implicit storytelling, Shakespeare's use of theatrical performance within his own plays underscores the subversive power of the theater. It is no secret that Shakespeare embeds within many of his plays subtle suggestions which were subversive to the thoughts and attitudes at the time. Through the construction of the play within a play, Hamlet subverts the notion of kingship. In the play, without even speaking himself, Hamlet constructs a particular version of reality so chilling that Claudius leaves the theater. While this is obviously due to the startling similarity that Claudius sees between the play and his own life, the subtle idea implied is the idea that royalty can be simplified to nothing more than acting. If the roles of the king and queen can be played so well that Claudius leaves the room, seeing the striking similarity between the play and his life, then there is no reason why kingship itself cannot be acted. This subversively delegitimizes the power of the throne. Moreover, it is only in the scenes related to the mousetrap that Hamlet shows signs of leadership. He says to the players, "Follow him, friends . We'll hear a play tomorrow . . . You could for a need / study a speech of some dozen or sixteen lines / which I would set down and insert in't, could you / not?" (Shakespeare II.2:546-553). He is directing the action, asking the ability of the players and telling them exactly what they should do. The fact that Hamlet, the man who would be king, is a leader only in a performance subverts the idea of leadership being something firmly ingrained within the soul of a human being. Instead, it is replaced with the notion that kingship is not something that can be passed down from generation to generation, but something that can be acted, as if it could be turned on and off at will. The nobles and leaders of a country, then, are not inherently born with power because of their familial origin, but they have the same basis of human experience as the common man, an idea which would've been utterly rejected in Shakespeare's time.