Question

et, part 5: characteristics of elizabethan the tragedy of hamlet, prince of denmark act iii. scene ii. a hall in the castle. enter hamlet and certain players. hamlet: speak the speech, i pray you, as i pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue; but if you mouth it, as many of your players do, i had as lief the town-crier spoke my lines. nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus, but use all gently; for in the very torrent, tempest, and— as i may say—whirlwind of passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance, that may give it smoothness. o! it offends me to the soul to hear a robustious periwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings, who for the most part are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumb-shows and noise: i would have such a fellow whipped for o’er-doing termagant; it out-herods herod: pray you, avoid it. first player: i warrant your honour. hamlet: be not too tame neither, but let your own discretion be your tutor: suit the action to the word, the word to the action; with this special observance, that you o’erstep not the modesty of nature; for anything so overdone is from the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and now, was and is, to hold, as ’twere, the mirror up to nature; to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure. now, this overdone, or come tardy off, claudius, what do you call the play? hamlet: the mouse-trap. marry, how? tropically. this play is the image of a murder done in vienna: gonzago is the duke’s name; his wife, baptista. you shall see anon; ’tis a knavish piece of work: but what of that? your majesty and we that have free souls, it touches us not: let the galled jade wince, our withers are unwrung. hamlet’s character is complex in the excerpt because his play provides a spiritual lesson. he is unable to explain the play. his actions symbolize cruelty. he conceals his true motivation.

Explanation:

In the excerpt, Hamlet is directing the players and talking about the play - within - the - play (The Mouse - trap) which is a ruse to catch Claudius's guilt. He doesn't openly state his real plan (to prove Claudius murdered his father) but instead uses the play as a cover, showing he conceals his true motivation. The other options don't fit: the play isn't for a spiritual lesson, he can explain the play (he tells about its basis in a Vienna murder), and his actions here are about directing a play, not symbolizing cruelty.

Answer:

he conceals his true motivation.