The play’s the thing
E494607
"The play’s the thing" is a famous line from William Shakespeare’s tragedy *Hamlet*, in which the prince declares his plan to use a staged performance to expose King Claudius’s guilt.
Statements (32)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
literary line
ⓘ
quotation ⓘ |
| addressesCharacter | King Claudius (indirectly) NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| appearsInAct | Act 2 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| appearsInScene | Scene 2 ⓘ |
| associatedWork | The Mousetrap NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| creator | William Shakespeare NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| dramaticContext | Hamlet planning to confirm the Ghost’s accusation ⓘ |
| dramaticDevice | play within a play ⓘ |
| dramaticFunction | to reveal King Claudius’s guilt ⓘ |
| firstPerformanceApproximateYear | circa 1600 ⓘ |
| fullLine | The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king. ⓘ |
| genreOfSourceWork | tragedy ⓘ |
| hasFamousStatus | yes ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| literaryPeriod | Elizabethan drama NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| meter | blank verse (largely iambic pentameter) ⓘ |
| oftenQuotedIn |
literary studies
ⓘ
popular culture ⓘ theatre criticism ⓘ |
| partOf | Hamlet NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| playTitleMentioned | The Murder of Gonzago NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| quotationFrom | Hamlet, Prince of Denmark NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| quotationStatus | proverbial expression about theatre’s revelatory power ⓘ |
| refersTo | a staged performance ⓘ |
| sourceWorkAuthorNationality | English ⓘ |
| spokenByCharacter | Prince Hamlet NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| theme |
appearance versus reality
ⓘ
guilt and conscience ⓘ theatre as a mirror of truth ⓘ |
| usedByCharacterTo | test the king’s reaction ⓘ |
| workType | dramatic line ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.