How does Shakespeare use the arrival of the players?

Hamlet is seen to be quite happy and delighted at the news of the arrival of the players
at Elsinore. There may be a hint of malice in Hamlet’s saying, ‘He that plays the king shall be
welcome’, but thoughts of King Claudius and the revenge plot seem to disappear. Dramatic
pace slackens as Hamlet lists the stock characters in an acting company and eagerly questions
why the actors are forced to travel. Shakespeare seems to drift away from the concerns of the
play as his characters discuss theatrical conditions in the London of his time.
But despite this part of the scene being seemingly a digression, it holds relevance to at
least three aspects of the play. Firstly, it embodies Hamlet’s theme of appearance and reality,
of pretend versus genuine emotions. Hamlet cannot show his grief and sorrow concerning the
death of his father or his anger towards Claudius. Second, Hamlet will shortly use the players
in his plan to expose Claudius’s guilt, and in the soliloquy, that ends Act two he will reflect on
drama as a deception. Third, Hamlet uses the discussion on the change in acting fashions to
make a barbed comment on Denmark. He notes how easily courtiers who would sneer (‘make
mouths’) at Claudius whilst Hamlet’s father lived, now fawn upon Claudius as King, buying
his picture for extravagant sums.
Hamlet’s enthusiasm for players and acting becomes very evident as he jokingly greets
individual actors and demands a speech from the first player. Hamlet says the speech comes
from a rarely performed play, too difficult to or too refined for the public (‘caviary to the
general’), but admired by the elite. The speech is almost certainly Shakespeare’s own, but it
may well be his homage to (or parody of) Marlowe’s tragedy ‘Dido, Queen of Carthage’
published in 1594. Marlowe’s play is written in the same high-flown style, full of exaggerated
images.
In the final part of the Player’s speech, after Polonius’ interruption, tells of Hecuba,
Priam’s wife who wept to see her husband slaughtered. Is Shakespeare making a deliberate
dramatic contrast here, setting the deep grief of Hecuba against the brief mourning and unusual
speed with which Gertrude remarried after her husband’s death? Some critics think he is. They
argue that the whole Pyrrhus speech can be thought of as Shakespeare writing a commentary
on the play, consciously echoing other features of ‘Hamlet’ in addition to highlighting the
contrast between Hecuba and Gertrude for example, the common theme of the death of the
fathers. Pram, like Claudius, is responsible for the murder of a father. Pyrrhus, like Hamlet,
wishes to be both king-killer and avenger and the words, ‘strumpet Fortune’ echoes Hamlet’s
exchange with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. It also predicts the downfall of a king because of
the untrustworthiness of fortune. Another aspect that the First Player’s speech presents is the
melodramatic style contrasts with the language of ‘Hamlet’.
The speech also serves the dramatic function of placing the players and acting itself at
the centre of the attention. The actors will shortly play a major part in Hamlet’s plot to reveal
his uncle’s guilt. Furthermore, Hamlet delivers what may be Shakespeare’s own estimation of
the importance of his profession, claiming that, in drama, actors present the very condition of
society itself, ‘They are the abstract and brief chronicles of the time’. The Player ends his
speech with tears in his eyes, and it is that display of pretend grief for Hecuba that provokes
Hamlet’s soliloquy. He wonders at the Player’s ability to weep for a fictional character (‘And
all for nothing?/ For Hecuba!’). In reality, Hecuba means nothing to the player and she cares
nothing for him. What would the player do if he had ‘the motive and the cue for passions’ that
Hamlet has? The thought provokes Hamlet to reproach himself for apparent cowardice and
lack of action when he as real reasons to take revenge.