Sunday, July 2, 2017

First Player's Speech for Hamlet

by William Shakespeare (1564-1616). Hamlet Act 2, Scene 2, lines1542-1592.
A troupe of traveling players have come to Hamlet's castle at Elsinore. Prince Hamlet greets them with gusto, even beginning to recite a speech of Aeneas' tale to Dido he once heard the head of the troupe perform. After delivering a handful of lines with vigor, Hamlet then asks the First Player to continue from where he left off.