Hamlet’s Analysis Act 3 Scene 2 Hamlet, written in London during the early seventeenth century, is without a question one of the best tragic play by William Shakespeare. The English playwright, whose works are greatly different from anything the world had seen before, is considered the greatest in the history of literature. Among many words and phrases that he has invented, the most well known is Hamlet’s soliloquy “to be or not to be, that is the question.” The 3.2 of the play affords the opportunity for Shakespeare to explore one of his favorite themes, a theme that runs through many of his plays “All the world 's a stage /And all the men and women merely players." The Mousetrap is another ideal representation of a play within a play an even more specific manifestation of metatheatre than that mirrors the reality of the events that happened in Denmark. In this scene, Shakespeare directs and manipulates theatrical conventions to help define the subtleties of Hamlet’s conflict. 1. The Mousetrap a Perfect Example of a Play within a Play First thing to remember is what myse en abime means. In general, it is “a French term derived from the heraldic device of inserting a small shield into a larger shield bearing the same device, and related to “composition en abyme”, and a play within a play.” At the heart of Hamlet, the meta-theatrical play The Mousetrap, also known as The Murder of Gonzago is a brilliant example of a play within a play as it closely resembles the actual