English

Richard Caldwell

31 January, 22:24

Read the excerpt from Act II of Hamlet.

Could force his soul so to his own conceit

That from her working all his visage wann'd,

Tears in his eyes, distraction in 's aspect,

A broken voice, and his whole function suiting

With forms to his conceit? and all for nothing!

For Hecuba!

Shakespeare's allusion to Hecuba suggests that Hamlet

is irritated by the actor's emotional performance of the speech.

is impressed by the actor's ability to cry for a fictional character.

wishes the actor had shown more emotion during the speech.

feels that the actor does not know who Hecuba really was.