In Scene 2, there is an allusion to a Moslem god
(Termagant) and to Herod, the Biblical King that beheaded John the Baptist. Hamlet is
talking to the troupe of players and advising them not to overdo their acting, not to be
more like Herod than Herod.
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I would have such a fellow whipped for o'erdoing
Termagant. It out-Herods Herod. Pray you avoid
it.
He also alludes to the
Roman god, Vulcan. He is referring to his agitated, fiery state of mind since Vulcan was
the god of fire
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And my imaginations are as foul
As
Vulcan's stithy. Give him heedful
note;
There are many
allusions given by the players in the play within a play in this act. These allusions
are all to mythology:
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Full thirty times hath Phoebus'cart gone round
Neptune's salt wash and Tellus' orbed ground,(145)
And thirty dozen moons
with borrowed sheen
About the world have times twelve thirties been,
Since love our hearts, and Hymen did our
hands,
And to the mythical
witch, Hecate:
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Thou mixture rank, of midnight weeds collected,
With Hecate's ban thrice blasted, thrice
infected,
Hamlet refers to
Nero, who killed his mother, right before he goes to visit Gertrude in her chamber. He
is hoping that he will not be tempted to kill
Gertrude.
O
heart, lose not thy nature; let not ever
The soul of Nero enter this firm
bosom.
If you skim through
the rest of this Act and look for names, you will no doubt find they are allusions, and
often to mythology, which was common in Elizabethan times. Mythological characters were
well-known to the Elizabethan audience and the people would have understood the meaning
of these allusions.
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