The play’s the thing / Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King.
Act II, Scene 2 · Hamlet
Quote Type: DialogueDifficulty: ★★☆Quotability: ★★★★★
Literary Device
Setting
Symbol
Context
Hamlet concludes his soliloquy by deciding to use the play-within-the-play to test Claudius's guilt.
Analysis
The rhyming couplet gives the line a sense of resolution and finality, as if Hamlet has reached a decision. The metaphor 'catch the conscience' makes guilt sound like prey—something that can be trapped and made visible—and positions the play as a tool rather than an artwork.
Essay Tip
Support a thesis that Hamlet's turn to the play is itself a form of delay—instead of acting on the Ghost's word, he invents a test that will give him 'grounds more relative,' which means he is still avoiding the direct confrontation revenge requires.