, 1905: the players at left, the court at right. The Players are a company of actors who arrive at Elsinore Castle. Friends of Hamlet, they had earlier performed in "the city" (presumably Copenhagen), but faced stiff competition from boy performers, so they have traveled to Elsinore to offer Hamlet their services. At Elsinore, they perform a version—which Hamlet has modified and called
The Mousetrap—of the play
The Murder of Gonzago in the "play within a play".
First Player or Player King He is the leader of the troupe of touring actors. In the "play within a play", he takes the part of the king who is murdered.
Second Player or Player Queen This role was traditionally performed by a
boy, as were all the female parts in
Hamlet, since women did not appear on stage in Elizabethan times. The name may be a reference to
Lucius in the Brutus legend, a source for
Saxo Grammaticus'
Gesta Danorum, itself a
candidate source for
Hamlet. Plays the role similar to Claudius and kills the king by pouring poison into his ear.
Fourth Player The
Mousetrap play-within-a-play has a very brief Prologue recited by one of the Players. The First Player may do the Prologue, but if not, a Fourth Player, with a speaking part, is required to do it. ==Ophelia's funeral==
Two Clowns (a sexton gravedigger, and a bailiff) The bailiff informs the sexton that Ophelia's death was suicide, but the sexton argues the point. Later, the sexton unearths
Yorick's skull, which leads to Hamlet's famous "Alas, poor Yorick" speech. During the
Interregnum, all theatres were closed down by the
puritan government. However, even during this time playlets known as
drolls were often performed illegally, including one based on the two clowns, called
The Grave-Makers, based on Act 5, Scene 1 of
Hamlet.
Yorick Yorick is an
unseen character depicted as a skull unearthed by the Gravediggers. The sight of Yorick's skull evokes a reminiscence by
Prince Hamlet of the man, who apparently played a role during Hamlet's upbringing.
A Priest, or Doctor of Divinity He officiates at Ophelia's funeral, and does not give her full Christian burial rites, since the church suspects her death was suicide. Called a "Priest" in the First Folio edition of "Hamlet," his speech prefix in the Second Quarto is "Doct" for
Doctor of Divinity, a Protestant clergyman. Thus, the two original "good" printings of the play are in disagreement whether the clergyman is Protestant or Catholic. ==Other characters==