He thinks The spirit that I have seen may be a devil He wants proof before taking revenge Then the idea of the play comes to his mind when a group of traveling actors visits Elsinore Hamlet decides to stage a play to confirm Claudius s guilt He says The play s the thing Wherein I ll catch the conscience of the king Hamlet plans that the play will closely copy the way his father was murdered If Claudius reacts with guilt Hamlet will know the truth This clever plan shows Hamlet s intelligence So this play within the play also gives a new direction to the story The Performance and Claudius s Reaction Claudius asks Hamlet what the play s name is Hamlet says the play s name is The Mousetrap When the performance begins the royal court gathers to watch it The play shows a scene where a man pours poison into the ear of a sleeping king Claudius cannot bear to watch He suddenly stands and shouts Give me some light Away He leaves the room in great confusion This dramatic reaction is enough proof for Hamlet It confirms that the ghost was telling the truth For the first time Hamlet s doubt turns into certainty The play within the play reveals Claudius s hidden crime So this scene becomes a moment of discovery and excitement in the story A Turning Point in Hamlet s Mind Before the play Hamlet is lost in hesitation and fear He keeps thinking delaying and questioning himself about the revenge He suffers from deep mental pain He even contemplates death as we learn from his famous soliloquy To be or not to be that is the question But after seeing Claudius s guilty reaction Hamlet gains confidence He feels ready to act So this play within the play becomes a turning point in the play Moreover Hamlet s emotional excitement after the play also leads him to rash actions such as killing Polonius by mistake later that night Thus the play within the play changes Hamlet s mental state and pushes the action forward toward tragedy Rising Conflict The scene also increases tension in the story Claudius now knows that Hamlet suspects him His mask of innocence falls From this moment Claudius becomes more dangerous He secretly plots Hamlet s death by sending him away to England In this way the play within the play not only reveals the truth but also begins the final conflict between Hamlet and Claudius In conclusion the play within the play is one of the most important scenes of Hamlet It proves Claudius s guilt removes Hamlet s doubt and turns the story toward its tragic ending It changes both the hero and the villain setting them on a path of revenge and destruction