17 Apr William Shakespeare

“The play’s the thing.”

Hamlet says “the play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.” The king’s guilty conscience will be revealed by the king’s obvious embarrassment as he is watching the play.

It’s odd that an expression that’s ambiguous to the point of meaningless is well-recognized. It must speak to certain truths.

In the play of life, our intentions, actions and their consequences are revealed. So while the play is a fiction, it reveals the reality of who we are.

The play’s the thing; that is, something that cannot be described beyond  “thing.” It is what it is whatever it is. It can be anything we want it to be.