The play's the thing Why Should I Care

Why Should I Care?

We could tell you that this is one of the most famous lines in Hamlet, and Hamlet is one of the most famous works in English Literature, so, ergo, ipso facto, this is one of the most famous lines in all of all of English Literature. But you probably already knew that.

If the sheer celeb factor isn't enough for you, then try this on for size: this whole confessing-to-a-murder-after-seeing-it-in-a-play thing actually happened in Shakespeare's day. In 1612, Shakespeare's contemporary playwright, Thomas Heywood wrote about a woman in the audience getting all emotional when she saw a performance of History of Friar Francis. In the play, a woman kills her hubby so she can get with a younger guy. Tsk, tsk.

A woman in the audience saw this and then confessed—to murdering her own husband, almost a decade before (source). She thought the dead husband in the play looked a bit like hers and felt guilty about it. Talk about the power of the theater.

So if you thought that this was just some fictional, elaborate set up that would never happen in real life, think again. It kinda makes us appreciate the play all the more. (It is the thing, after all.)