Pulling The Curtain In Shakespeare's Hamlet

It isn't uncommon that one feels as if he/she is the center of attention for all to see how their life plays out. In fact, I think it is safe to say that we have all felt that our own life is something out of a movie at times. Other times, we feel that we are nothing but an actor going along with a script that we have never seen before. Do we have free will, or is Shakespeare trying to convince us that we are not the masters of our own destiny? The scene in which Polonius creates this grand plan of Hamlet and Ophelia meeting, we are given a taste of the idea that there is an architect behind our path in life.

In the Royal Shakespeare Company's 2008 production of Hamlet, we are shown how delicately and ironically Polonius sets up the meeting between Ophelia and Hamlet. He runs through her posture and how she shall walk when she sees him, almost as if they are practicing for a play or performance. He is reading from a letter that Hamlet had sent her, explaining his feelings for her and her beauty. Polonius looks at this letter inquisitively and studies it almost as a critic would do when he/she sees a performance in a theater. Polonius mocks the letter, showing how even when one is being true to thyself and their lover, others still mock and critique their life, just like a member of an audience viewing a film or show.
When play-wrighting, such as Shakespeare had done all those years ago, one must create a credible presentation of reality to the viewers, or audience. One of the major plots behind Hamlet is Hamlet's mother, step-father, friends, and lover trying to understand him because they see him as going "mad". This is a characteristic of a key character in any play, because we do not know whether or not to trust his point of view. Going along with the idea characters, Hamlet says it himself that he shall don the role of "avenger" for his father's untimely surmise. This idea of him acting out a role is another example of us as humans acting during our lives according to the present situation.
Polonius, Claudius, and Gertrude view the meeting between Ophelia and Hamlet behind one-way glass, symbolizing how actors in a play are supposed to act as though no one is even watching them. This modern depiction of the meeting between the two is a satire on acting as a whole. Wen never know the difference between real life and when someone is planning our next move and how things shall play out. Polonius even speaks to the audience as though we are right there with them when Hamlet returns after yelling at Ophelia. When Hamlet realizes that Ophelia and him were being watched, he comes to the conclusion that something bigger than man controls our fortunes and lives, Destiny decides how our lives shall be played out, as if it were the play-wright itself.