Player King, Player Queen, and Lucianus, player villain

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"Full thirty times hath Phoebus' cart gone round . . . " (3.2.155). Thus the Player King, speaking of his long marriage, opens The Murder of Gonzago. (We might guess that First Player would also be the Player King, but there's no definite indication that this is so.)

The Player Queen's first response to the Player King is "So many journeys may the sun and moon / Make us again count o'er ere love be done!" (3.2.162). They're a loving couple, but they certainly have very different attitudes toward their love. The Player King hopes that his wife will find a good husband after he dies. She says that if a widow marries, she's committing adultery. The plot of the play in which they appear makes it clear that the Player Queen is either deceiving her husband or herself. "The lady protests too much, methinks" (3.2.230), says Queen Gertrude of the Player Queen.

Lucianus is apparently a very melodramatic villian, played by a poor actor. He doesn't get a word out before Hamlet shouts, "pox, leave thy damnable faces, and begin" (3.2.253). [Scene Summary]

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