When Hamlet calls on the player to render a speech from 'Aeneas’ tale to Dido,’ his choice of subject offers some obvious parallels to his own situation. Hecuba, the archetypal grieving queen, is an effective contrast to Gertrude. Pyrrhus’ vengeance for his father's death is a reminder of the duty laid on Hamlet, as well as on Laertes and Fortinbras. Bloody Pyrrhus embodies the savage violence which both attracts and repels Hamlet. The player's speech has a more important function, however: it leads directly to Hamlet's ‘mousetrap’ strategy, the presentation of a play for Claudius. Hecuba's woes and the familiar idea of the guilty spectator at a play were already associated in a passage from Plutarch which probably was in Shakespeare's mind.