Hamlet shows to his mother the portrait of his dead father and the one of his father's his uncle who is now the new king. Hamlet compares his father with Greek divinities: Hyperion, Jove, Mars and Mercury. He wants to underline to his mother' the qualities and virtues of his dead father. For each part of the portrait he associates a metaphor.

After that he shows to his mother the portrait of her new husband: his uncle. Hamlet criticizes him and asks his mother how she could stay with a felon.