ABSTRACT
The relationship between a "character" and an "actor" appears to be quite straightforward: an actor acts as/plays character [x]. As falling under the purview of re-creation, classifying theatrical characters as dialectical-synecdochic objects takes into account, even explains, the inherent imprecision of description and reference in names of fictional entities. That is, a dialectical-synecdochic object contains an entire range of re-creations. In theatre, the dramatic text specifies/limits the range of re-creations possible for a given theatrical character. This chapter argues that when "act", "acting", and "actor" began to be used in reference to theatrical performance in the sixteenth century, there very well could have been the sense that an actor is an author of theatrical acts or an actor is the author of acting the act. "Hamlet" is subject to/in the constant process of re-creation: the theatrical doing of Hamlet changes and expands the boundaries of who Hamlet is and what "Hamlet" refers to through different theatrically embodied expressions of Hamlet.
