Essay about Appearance vs. Reality in Shakespeare's Hamlet

He, wanting to determine why Hamlet has been acting mad, decides to spy on him when he is with Queen Gertrude. When talking to Gertrude before Hamlet has entered, Polonius states, "He will come straight. Look you lay home to him. / Tell him his pranks have been too broad to bear with / And that your Grace hath screened and stood between / Much heat and him. I'll silence me even here. / Pray you, be round with him" (III.iv.1-7). Hearing Hamlet coming, Polonius hides behind a tapestry. Hamlet enters and is rude to his mother. He tells her that she has offended King Hamlet by marrying Claudius. When Gertrude asks Hamlet if he has forgotten who she is, he replies with "No, by the rood, not so. / You are the Queen, your husband's brother's wife, / And (would it were not so) you are my mother" (III.iv.19-21). Hamlet then tells his mother to sit, and that he is going to hold up a mirror so she can see who she truly is. When Gertrude asks Hamlet if he is going to murder her, Polonius cries out for help from behind the tapestry. This leads to Hamlet thinking that Claudius is the one hiding, so he thrusts his sword into the tapestry, killing Polonius. Polonius' death leads to many further struggles between characters. When his children, Ophelia and Laertes, hear the news of their father's death, they do not take it well. Ophelia goes mad. She begins singing songs about her father's death - "He is dead and gone, lady, / He is dead and

There is a general understanding that appearances can be deceiving. This is one of the most fundamental questions in philosophy, appearance vs. reality. When we meet people and get to know them throughout our lives, we soon discover that there is a genuine side to everyone behind the appearance they show. In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the characters Polonius, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Claudius use appearance vs. reality to manipulate and deceive, which ultimately leads to their downfall.

To learn the truth of Hamlet's actions, Claudius entreats upon Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (two of Hamlet's oldest friends) to investigate the situation: "Some little time; so by your companies To draw him on to pleasures, and to gather So much as from occasions you may glean, Whether aught to us unknown afflicts him thus That, opened, lies within our remedy." (II:2, ll 14-18) Claudius, at this early point in the play, is slightly nervous of Hamlet's state of mind. Although Hamlet has not yet done or said anything that distinctly proves that he knows of Claudius' wrongdoing, Claudius is still suspicious. Ironically, he is worried about being deceived by Hamlet, so he sends two of his friends to spy him to learn what is bothering him. Laertes expresses a further example of the fear of deceit in his conversation to Ophelia regarding Hamlet: "His greatness weigh'd, his will is not his own; For he himself is subject to his birth. He may not, as unvalued persons do, Carve for himself, for on his choice depends The safety and health of his whole state," (I:3, ll 17-21) Laertes fears that Hamlet is not sincere in his love for Ophelia. He tells her that since he is of royal blood, he is not free to choose his own wife. The court and other royals must decide who is the best choice to be queen, for the safety of Denmark. Hamlet knows this to be true, and therefore, any sign of love that he gives her must be false.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are comic reliefs by acting as the fool in the play Hamlet. The duo’s ignorant nature are picked at by Hamlet’s sharp toungue through the play, intensifying it’s ultimate tragic nature. One example is in act two scene two of Hamlet, when Hamlet is questioning Rosencrantz and Guildenstern about the reason they are at the castle. Hamlet offsets Humor in these scenes by his choice of words. Hamlet puts the pressure on the duo and Rosencrantz in an aside to Guildenstern asks what excuse they should make to Hamlet while the whole time Hamlet is aware of their conversation. “(to Guildenstern) What

In the end, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are naively loyal to Hamlet, and this becomes their downfall. They know that Hamlet has killed Polonius, and yet, they take no precautions as they accompany Hamlet to England. Their trust in both Claudius and Hamlet gets them killed. Hamlet’s reveals his mistrust of his schoolmates in a conversation with his mother, and refers to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as, "...my two-school fellows, whom I will trust as adders fanged..." 

“There is no truth. There is only perception.” a knowledgeable quote by French novelist, Gustave Flaubert, discussing how humans perceive things versus reality. Perception is how one interprets the world and its individuals through their own knowledge and experiences; therefore, there is a diverse amount of viewpoints on the same subjects and people. As a result, those who are capable of perceiving situations accomplish more than those who are incapable. In Hamlet, William Shakespeare develops the theme that those who are incapable of perceiving others leads to punishment, however, those who successfully perceive are rewarded. This theme can be proven through three major characters: Claudius, the main antagonist, Gertrude, the mother of the main character, and Hamlet, the main character. These characters portray both successful and failed attempts of perception throughout the play.

       Hamlet is organized around various pairs of opposing forces. One of these forces is the difference between that what seems and that which actually is, in other words, appearance versus reality. What is, and what merely appears to be? We can discern two principal angles from which this question is approached in Hamlet. First, we have the angle of inward and outward emotions, and the profound distinction that is drawn between them. In other words, the tranquil face that we all show to the world is never the same as the turmoil of our souls. In Hamlet, Shakespeare explores this both explicitly, through the device of the play within the play, and implicitly, through the ways in which he uses

Westby Caspersen December 16, 2015 Perception or Deception? Things are not always what they seem to be, and we should not always trust our eyes. The first two acts of Hamlet support this assertion, as in multiple occasions, a character’s eyes are deceived by what he believes he sees. In the instances where Hamlet deals with his father’s ghost, where Hamlet’s friends visit him, and where Hamlet talks to Polonius, the truth is never straightforward.

forgiven. He wants to repent for his sin, but he knows that he can’t because he is not truly sorry.

Here, disease imagery is used to convey the disease of corruption that appears to have infected those from Elsinore. This is the true King Claudius - without the superficial grandeur. From this example of multi-faceted personality, it can be seen how Shakespeare uses the pretence of his characters as the basis of their complex personalities. If this is compared to the introspective nature of Hamlet's behavior, the difference between the two main instigators of corruption is quite marked.

   The legendary drama, Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare is a play illustrating the theme of virtue vs. villainy. The 17th century tragedy is plagued with treachery and deceit as it opens with the news of a foul murder in the kingdom of Denmark. Prince Hamlet, by word of his late father's ghost, is informed that his uncle Claudius is to blame for his father's sudden demise. Prince Hamlet's mission is to uncover the secrets surrounding the murder and to avenge his father's death. Thus, the insidious web of disease and corruption is formed. The relationship between disease leading to the greater corruption of Denmark plays a significant role in the lives of the principle players.

     Claudius’ lies are effective enough to persistently deceive to play’s antagonist, Hamlet. Despite Hamlet’s disgust with Claudius for marrying Gertrude, and his view of Claudius as “a king of shreds and patches” (III.iv.104), Hamlet suspicion of Claudius as a murderer is preliminarily nonexistent. The appearance of a spirit claiming to be Hamlet’s dead father first alerts Hamlet to the actions of “that incestuous, that adulterate beast, /With witchcraft of his with, with traitorous gifts” (I.v.42-3). And yet still, Hamlet remains hesitant to believe that Claudius was the murderer, searching for complementary evidence. The play that Hamlet enacts -- designed to “catch the conscience of the king” (II.ii.562) --succeeds in revealing Claudius’ guilt, but does not provoke instant action on Hamlet’s part. So effective is Claudius’ manipulation of the royal circle that he manages to almost permanently stay the revelation of his guilt, and if it weren’t for supernatural intervention against an injustice, he may never have been exposed.

This intrinsic literary feature is used to build on the lack of trust that is throughout Hamlet. The manner of speech used by different characters appoints a type of qualitative difference between them. This difference is the base of the overall distrust that they built in the play. The manner of speech used by Hamlet is well defined from the one used by other characters. The other characters see Hamlet to be in temporary derangement for his use of a different manner of speech. Hamlet assumes that the other characters twist the truth because they use a safe and relatively language, this exemplifies distrust. These opposing elements creates character’s settlement for seeming and equally creates characters who are obsessed with being. Hamlet gives a perfect example of ‘seeming’ and ‘being’, “This time is out of joint. O cursed spite. That ever I was born to set it right.” (Shakespeare and Horace 8). Even though Hamlet does not seem, he was born to set it right, the context of being. The element of ‘seeing’ and ‘knowing’ also runs throughout the play. ‘See’ and ‘know’ words have been widely used to create the design of Hamlet. For instance, hamlet order in Scene 2 Act 2 that, “I know my course.” (Shakespeare and Horace 23). That is what he sees, but he does not know his own

Central to the plot and the themes developed in Shakespeare's Hamlet, are the varying elements of corruption which occur during the play. This is echoed in Marcellus' famous comment of 'Something is rotten in the state of Denmark,' when Hamlet is beckoned away by the Ghost (1.4.90). As the play continues and the story enfolds, it becomes apparent that there truly is 'something rotten in the state of Denmark,' and rather that it is not just one 'something,' but many things.

Secrecy, deception, and duplicity are significant words that express Hamlet’s on-going madness. One of many forms of Hamlet’s madness lies within his deceitful actions that escalate from Claudius’s murderous attempt on Old Hamlet. As the play develops, readers may acknowledge suspicious and wariness atmospheres as Hamlet seeks to find confirmation and evidence against Claudius’s ferocious act. Hamlet’s deceitfulness is abundant and can be recognized throughout the play. His intention to justify his uncle’s murderous act involves deceitful planning and duplicitous mindset. There are abundant of examples relating to Hamlet’s on-going madness. Events and scenes that suggest Hamlet’s deceitful state of mind are embedded within multiple soliloquies that