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Deception And Deception In Hamlet

Decent Essays

William Shakespeare’s skillfully written play, Hamlet, is constructed through emphasis on events of tragedy and revenge taken afterwards; but it is also the deceptive lies each character possesses towards one another that take part in a huge role in Hamlet. Shakespeare has used the idea of deception as a foundation for most of his plays, whether it be destruction of other characters or self inflicted. Throughout the play, characters are seen plotting against one another and causing loads of tension to build up towards each other. It adds dramatic pressure on each character’s relationship, but it also uncovers the truth to everyone’s lies. The character who is most notable for his deceptious disease is Hamlet himself. His display of insanity, plan to catch King Claudius, and his actions towards Ophelia illustrate his deceptive behavior in Hamlet. One of Shakespeare’s main acts of deceit derive from Hamlet’s madness. Shakespeare has done an incredible job at blurring the lines between reality and deception‒ a crucial element in Hamlet’s escape from his mischievous ways. As stated by Hamlet in Act 1 Scene 5, “Here, as before, never, so help you mercy, how strange or odd some’er I bear myself that you, at such times seeing me, never shall with arms encumbered thus, or this headshake, or by pronouncing of some doubtful phrase, as ‘Wee, well, we know,’ or ‘We could an if we would,’ or ‘If we list to speak,’ or ‘There be an if they might,’ Or such ambiguous giving-out, to note

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