Deception In Hamlet

Deception, lies, and treachery. All of these things are characteristic of a 16th century monarchy, struggling to keep its head above water amidst a sea of ambitious nobles and land hungry war mongers. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, deceit, lies, and intrigue are all employed against various characters in order for each character to gain an upper hand over the others and always lead to the acceleration of their inevitable death. Characters such as Hamlet, Polonius, and Claudius all use various tactics to manipulate and gain information from others, either through feigning insanity, spying, or through political maneuvering. All of which ended in their demise. The most obvious case is perpetrated by the play’s main character, Hamlet.

He knows this to be too true with his Uncle Claudius. The motive to kill this man is a consequence for Claudius’ actions and the focal point for this tragedy. The entire storyline unfolds after the ghost of King Hamlet reveals the actions of Claudius. This in retrospect develops the entire tragedy and reveals that deceit is the most undesirable character trait, but it is held by everyone from Kings to common people. In order for the kingdom to uphold it virtuous values, Hamlet must deceive his Uncle in order to maintain a respectable ethical standard. Otherwise, the Kingdom of Denmark would no longer have substantial influence over the people because their very own leader is not truthful and held to a standard of accountability. To fulfill his plan and put action to all the words he has spoken about his dear uncle, Hamlet emerges a scheme in order to reveal Claudius’ deceit which he will do by having players reenact his Father’s death scene. He will then have Horatio closely analyze the reaction made by the King. (2.2.606-617 ) By doing this, Hamlet takes a stand against deceit and oppresses the idea even though that is what he lives this new life by. Many close to Hamlet begin to question his sanity to the fullest extent. Polonius concerns himself with the actions of Hamlet

In acts two and three of Hamlet, characters use deception to discover the truth; however, they suffer personal consequences due to their deceit. Hamlet deceives most of Denmark by creating a fake craze to uncover the truth and to confirm the ghost’s information about his father's murder. He tells Horatio and Marcellus about his false madness; having them swear to never tell anyone no matter “how strange or odd soe’er I bear myself”(Shakespeare 1.5.171). Using the antic-disposition, Hamlet draws attention away from his suspicious activity while he gathers information on Claudius who he suspects is the murderer. By doing so, it is his way of commencing his revenge against his Uncle, hoping that it will make Claudius guilty enough to reveal himself

“Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night, sweet prince; And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest,” (Act V, scene II, lines 397-399.) Horatio, the prince Hamlet’s best friend in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, spoke this to Hamlet moments after his tragic death. Hamlet itself is a tragic play that takes place in Denmark. The play opens with the ghost of the former King of Denmark telling his son, Hamlet, how Claudius, King Hamlet’s brother, killed him and how Hamlet must now kill Claudius, who married Gertrude, King Hamlet’s former wife, and took the throne. Throughout the middle section of the play, Hamlet attempts to indict and murder Claudius through various ways. On one occasion, he is called to Gertrude’s room, where Polonius, Claudius’ advisor, waits behind a facade to collect information about Hamlet’s apparent madness. Hamlet mistakes Polonius for Claudius and kills Polonius, setting the final portion of the play in action. As a result of Polonius’ murder, Claudius sends Hamlet to England to be killed, but manages to make his way back to Denmark to see his former love interest buried at her funeral due to the fact that she was Polonius’ daughter and could not deal with the trauma of his death. Laertes, Polonius’ son, and Claudius hatch a plan to kill Hamlet with a poisoned foil tip and a poisoned beverage because they want revenge for Hamlet’s actions. The plan fails when Gertrude drinks the poison herself and dies. Laertes then scratches Hamlet with the poisoned tip, while

It contributes to one of the many themes in the play which is: that dishonesty can lead to tragic events. Hamlet has been putting up the charade that he has been going insane due to the loss of his father and although it may be true – individuals run mad after the loss of a loved one – Shakespeare shows a complete movement into the dark side with Hamlet. The theme of the play is followed up when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern go up to Prince Hamlet claiming they are here to see how he is doing. “I know the good King and Queen have sent for you,” (Act 2 Scene 2 Lines 303-304). Hamlet up fronts his old friends lies shaming them for what they have done, lie to him. This part was significant in the play because it shows the irony of Hamlet knowing their whole scheme before they even walked into the room. Making them seem like fools as they approach him and attempt to lie. The theme of the play does not develop into something new it just gets deeper within its own values, and in this case its value was the strength of

v. 33-34). Hamlet, if anything, was more of a Renaissance man than a medieval man, which is why he had so much trouble killing Claudius; he was more of a thinker and less of a doer. Hamlet says to himself, "Why, what an ass am I! /.../the son of a dear father murdered, prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, must like a whore unpack my heart with words" (II. ii. 549-552). Because of his immense frustration and grief, Hamlet kills Rosencrantz and Guildenstern without remorse and thus, regresses to become more a medieval man. As such, Hamlet loses his moral integrity and no longer thinks about whether it is right or wrong beforehand; he just does it. This is a downfall of Hamlet. Thus, this downfall would not have happened if Hamlet had not been sent away to England to be executed, which provoked him enough to kill Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

“Corruption is a cancer that steals from the poor, eats away at governance and moral fibre and destroys trust.”(Robert Zoellick)It ultimately impairs of integrity, trust, virtues, and hardens the innocent who suffers as a result of it. It messes up the good processes of governing and depreciates the morals of an individual and later endangers the society as a whole. It becomes a barrier to development and truth making no room for justice. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, fear of loss of power corrupts the State of Denmark. The motif corruption stems from Claudius and deliberately spreads to the other characters which eventually results in the collapse of Denmark. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark grieves at his father’s death, and the hassled marriage of his

Now it’s time to find out some truth, the ghost told me he is the King Hamlet’s soul. And told me how he got murdered, but I can ask no one about this thing. What if he is not telling the truth, I have to verify the truth before I actually do any revenge. Today is a perfect time, when the actors act, Claudius must have some kind of react. If he gets scared and anger, then the ghost is telling me the truth. But if he doesn’t have any abnormal actions, I have to think more about the ghost’s words. And I have to deal with my mom, what a cruel, cold and vain person she is. Since she is my mother and I promise to the ghost, I’m not going to kill her. But she should get punishment too. The day of the revenge is coming soon! Let’s them pay back for

This research paper’s theme is cunningness and deception, which led to the thesis statement: “The Shakespeare play Hamlet, is a story about cunningness and deception.” The reason why I came out with the idea is because throughout the class discussions and personal readings, several instances were perceived how characters are being untruthful. They play their roles cunningly and deceptively to stay in their own games for personal gain. The root of conflict in the play and the series of events that took place in the kingdom of Denmark, are reactionary to the cunning and deceptive deed of Claudius. Whereupon, the following characters that will be subject of discussion about these behaviors are: King Claudius, Hamlet, Polonius, Laertes, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Young Fortinbras, King Norway, and Queen Gertrude.

Throughout the play, Hamlet is constantly pulled away from his goal and kills many of the wrong people. One example is when the Ghost says “This visitation/Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose” (Shakespeare 2.4.122-123). I this scene, after Hamlet kills Polonius the Ghost appears to tell Hamlet that he needs to be reminded of the task at hand, killing Claudius and keeping Gertrude alive. Hamlet kills many of the wrong people instead of Claudius. This includes Polonius, Laertes, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern. During this time Claudius plots against Hamlet.

There are also many spy plots set up during the play which may also be considered as deceiving events. These spy plots demonstrate the appearance versus reality theme since they are invisible to the spied upon, but weave a web of dishonesty. In Act II, Scene 1, Polonius sends Reynaldo to spy on Laertes. Polonius does not trust his own son. Later, Hamlet directs a play entitled "The Mouse Trap" in order to spy on the King, Claudius. He does this to know whether or not Claudius is guilty of his own brother's murder. Hamlet is by far the most observed character throughout the play. Claudius first calls upon two of Hamlet's old friends, Rozencrantz and Guildenstern. He asks them to try to find the source of Hamlet's "madness". Polonius and the King himself later spy on Hamlet. This time, they use Ophelia to try to expose the reason of Hamlet's "madness". Another spy scene occurs in the Closet Scene when Polonius eavesdrops on Hamlet and the Queen. This proves fatal for the old lord chamberlain. Through Ophelia's death, the Triple-Pronged plan, and the various spy plots, the audience becomes aware of the beguiling nature of Hamlet's plot.

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is the tale of a young prince determined to uncover the truth about his father’s recent death. Hamlet’s uncle (and also the deceased king’s brother), Claudius, marries his mother the queen, and therefore, takes the throne. In the beginning of the story, Hamlet is told by the apparition of his dead father that it was Claudius who in fact murdered him. The theme that remains consistent throughout the tragedy is appearance versus reality. The characters introduced to us throughout the play appear to be pure and honest, but in reality are infested with evil. They deceitfully hide behind a mask of integrity. Four main dishonest characters which are found to be disguised with righteousness are Polonius, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and the freshly crowned king Claudius. The first impression presented by these characters is ones of

On a dark night, the deceased king’s shadow walked among the Elsinore castle when spotted by watchmen and scholar, Horatio, who immediately reported to Prince Hamlet who then went looking for him and when he saw the ghost of the king, he told his son that his brother, Claudius, killed him to gain the throne and marry his wife, Gertrude. He promised to avenge his father and delayed entering deep melancholy and madness which was when his uncle and his newly married wife got worried about Hamlet’s behavior, they sent Hamlet’s two friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to look after him and see what the reason was. When the Lord Chamberlain, Polonius, suggested Hamlet was madly in love with his daughter Ophelia, so Claudius agreed to spy on Hamlet, but found no trace of any love, instead he decided to ban marriages and force Ophelia into nunnery. Then, one night, a group of actors came into Elsinore and Hamlet had the idea of having a play that demonstrates the way he think his father was murdered, and right when the part came up, Claudius left the room. He and Horatio agree that Claudius certainly murdered his father, but when Hamlet went to kill him, Claudius was in prayer which means if he dies he’ll go to heaven, so Hamlet decided to wait, but the king fearing his own safety, ordered Hamlet to England at once! So Hamlet decided to see his mother, and hearing a noise behind the tapestry, he thought it was the king, but ended up killing Polonius, so the king sent him to

already.”(5.2.49-55). By changing his name that was on the letter to England, to the names of

After deciding that he can’t just murder Claudius without significant proof of him killing his father Hamlet decides that he’ll throw a play with events similar to the death of his father and attempt to get a reaction out of Claudius. When the play has been planned and he’s ready to catch Claudius red handed Hamlet begins to descend into temporary insanity. During the play Hamlet becomes progressively more erratic and throws jabs at the audience occasionally. When Ophelia comments on the briefness of the prologue Hamlet responds with “As woman's love”(III.i.137-138). But after all his plan is successful.As the fictional king Gonzaga is murdered and the murderer “gets the love of Gonzago’s wife”(III.ii.290) Claudius shoots up and immediately leaves the theater. Hamlet then stumbles upon Claudius praying. Believing it to be the perfect timing to enact his revenge Hamlet contemplates murdering him then and there. But he realizes that his father was killed with“all his crimes broad blown”(III.iii.86) and he will not allow Claudius the privilege of spending his afterlife in Heaven. Afterwards Gertrude calls upon Hamlet who is told by Polonius to “Lay Home to him”(III.iv.1) and tell him that his “pranks have been too broad to bear with”(III.iv.2-3)he then hides in the arras to see that it is done. During a struggle Polonius squeaks and is promptly is murdered by Hamlet who thought he was Claudius. Gertrude is taken aback scolds Hamlet for the murder. Hamlet responds that his action was nowhere near as bad as “kill a king and marry his brother”(III.iv.35). This proves that Hamlet is currently temporarily insane as he then proceeds to casually drag Polonius’ body out of