Hamlet Appearance Vs Reality Analysis

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are characters in Hamlet who have a more complex side to them than one might assume. Hamlet sees them as good friends who have always been there for him, such as after his father 's death when they came “to visit [him]; no other occasion” (99). Although they acted as good friends to Hamlet, in reality they were manipulative and deceitful. The two characters had a darker side because they acted as Claudius’ and Gertrude’s spies. Near the end of the play, Claudius, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern

I think Hamlet by using his mad façade hides his real intentions and motivations from his enemies and people that will give away information,

Although he appears to be a confident father he does not trust his son to go away on his own. Furthermore, Polonius adds to the theme of appearance versus reality by ordering Ophelia to stop seeing Hamlet. He lies to her by telling her that Hamlet does not love her, he only lusts for her. Two of Hamlet's closest friends from his childhood Rosencrantz and Guildenstern can as well be viewed as liars who become very deceitful to Hamlet. After being asked by the king to find out what is bothering Hamlet, the two go to Hamlet pretending to see him as a friend, but are in reality just obeying the king's orders. When they ask what is troubling Hamlet, they become insincere, and almost sound as though they had rehearsed what it was they were going to say. Hamlet noticed that the boys were told to do this and states, "A dream itself is but a shadow" (Hamlet 73). Hamlet then realized that his own friend were not in reality any friends at all. The king again sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to apologize for their behavior but Hamlet noticed their intentions yet again and simply insulted them. Hamlet's supposed friends greatly add to the theme of appearance vs. reality.

       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

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

     Appearance versus reality is one of the central themes of Shakespeare's play, Hamlet. The characters in the play assume roles for the purpose of concealment - Claudius, in reality a murderer and usurper, plays the roles of grieving brother and rightful king; the adulterous Gertrude plays the role of a 'most seeming-virtuous queen' when she is, in her son's view, a 'most pernicious woman'. Even Hamlet himself assumes the role of a madman in his attempt to establish the reality of his uncle's guilt.

Gertrude makes it seem as if she and Claudius are recruiting Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to help cheer Hamlet up. In reality they are recruited to spy on Hamlet and see what his plans are.

“That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain…” (I.v.109). Throughout the play The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare, many if not all characters put up their own facade. However as the play concludes, each and every one falls apart. Perhaps that’s the biggest lesson of the play. That nothing good comes from being fake.

The themes of duality and deceit and the search for meaning and order are central to the essential message of Hamlet that certainty is unattainable. This duality makes up the entire structure of Hamlet, proving that, “A double blessing [truly] is a double grace” (I.iii.58).

Deceit is a recurring dilemma used to mask one’s reality in Hamlet. Webs of lies are spun to create a fictional appearance of a character. Notably, Old Hamlet’s ghost declares, “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life/ Now wears his crown”(1.5.46-47). The Ghost revealed to Hamlet he was not actually killed by a snake but murdered by Claudius in his sleep. Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius, also the new king, deceived the public in the death of the previous king, allowing him to come into power. Claudius also relied on the help of others to spy on Hamlet to better keep the reality of his crimes hidden, for example, “To draw him on to pleasures, and to gather/ So much as from occasion you may glean,/ [Whether aught to us unknown afflicts him thus]/ That, opened, lies within our remedy” (2.2.15-18). Claudius lied to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern about his true reasoning as to why they must find answers from Hamlet, circumventing them to deceive Hamlet. As characters began to catch onto the deception of others, they plot against those beguiling them. These recurring small acts of deception to develop

Hamlet’s childhood friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern both try to deceive Hamlet. However, their unskilled uses of dishonesty and disloyalty have resulted in their ironic death. They are introduced in the beginning of Act 2, Scene 2 as Hamlet’s childhood friends who are sent for by King Claudius for their services. When they first meet Hamlet and are asked the reason for their arrival, they answer: “To visit you, my lord, no other occasion” (2.2.78). However, Hamlet has already seen through their attempted act of trying to fool him and then replies: “You were sent/for, and there is a kind of confession in your looks, which/ you modesties have not craft enough

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is a timeless play which continues to remain relevant across all generations due to its presentation of ideas that are fundamental to humanity. The play highlights aspects that relate to the society of not only Elizabethan England but also that of our modern society. Hamlet, as a character, considers ideas from outside his time and is somewhat relatable to modern day man. By drawing from ideas of archetypes and the human psyche, it reveals that Hamlet relates deeply to the elements of humanity.

In Shakespeare’s famous tragedy Hamlet there is a dominant and overwhelming theme that is amplified throughout the entire play. Things are not always what they seem. Many of Shakespeare’s most complex characters hide behind multiple masks of lies and deceit. The American Heritage Student Dictionary defines illusion as “an unreal or misleading appearance or image” and reality as “the state of things as they actually exist”. The focus of this essay is the struggle between illusion and reality in Hamlet. The theme of illusion versus reality outlines the great play due to the fact that various characters portray themselves as different people on the outside than they really are on the inside. Because illusions

One of the significant themes in Shakespeare’s Hamlet is appearance versus reality. The majority of the main characters in Hamlet has a false face that conceals their actual aims while attempting to make sense of what others have at the top of the priority list. For instance, Hamlet pretends to be mad so as to analyze Claudius’s guilt in killing his father old Hamlet. This is a case of irony because Hamlet himself hides behind a mask of a melancholic madman to find out Claudius’s intentions. Thus, he shows tremendous hatred towards Ophelia to make others believe that he has gone made due to his unrequited love for Ophelia.

Shakespeare examines the theme of appearance and reality in his book-Hamlet. The dilemma of what is "real" is established at the very beginning of the play. Hamlet doesn’t know what to believe and devises a plan to find out. The old king Hamlet appears to be bitten by a snake, but in reality he was poisoned, the ghost appears as an apparition, but it’s actually real, and the play-with-in-a-play strongly depicts the theme of appearance vs. reality.