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Hamlet Appearance Vs Reality Analysis

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Sometimes it can be difficult to separate what is being said or done from what is real. People can say what they mean or they can speak in riddles, leaving everyone else skeptical of what they are trying to convey. Some hide the truth under a veil of pretty lies. Everyone, since the beginning of time, has wished that people see them as the best version of themselves, and it seems that some will do almost anything to hide their reality. This ongoing theme in time is also a prominent theme seen throughout Hamlet.
In Hamlet, Hamlet brings attention to a couple of realities due to his anger. One reality hidden by Claudius, and the other by Ophelia. Hamlet says that he is perplexed "that one may smile, and smile, and be a villain" (Shakespeare,…show more content…
When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern tell Hamlet that his mother wishes to speak with him, he asks out of the blue if Guildenstern can play the recorder. He replies saying that he can't, and Hamlet reveals that he knows that they manipulate him to get the answers Claudius wants by speaking in a metaphor. "You would pluck out the heart of my mystery. You would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my compass. And there is music, excellent voice, in this little organ, yet cannot you make it speak" (Shakespeare, 3.2.338-341)? Hamlet realizes that these two that he used to call friends have turned against him and that all they care about now is getting Claudius the information he wants. They are only trying to appear to be Hamlet's friends in order to keep close to…show more content…
Before they have a plan, they make this promise, "And for his death no wind of blame shall breathe, but even his mother shall uncharge the practice and call it an accident" (Shakespeare, 4.7.67-69). Claudius is so certain that they can come up with a foolproof plan that will be so absurd that everyone will believe it was an accident, which leads to their actual plan. "And for that purpose I'll anoint my sword. I bought an unction of a mountebank, so mortal that, but dip a knife in it, where it draws blood no cataplasm so rare, collected from all simples that have virtue under the moon, can save the thing from death that is but scratched withal" (Shakespeare, 4.7.140-146). This quote explains what Laertes has come up with as a master plan. Claudius will set up a fencing duel between Hamlet and Laertes, in which Laertes will kill Hamlet, although to a normal person or spectator, it would look like any other duel.
Throughout Hamlet there are many occurrences of appearance versus reality, only a few of which have been brought up here. This theme is very important because it helps readers to better understand the world around them. It may help them to remember that people may not be as sympathetic, or as selfish, as they
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