Hamlet Appearance Vs Reality Essay

   Most characters in Hamlet present themselves as something other than themselves or how as we, the audience, or another character thinks they should appear.  Two of the main characters in this play, Hamlet and King Claudius, are constantly acting as something other than their true nature.    Ironically, the characters that invoke changes in Hamlet and King Claudius to reveal their real personalities are the players, merely actors themselves, not showing true emotion: (in this short analysis, I will attempt to display the truth revealed by the players) they agitate King Claudius and allow Hamlet to see their appearance as more accurate to the truth than the appearance of "real life

Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and Claudius all had their own good reasons for putting up a false appearance. We can see that all these characters have died for it, one way or another. In the play

The facades that each character assumes are all important to the complex duplicity and insanity that follow. It shown that all characters in the play have multiple personalities with the exception of Horatio. The characters reveal what’s behind their mask only when they talk to the audience during the asides and soliloquies in addition to the manipulation of language for Hamlet’s case. Furthermore, Shakespeare introduces the actors to add the ‘play within a play’ effect. This acts as a tricky literary device that suggests that the play itself revolves around the charade undertaken by most of Shakespeare’s characters as the ‘play within a play’ occurs in the middle of the play…...

Claudius is not the only fraudulent character in the first two scenes where the theme of appearance verses reality is prevalent. When Hamlet’s mother tries to get Hamlet to accept the fact that all things in nature die she asks him, “If it be, Why seems it so particular to thee?” (I, II, 79) Hamlet responds with, “ “Seems,” madam? Nay, it is I know not “seems.” ” (I, II, 79) Hamlet accepts the fact that all things in nature eventually die, yet he refuses to believe the appearance of how his father dies. The queen is again applied to this theme when she addresses Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet:

“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.

In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare their world has become so obscured by lies that the characters as well as the readers can no longer decipher literary fact from fiction. The play begins shortly after the death of Hamlet’s father and subsequent marriage of his mother and uncle. Already shattered from what he perceives to be a betrayal to his father’s memory Hamlet’s world is completely turned upside down when he discovers that his uncle, Claudius, is responsible for his father’s murder. The theme of reality versus perception is prevalent throughout the play in which things that appear to be good and honest are truly corrupted with malevolent intentions. Claudius, Polonius and Hamlet himself embrace their dishonest nature in order to

       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

The tragedy, “Hamlet” written by William Shakespeare, who formulated a play about the young Prince of Denmark, Hamlet, who faces the emotions, depression, anger, and uncertainty due to the murder of his father, King Hamlet. The man who conducted this unlawful action was Hamlet's uncle, step-father and the new King of Denmark, Claudius. Hamlet desires to seek revenge upon Claudius for his father's murder and the incestuous relationship between him (Claudius) and Gertrude (Hamlet's mother). In prince's first soliloquy, he contemplates on committing suicide because he faces difficulty in mourning of the death of his father whom he greatly adored. Moments later, he expressed his emotions on his mother's decision to marry her dead

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

Hamlet fascinates many readers and the first thing to point out about him is that he is mysterious. Shakespeare's work demonstrates Hamlet's dilemma as the role of revenger showing a man of thought forced to be a man of action. Hamlet is extremely philosophical and introspective. He is particularly drawn to difficult questions or questions that cannot be answered with any certainty. Faced with evidence that his uncle murdered his father, Hamlet becomes obsessed with proving his uncle's guilt before trying to act. He is equally overwhelmed with questions about the afterlife, about the wisdom of suicide, and about what happens to bodies after they die.

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.

will.” ( III I, 179-181) The fear of what will happen after death deters him.

One aspect that makes William Shakespeare’s Hamlet alluring is how he broke the limiting mold of the one-dimensional character by representing characters in all of their human complexity. Hamlet, for example, is a compelling character because he is complicated. As Hamlet himself observes early in the play in, “Tis not alone my inky cloak/nor customary suits of solemn black, /Nor…forced breath/No, nor the fruitful river in the eye, /Nor the dejected ‘havior of the visage…/with all forms, moods, and shapes of grief, /That can denote me truly” (1.2.80-86). Hamlet insists that he is an individual with many psychological and philosophical facets, though he

A lot about a character shows when that character steps back and says what they are thinking aloud. This is the case for Prince Hamlet. William Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet” features Prince Hamlet, who is depressed about his father’s death and his mother remarrying so soon. Hamlet is visited by the ghost of his father and is ordered to get revenge for his father’s death. Hamlet devotes himself to the task, but because of his nature,he enters deep melancholy and even apparent madness. Throughout the play, Hamlet can be seen being very noble but indecisive at the same time. Hamlet’s soliloquies reveal a lot about his character. However, they mainly show the readers how he can be noble but is indecisive. He can also be viewed as someone in a deep state of depression. These values are shown through his actions of insulting himself for not acting upon what he believes in and continuously reassuring himself that what he does is correct, as well as his word choice and feelings that are expressed out loud to himself during the seven soliloquies.

“To be, or not to be: That is the question”(3.1.58). This is probably the most famous quote in all of Shakespearean literature and was uttered by the main character, Hamlet, of the play “Hamlet” written by Shakespeare. It demonstrates his instability and suicidal thoughts. Throughout the play he comes off as a very unpredictable and complex character. He makes many rash decisions, but at the same time often takes a lot of time to contemplate many of his choices. Through Hamlet’s language and voice, we can examine what type of character Shakespeare created. Hamlet acts differently towards people in contrast to his actual thoughts, which are projected through his soliloquies. Due to the insanity