Reality and Illusion in Shakespeare's Hamlet - The Deception of Appearance

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince Hamlet serves as one of the most multi-faceted characters in the entire play with critics often deeming his personality “paradoxical”. Ultimately, Hamlet provides the audience with the epitomy of internal contrast and instability by rapidly transitioning through periods of caution and rash action, introversion and extroversion and calculation and spontaneity.

There is a general understanding that appearances can be deceiving. This is one of the most fundamental questions in philosophy, appearance vs. reality. When we meet people and get to know them throughout our lives, we soon discover that there is a genuine side to everyone behind the appearance they show. In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the characters Polonius, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Claudius use appearance vs. reality to manipulate and deceive, which ultimately leads to their downfall.

Throughout the tragic play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, there are a multitude of characters who seem to act one way but, below the surface, are completely different than they are portrayed. These characters hide behind their own disguise, masking their true identities. The motif Seems Versus Is is brought to the reader 's attention in Hamlet because it shows that although people might seem to be one way, they can be completely different on the inside. These disguises serve as obstacles for Hamlet to overcome throughout 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.

Shakespeare's main character Hamlet is a victim of both internal and external conflict. His conflict includes a physical nature as he goes about to avenge his father's death. Shakespeare translates further the idea of internal versus external conflict by giving it a physical nature. Shakespeare also uses soliloquies to emphasise Hamlets inner thoughts and conflict. This stands in contrast to the way he acts amongst others; with the intention of highlighting the inner turmoil he is experiencing. The infamous quote, "To be or not to be: that is the question: whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer…." (Act III, scene i, 58-90). It is during this soliloquy that

with this statement Hamlet has asked Horatio for his aide in his charade of false insanity to deceive the ones who had involvement of his father’s murder. Even through his accidental actions such as the murder of Polonius, he does not display any signs of paranoia or regret over the accidental killing because he does not obsess over the opinions of others, In fact Hamlet may perhaps be the only character in the entire play that has he has been able to not be overcome by his actions and stay consistent with his own character traits and flaws while maintaining an appearance of false insanity in the eyes of the public while everyone else has either feeling regret or remorse for their actions such as Claudius and Laertes or overcome to mental delusion such as Ophelia.

Through Shakespeare’s perspicacious genius, in Hamlet he has depicted an aspect of humanity that belongs essentially not to his age but ours. He does so by subverting the audience's’ expectations of a revenge tragedy through his characterization of Hamlet as having an overactive intellectual mind, which results in his delay from action. Hamlet spends the vast majority of the play ruminating over philosophical questions related to the typical themes of revenge tragedy; action, murder, revenge, but also the purpose of theatre, philosophical questions of life, family relationships and the importance of rituals (such as funerals). Therefore, Hamlet is essentially about the attempt to hold a mirror up to human nature and work towards expressing

Ophelia has an important relationship and entangling affair with the prince. Hamlets and Ophelia’s actions in time lead the young women into a deep grief, and eventually an even deeper lunacy. Her burning emotions and truly mad mind

After hearing Ophelia’s description of Hamlet’s abnormal behavior after he gets rejected by her, Polonius concludes that his neglected love “hath made him mad” (2.2.122). Therefore, in order to confirm the origin of Hamlet’s madness, Polonius constantly spies Hamlet. He “looses [his] daughter” to purposely arrange an encounter between her and Hamlet and secretly listens to him hiding behind the scene; then further on, he again spies him in Gertrude’s bedroom and observes his conversation with his mother (2.2.176). Thus, Polonius keeps tries to manipulate Hamlet’s life and interferes with his privacy in order to see his madness. This is a clear wrongdoing of Polonius, as his actions would be considered immoral, and, therefore, Polonius’ spying on Hamlet shows more evidence why Hamlet would justify Polonius’ death.

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

Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, begins with the appearance of a ghost, an apparition, possibly a hallucination. Thus, from the beginning, Shakespeare presents the air of uncertainty, of the unnatural, which drives the action of the play and develops in the protagonist as a struggle to clarify what only seems to be absolute and what is actually reality. Hamlet's mind, therefore, becomes the central force of the play, choosing the direction of the conflict by his decisions regarding his revenge and defining the outcome.

Through this conversation, Ophelia is forced to deceive Hamlet. However, Hamlet is not fooled. He knows something is up and doesn’t disclose any pertinent information. In a way, this could really be considered Polonius’s deception because he is the one really in control, not Ophelia. Either way, these deceptions are important in building conflict, contributing to the need for a resolution.

Rather than manipulating emotions like Claudius, Hamlet used intellect as a means of confusion and deceit. Throughout the play, it’s shown that no one really understands Hamlet like himself. His intellect is of a grandeur scale when comparing it to the likes of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. This meant that it was meant for nobody to figure Hamlet out as he was “acting madness”, as there was no one who could possibly do such a thing. While Polonius had caught on, saying; "Though this be madness, yet there is method in't." (2.2.203), he had assumed the wrong reasons. However, like Claudius, he viewed others as tools, namely, the tools of the other player: Claudius. His passionate quest for revenge had caused him to shut everyone out but Horatio, who was really the only person Hamlet trusted throughout the play. He viewed them as pawns of Claudius who were all out to stop Hamlet from avenging his father. Perhaps the most iconic and notable example of this is when he confronts Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. “’Sblood, do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you fret me, yet you cannot play upon me.” (3.2.354-356) Here Hamlet confirms for the pair that he does not trust them. He believes that his childhood friends are working with Claudius or are trying to exploit him for their own gain.

Hamlet tells the story of a son seeking revenge for the murder of his father, the king of Denmark. Hamlet’s uncle poisoned the king so he could control the kingdom, ironic since Hamlet’s father did the same to the father of Fortinbras, the Norwegian prince. Several themes can be traced throughout the play. Two prominent themes include the constant reinforcing of male dominance, and the question of reality vs. unreality. Women are powerless within the play because they are seen as inferior; they depend upon the help of men to clear any existing conflicts or raise them to positions of power. From the beginning of the play to the end there is heavy contrast between the concepts of reality and imagination. Not only do we encounter Hamlet’s father’s ghost multiple times, but characters continuously hide their true emotions in favor of staying secretive. Both themes influence and shape the overall meaning of the work; the path of revenge is useless resulting in death, madness, emptiness, or all of the above.