In any war, deception is an absolute necessity. Sun Tzu once said, “All war is based on deception.” These “wars” can be between nations, individuals, or even oneself; but they are all based on deception. William Shakespeare shows the use of deception many different times in his plays, in many different ways. Shakespeare’s Hamlet shows that, not only can deception make or break a plan for revenge, but also cause self deception. From Hamlet using deception to appear mad, to using deception to try and stop Hamlet’s plans, Hamlet displays the many uses of deception magnificently. The employment of the art of deception could bring a plan to success, cause a plan to fall apart, and cause the mastermind of the plan to deceive himself and go mad.
Deception is an extremely vital part of revenge. Deception makes people focus on something irrelevant to what is really happening that is not seen. The article titled “Madness” tells that Hamlet takes advantage of this notion. The article says, “It dawns on [Polonius] that Hamlet is not as mad as he is pretending to be” (Madness). This explains that Hamlet only pretends to act insane and that Hamlet acts insane for a reason. Hamlet only acts insane for the purpose of drawing attention away from his plans to gather evidence against his uncle Claudius, the king, and get revenge for the death of his father. One could also use deception to bend situations to his or her will. In the play Hamlet, Hamlet bends a potentially fatal situation to his own will. In the play, Hamlet says, “That on the view and knowing of these contents, Without debatement further, more or less, He should the bearers put to sudden death, Not shriving-time allow’d” (5.2.49-53). Hamlet rewrote a letter that he found, that said h...
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Works Cited
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Deceit is a major cause of the downfall of Hamlet. This is demonstrated in three instances in the play. First, Polonius spies on Hamlet while he is talking privately with his mother Gertrude. Second, Claudius sends Hamlet away to England. Finally, Laertes and Claudius scheme to kill Hamlet.
Everyone has lied at one point or another in their life. Whether it is a small white lie about an outfit’s mishaps or something that ruined a relationship, lying or hiding the truth is a universal theme that everyone could relate to. In Hamlet, William Shakespeare uses the theme of deception to develop characters and cause their ultimate downfall in the play. Deception is not only woven in the plot but also portrays through the characters’ action and personality, such as Claudius, Polonius, and Hamlet.
By the time Hamlet was written, “madness” was already a popular element within revenge tragedies in the Elizabethan period. But, the role of madness in Hamlet was deeply ambiguous, which set it apart from the other revenge tragedies of its time. Whereas other revenge tragedy protagonists were the complete opposite and just simply insane. Hamlet fiddles with the idea of being insane, which is where it all began. Hamlet states, “How strange or odd so'er I bear myself, / As I perchance hereafter shall think meet/
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Hamlet is a play by William Shakespeare about a prince named Hamlet who was spoken to by the ghost of his dead father telling Hamlet to kill his uncle Claudius (the new king) because Claudius killed him. The story revolves around Hamlet's dillema of how to kill his uncle while being deceptive enough so that no one finds out about the ghost. This essay will prove how deception is often used in Hamlet for many reasons. Claudius uses deception to protect himself from being prosecuted for his crime of killing the King. No one knows what the deal is with Gertrude because she deceives everybody by keeping to herself all the time keeping everyone from knowing anything. By using quotes from the book I will prove how these two (Claudius and Gertrude) and among a few others , use deception for different reasons and in different ways. A lot of the times it is to protect someone, or themselvs because they believe that the truth will hurt more than their lies.
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The Deceit of Hamlet & nbsp;& nbsp; Deceit is often used in politics and everyday life to acquire power and success. The theme of deceit is often repeated in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Hamlet’s hesitation in killing Claudius, and Hamlet’s eventual death, are a direct result of deceit in the court. Hamlet tries to deceive everyone into thinking that he is crazy. He believes that with this "antic disposition" he can kill Claudius without any consequences, and avenge his father’s death.
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It is no surprise there is truth and deception in Hamlet, considering Shakespeare’s other plays. Truth and deception are two words that mean different things to many people with each having great importance. Both terms being opposite of each other peak anyone’s curiosity. The words said together make you think about if the statement or situation wondering if it is true or is it false? Truth and deception is one of 18 easily identifiable themes, which help create the play Hamlet. In one of the first scenes, Hamlet starts betraying his feelings about his father’s death.