Appearance Versus Reality In Shakespeare's Hamlet By William Shakespeare

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An ear, as defined in the Oxford dictionary, is the organ of hearing and balance in humans, an ability to recognize, appreciate and reproduce sounds, and a word used to refer to a person’s willingness to listen and pay attention to something. William Shakespeare, and his ability to transform language, escapes the singular meaning of the word ear in order to create multiple meanings behind it. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the word ear is used as a motif in discussing the theme of Appearance versus Reality: nothing is what it seems. The different ways the ear is seen as a tool enabling communication allow for readers to uncover the symbolic, literal and metaphorical uses of the ear and its influence of deciphering the truth in a corrupt world. Shakespeare …show more content…

The ear is the part of the body that is used as a tool in collecting information, thus symbolizing the beliefs of a particular character. This idea directly refers to the overarching theme of Appearance versus Reality; Shakespeare makes a point to recognize that what is heard isn’t always the truth. The first direct mention of ears is in Act 1 Scene 1, “Let us once again assail your ears, that are so fortified against our story”, is a direct relationship to the idea of not only listening, but also one of not always believing what is heard (1.1.31). A character’s actions based on what they hear demonstrate their willingness to act on what is perceived with or without evidence, enabling the audience to evaluate reliability of a character. Polonius is an example of a character that acts on what he hears. He relies on the words that enter his ears through his acts of spying on Hamlet in order to gain knowledge and recognition of his nobility from the King. Thinking his own ear is the most reliable, Polonius plans to spy on the encounter between Hamlet and the Queen, “Behind the arras I’ll convey myself to hear the process… Since nature makes them partial,

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