The concepts of deception and illusion are central themes in Shakespeare’s Hamlet and are illustrated throughout the tragedy in many scenes. Many of the play’s characters are involved in schemes intended to deceive or even kill others. Characters like Claudius, Hamlet, and Polonius are good examples of duplicitous characters because they are the masterminds behind major schemes in the play. Through their deceitful actions and words, these three characters best embody the two central themes.
First, Hamlet’s duplicitous nature, seen in his words and actions, helps illustrate the themes of deceit and illusion. For instance, Hamlet’s staging of “The Mousetrap” is part of his plot to kill Claudius. His plan is to stage a play that closely resembles
Finally, Hamlet manages to deceive his enemies by feigning insanity. His “antic disposition” draws attention away from his actual schemes. For instance, when speaking to Polonius in Act II, Hamlet first identifies him as a “fishmonger” and responds to Polonius with strange answers (Shakespeare, Act II, Scene 2). Polonius realizes there might be a method to his madness, but doesn’t know what Hamlet means to accomplish. The only people who believe Hamlet to be insane are Claudius and the people he manipulates (Crawford, “Hamlet’s Antic Disposition”). However, there are many instances that prove that Hamlet’s insanity is merely a deception. Hamlet tells Horatio of his plan to feign madness, saying “But now listen to me. No matter how strangely I act (since I may find it appropriate to act a little crazy in the near future), you must never, ever let on—with a gesture of your hands or a certain expression on your face—that you know anything about what happened to me here tonight. You must never say anything like, ‘Ah, yes, just as we suspected,’ or ‘We could tell you a thing or two
Claudius has managed to deceive everyone by hiding the fact that he actually murdered King Hamlet. For instance, the ghost of Hamlet’s reveals to Hamlet the truth about his murder. He tells him, “Everyone was told that a poisonous snake bit me when I was sleeping in the orchard. But in fact, that’s a lie that’s fooled everyone in Denmark. You should know, my noble son, the real snake that stung your father is now wearing his crown” (Crowther, Act I, Scene 5). Despite murdering his brother, Claudius doesn’t regret his actions very much. In fact, he only begs God for forgiveness after watching his sins acted out in “The Mousetrap” (Shakespeare, Act III, Scene 3). However, Claudius is caught between not wanting to give up all that he gained through his duplicity and the guilt borne from his sins (Goddard, “On Hamlet”). After he finishes praying for forgiveness, Claudius gives up on repenting, saying “My words fly up, my thoughts remain below” (Crowther, Act III, Scene 3). Claudius also deceives Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Claudius asks the two to find out the reason for Hamlet’s moodiness, saying, “Since you both grew up with him and are so familiar with his personality and behavior, I’m asking you to stay a while at court and spend some time with him. See if you can get Hamlet to have some fun, and find out if there’s anything in particular that’s bothering him, so
Claudius feels much guilt about the death of his brother he also faces the desires of power. The guilt of his brother death drives Claudius to be on his toes around the kingdom. He remains very scared that someone like Hamlet Jr. might avenge his father’s death. Hamlet Jr. chooses to use a play to test Claudius’s guilt. He rewrites parts of the play to replicate the story voiced by the ghost. Hamlet Jr. watches Claudius carefully during the performance, and the king leaves during it (Gale). Claudius gets up and leaves because he cannot bear to see the reenactment of how he killed his own brother. The internal conflict of the guilt about his brother eats Claudius up and he goes to repent for the corrupt act he has done: “My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent,/ And like a man to double business bound,/ I stand in pause where I shall first begin,/ And neglect; what if this cursed hand,/Were thicker than itself with brothers blood” (3.3.40-45). Claudius repents but knows his words will mean nothing to the heavens because Claudius is an insincere being whom
Let’s begin by talking about how Shakespeare uses other characters in the play as foils to Hamlet’s character. There are three distinct characters that are used as...
Throughout Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the main character, Hamlet, must seek revenge for the murder of his father. Hamlet decides to portray an act of insanity, as part of his plan to murder Claudius. Throughout the play, Hamlet becomes more and more believable in his act, even convincing his mother that he is crazy. However, through his thoughts, and actions, the reader can see that he is in fact putting up an act, he is simply simulating insanity to help fulfil his fathers duty of revenge. Throughout the play, Hamlet shows that he understands real from fake, right from wrong and his enemies from his friends. Even in his madness, he retorts and is clever in his speech and has full understanding of what if going on around him. Most importantly, Hamlet does not think like that of a person who is mad. Hamlet decides to portray an act of insanity, as part of his plan to seek revenge for his fathers murder.
Whereas most of the other important men in Hamlet are preoccupied with ideas of justice, revenge, and moral balance, Claudius is bent upon maintaining his own power. His corrupt politician whose main weapon is his ability to manipulate others through his skillful use of language. He manipulates fortune and takes what is not rightfully his, but remains unapologetic for his actions; he possesses enough strength to admit that he would do the same again. Claudius conscience make him such a complex
Throughout Shakespeare?s play, Hamlet, the main character, young Hamlet, is faced with the responsibility of attaining vengeance for his father?s murder. He decides to feign madness as part of his plan to gain the opportunity to kill Claudius. As the play progresses, his depiction of a madman becomes increasingly believable, and the characters around him react accordingly. However, through his inner thoughts and the apparent reasons for his actions, it is clear that he is not really mad and is simply an actor simulating insanity in order to fulfill his duty to his father.
Misleading instances in the play occur frequently.The moment when the Ghost tells Hamlet that his death was not accidental and that he was poisoned by Claudius is what starts the trail of lies and murder in the play, ( I;v;74-77 ) "Thus I was sleeping by a brother’s hand…/…/ cut off even in the blossoms of my sin, unhouseled, disappointed, unaveled." Until the night of the "Mouse trap", Hamlet still has some doubt in his mind about the Ghosts words. As soon as the king reacts negatively to the plot, Hamlet is one hundred percent sure that Clauduis was deceiving the whole country about Old Hamlet’s death; (III ;ii ;267) "O good Horatio, I’ll take the ghost’s words for a thousand pound. Didst perceive?" Hamlet witnesses the king storming out of the play, showing he was affected by the death of the player king, seeing as how the he died the same way as his brother. It is also apparent that Hamlet is out to mislead the general public by putting on a false face. His "antic disposition" allowes him to act without consequence. He is able to appear mad when it is convenient for him, and this allowes him not to raise any suspicion about his actions, ( I; v; 171-172 ) "As I perchase hereafter shall think meet to put on an antic disposition on."
Hamlet chooses to go mad so he has an advantage over his opponent and since he is the Prince of Denmark certain behavior is unacceptable, so by faking madness he is able to get away with inappropriate sayings and actions. We can see this when he talks to Claudius, Polonius, Ophelia and his mother. When Hamlet talks to Horatio in the first act he says how he is going to "feign madness" and that:
Hamlet throughout the play seems insane but in reality it is only an act to achieve his goal of killing his father's murderer. Hamlet chooses to go mad so he has an advantage over his opponent and since he is the Prince of Denmark certain behavior is unacceptable, so by faking madness he is able to get away with inappropriate sayings and actions. We can see this when he talks to Claudius, Polonius, Ophelia and his mother. When Hamlet talks to Horatio in the first act he says how he is going to "feign madness" and that:
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.
Throughout the Shakespearian play, Hamlet, the main character is given the overwhelming responsibility of avenging his father’s "foul and most unnatural murder" (I.iv.36). Such a burden can slowly drive a man off the deep end psychologically. Because of this, Hamlet’s disposition is extremely inconsistent and erratic throughout the play. At times he shows signs of uncontrollable insanity. Whenever he interacts with the characters he is wild, crazy, and plays a fool. At other times, he exemplifies intelligence and method in his madness. In instances when he is alone or with Horatio, he is civilized and sane. Hamlet goes through different stages of insanity throughout the story, but his neurotic and skeptical personality amplifies his persona of seeming insane to the other characters. Hamlet comes up with the idea to fake madness in the beginning of the play in order to confuse his enemies. However, for Hamlet to fulfill his duty of getting revenge, he must be totally sane. Hamlet’s intellectual brilliance make it seem too impossible for him to actually be mad, for to be insane means that one is irrational and without any sense. When one is irrational, one is not governed by or according to reason. So, Hamlet is only acting mad in order to plan his revenge on Claudius.
By far, Hamlet is the best piece of writing ever written by William Shakespeare in my opinion. In most tragedies heroes die in the worse manner ever; in the play Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet commits suicide, and like that Hamlet dies by getting stabbed with a poison blade. The theme appearance versus reality has shown a lot throughout this play. Things may appear to be one way, but in reality, it’s a different allusion to many evil circumstances. Many characters throughout the play tends to hide behind a different personality than what they portray in reality. There are four different characters that tend to show a different personality Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Polonius, and King Claudius. These characters have a different incognito. They give off the impression of being nice and truthful, but in reality they are filled with dishonesty and evilness.
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet revolves around Hamlet’s quest to avenge his father’s murder. Claudius’ first speech as King at the beginning of Scene 2, Act 1 introduces the themes of hierarchy, incest and appearance versus reality and plays the crucial role of revealing Claudius’ character as part of the exposition. The audience is left skeptical after Horatio’s questioning of King Hamlet’s ghost in the first scene of the play. By placing Claudius’ pompous speech immediately after the frightening appearance of Hamlet’s ghost, Shakespeare contrasts the mournful atmosphere in Denmark to the fanfare at the palace and makes a statement about Claudius’ hypocrisy. Through diction, doubling and figurative language, Shakespeare reveals Claudius to be a self centered, hypocritical, manipulative and commanding politician.
In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the main character, Hamlet, is often perceived by the other characters in the play as being mentally unbalanced because he acts in ways that drive them to think he is mad. Hamlet may very well be psychotic; however, there are times when he “feigns insanity” in order to unearth the truth surrounding his father's death. This plan seems to be going well until Hamlet's mental state slowly begins to deteriorate. What began as an act of insanity or antic disposition transitions from an act to a tragic reality. After studying Hamlet's actions, one will notice that as the play progresses, his feigned insanity becomes less and less intentional and devolves into true mental illness.
King Claudius, as illustrated in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, displays both charm and eloquence. Claudius is an intelligent person and is able to deceive people into believing he is innocent and morally guided. He is adept at manipulating people in order to advance and maintain his own power and fails to show any remorse for his actions. Claudius utilizes his linguistic skills to portray himself as an innocent and prudent leader; however, upon further inspection his diction is a mere smoke screen that hides his manipulative and cunning nature.
One of the most popular characters in Shakespearean literature, Hamlet endures difficult situations within the castle he lives in. The fatal death of his father, and urge for revenge leads Hamlet into making unreasonable decisions. In William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Hamlet’s sanity diminishes as the story progresses, impacting the people around him as well as the timing and outcome of his revenge against Claudius.