Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Hamlet loyalty and betrayal
Lessons learned about deception in hamlet
Lessons learned about deception in hamlet
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Hamlet loyalty and betrayal
The Naivete of Hamlet
Keeping secrets keep you isolated from your friends and make you very lonely. Hamlet’s loneliness, false friends, and betrayals cause his downfall to a great extent. The court of Denmark is filled with spies: Claudius hires Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to spy on Hamlet; Polonius spies on Hamlet in Gertrude’s bedchamber; Polonius uses Ophelia as bait to spy on Hamlet. Hamlet is not a part of this deceit; he is honest. For example, Claudius suggests Hamlet is honest when he and Laertes are discussing their dual scheme; Ophelia believes Hamlet is honest and says, "What a noble mind here is o’erthrown!" (III; i; 157), referring to Hamlet’s antic disposition, even though he has been insulting her for two previous acts. His relationship with Horatio shows his true character, because of how much he trusts him. ("Horatio, thou art e’en as just a man as e’er my conversation coped withal" --III; ii; 59). Someone who is naïve is often taken advantage of in a hard, cold, deceitful world.
Having your stepfather get your best friends to spy on you must make you feel horrible. When Claudius hires Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (R&G) to spy on Hamlet,
I entreat you both…/…/
so by your companies
To draw him on to pleasures, and to gather,
So much as from occasion you may glean,
Whether aught to us unknown afflicts him thus
That opened lies within our remedy. (II; ii; 10-18)
they confess to Hamlet that they were sent to spy on him. Hamlet shows this by saying, "Nay then I have an eye of you. –If you love me, hold not off." (II; ii; 301).
It is as though he were saying to them, ‘If you were really my friends, then you should tell me why you are so interested in everything I do.’ He later takes revenge on his friends, who are sent to spy on him when he is being sent to England. He opens the letter to the English government, and changes ‘kill my crazy son Hamlet’ to ‘kill these messengers’, and seals the letter back up with his fathers’ ring:
Without debatement further more or less,
He should those bearers put to sudden death,
Not shriving time allowed/…/
I had my fathers signet in my purse,
Which was the model of the Danish seal…. (V; ii: 45-50)
Curiosity killed the cat. Polonius’ spying on Hamlet is what kills him.
...country. By lowering the legal drinking age, we are only making alcohol more accessible. Lowering the drinking age would make alcohol available to a lower demographic which would result in horrible outcomes. From stunted brain development to the increase of alcohol related deaths, lowering the legal drinking age is an impractical idea.
structure of the future leaders of the country. Through the conceit of the adults in Hamlet,
Hamlet’s decision to keep the murder of his father a secret to himself, along with the betrayals of many of his close friends and family, leads to his eventual downfall. If someone was there for him, whether it was his mother Gertrude, his girlfriend Ophelia, or Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, maybe his timeless death could have been prevented. Instead, his mother sides with Claudius who wants to kill him, Ophelia won’t go behind her father, Polonius’, back to be with him and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern go behind Hamlet’s back and spy on him for Claudius.
It is clear Hamlet can be interpreted from a multitude of perspectives on numerous levels. I cannot quite grasp Mr. Bloom's contention that this is a work of near biblical importance nor can I accept his allusions to Jesus or the Buddha. "Hamlet remains apart; something transcendent about him places him more aptly with the biblical King David, or with even more exalted scriptural figures."(Bloom, 384). My immediate response is that when Mr. Bloom shuffles off this mortal coil, I don't believe Billy Shakespeare will be waiting with a pint of ale.
The first way that deceit leads to the eventual downfall of Hamlet is Polonius' spying. In Act III, scene iii, Polonius decides to help the king by spying on Hamlet and his mother when he says, "My lord, [the king] he's going to his mothers closet. Behind the arras I'll convey myself to hear the process." (III; iii; 28 - 29) In Act III, scene iv, Polonius gets his chance and listens to a conversation between Hamlet and his mother, hoping that Hamlet would confide something in his mother that could be used against him. Unfortunately for Polonius, Hamlet hears him behind the curtain, and (thinking that Polonius is actually a spying King Claudius) immediately stabs and kills him. This event contributes to Hamlet's downfall because Claudius is able to use it as an excuse to send Hamlet away to England. Officially, the king sends Hamlet away, "for thine especial safety," (IV; iii; 37) with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern because the murder might earn him some enemies. Privately though, Claudius plans to have Rosencrantz and Guildenstern go with Hamlet to convey a message to the King of England that Hamlet is to be executed. In addition, by sending Hamlet away, Claudius is protecting himself because Hamlet is, "loved of the distracted multitude [the public]." (IV; iii; 4) So, if Hamlet were to show the people that Claudius had killed Hamlet's father, then they might believe him, and as a result, overthrow and kill Claudius. Thus, the downfall is that Claudius wants Hamlet dead. In addition, if Claudius' plan works, then Hamlet dies and his father’s death would not be avenged. So, if Polonius had not spied on Hamlet and Gertrude, Hamlet would not have killed Polonius and thus, Claudius would not have a good enough excuse to send Hamlet away to England.
Instructions: Answer all questions. Use your copy of the play to back up your answers with direct quotation where possible. Use the first answer as a guide to your answers. You must type your answers. (17 points).
The “strong independent woman” is an amalgamation of modern attitudes towards women. Feminist, outspoken, and sexually liberated, this entity breaks the “mother figure” stereotype usually attributed to women. Current society reinforces these unconventional notions, however this was not so in Shakespearian times. In Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, most female characters are portrayed in “unstereotypical” ways. Lady Macbeth’s “unsex me speech” leads her to acquire male attributes throughout the play, Lady Macduff openly criticizes her husband for leaving, and minor characters such as “the sailor’s wife” are inhospitable and unaccommodating. Although this seems to portray support for modern views of women, this is not true. It, in fact, reinforces traditional roles, as every “strong independent woman” within the play is punished. Women that go against “natural gender roles” disrupt order and lose their personal stability. This is evidenced by the actions of Lady Macbeth, minor female characters such as the sailor’s wife and the gentlewoman, and Lady Macduff.
Even though Hamlet is a prince, he has little control over the course of his life. In that time many things were decided for the princes and princesses such as their education and even who they married. This was more or less the normal way of life for a child of the monarch. But in the case of Hamlet, any of the control he thought he had, fell away with the murder of his father. Having his father, the king, be killed by his own brother, sent Hamlet into a state of feeling helpless and out of control. Cooped up in a palace with no real outlet, he tries to control at least one aspect of his life. Hamlet deliberately toys with Ophelia's emotions in order to feel in control of something since he cannot control the situation with Claudius.
One of the first supernatural occurrences in Macbeth involved witches giving a prophecy to Macbeth and Banquo. The witches tell Macbeth, “All hail Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!” (Shakespeare, 30). After this prophecy, the witches give another prophecy to Banquo: “FIRST WITCH. Lesser than Macbeth, and greater. SECOND WITCH. Not so happy, yet so much happier. THIRD WITCH. Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none” (Shakespeare, 31). These prophecies signify that while Macbeth will become king, only Banquo’s heirs will obtain the crown.
This is shown through Polonius’s discussion with Reynaldo about spying on Laertes, Claudius and Gertrude’s conversation with Reynaldo and Rosencrantz about spying on Hamlet, and Hamlet’s scheme of describing his father’s death in his play to watch Claudius’ reaction and confirm that Claudius
The play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, shows human nature to be greedy, self-involved and vengeful. Claudius is driven by his greed to commit murder. Polonius is always looking out for himself, currying favor at the expense of anyone in his way. Hamlet thinks only of vengeance from the moment he finds out about Claudius murdering his father. Human nature has been all of these things, but it has also evolved through the ages. We can be base and cruel, but we can also show great compassion and kindness.
Though this first soliloquy occurs rather promptly in the play, there are still a lot of proceedings that lead up to it. Hamlet comes back from school to find all is not well in the state of Denmark. His father has died a mysterious death, and his mother has already remarried his father’s brother. In royal times it was customary to mourn the death of royalty for a year, yet his mother only waited two months to remarry. She not only waited two months, but she was committing what Hamlet and others considered incest. This anomalous marriage paired with the recent meeting whit his mother and stepfather, where Hamlet is embar...
Hamlet the Hero There are various ways to define a hero. There is an endless amount of people who are heroes. A hero can be, "one who exhibits courage and/or daring," a hero can be, "one who is supremely noble or self-sacrificing," a hero can be a champion or a winner. A hero can save the day, or even save your life.
Although Hamlet has many significant soliloquies throughout the play, two show very different sides of Hamlet’s character to the naked eye. His “O all you host…” soliloquy portrays an enraged, passionate Hamlet while his “O, what a rogue…” demonstrates how Hamlet’s rationality has stopped him from taking action. Both soliloquies use dark diction, vivid, scholarly imagery and syntax to characterize Hamlet, and portray common Shakespearean themes of revenge and deception.