In theater, the playwright may write a genre that will enlighten the audience by teaching them a key moral. In the case of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Shakespeare inspires and encourages the audience to avoid secrecy and deception. Throughout the story, lying leads to evil and tragedy. It is evident from the tension between the word "withhold", which connotes concealment and deception, and the word "share", which connotes openness and honesty, that the characters exemplify the idea that withholding the truth can only lead to suffering, therefore teaching the members of the audience to avoid tragedy in their own lives.
The trail of treachery begins when scheming characters are forced to withhold information, so they shroud themselves in mystery and use equivocal language to mask their inner thoughts. Some suspicious characters avoid facing their guilt by using vague language that is not consistent. For example, Claudius suppresses his feelings surrounding the King’s death because of Claudius's guilt, as is seen from his speech to the court, he speaks equivocally by saying, “with mirth in funeral and dirge in marriage,” (1.2.10) steering clear of announcing his sorrow or contentment. By refusing to make a clear statement, Claudius’s paradoxical words are meant to confuse his audience and shroud his true feelings and guilt. Likewise, other observed people are confined to secrecy so they utter small pieces of the truth, but still remain ambiguous, which causes confusion and uncertainty. For instance, when Hamlet first meets the ghost of his father, the spirit hints to the truth behind the afterlife, as he says, “I am… confined fast in fires”, but quickly replies that it is retribution his sins, but then also states, “but that I am ...
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... Claudius is forced to witness the downfall of his kingdom, and is then murdered by the one he watched. Dishonesty and secrecy lead to tragedy and the death of all those who pursued the evil, yet if the characters had shared the underlying meaning of the peculiar events, many of the spies would not have committed their heinous crimes, or have followed their crooked leader.
Any action predicated on one character’s withholding of information could have been remedied by sharing the information. This undeniable truth proves that the curiosity of humanity can lead to destruction and anguish. The playwright’s motive is for the audience to understand this lesson and rid themselves of secrecy and unhelpful curiosity. The playwright’s parables are aimed to not only enlighten, but to change perspective of the audience, ultimately leading to the improvement of humanity.
It has always been in human nature to hide feelings from others, but there is a point where the idea of having a healthy exterior becomes more important that what is actually happening internally. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the motif of a seemingly healthy exterior concealing inward sickness establishes the idea of characters and of the nation of Denmark as being corrupt through foreshadowing and irony.
Claudius’s three “sins” were his Greed, Lust, and Envy. These three sins of man would translate into his desires, fear, and ambitions, which led him down a dark path. Since Claudius took the dark path, he ended up the same way most who take the path of darkness end up: Dead and Alone! Understanding this helps you as the reader to understand the book a little better. It also tells the tale of what can happen if you take a dark path to get ahead or obtain your desires. Do not make the same mistakes as Claudius, because there is the possibility that you could end up with a bad future, no friends or family to help you, and
As Hamlet learns the true intentions of Claudius, any inkling of trust that he had for him has been thrown out the window like a garbage bag on the side of the highway; he shrieks, “O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain! My tables – meet it is I set it down,” (I,iv,106-107) into the night. This discovery destroys any feelings Hamlet has left for Claudius which causes the relationship to lean towards the hostile side as Hamlet plots ways to assassinate Claudius. Shakespeare uses the single words separated by commas to add to Hamlet’s rage, showing that Hamlet’s judgment is blinded by his white-hot rage, so he makes short remarks which express his rage. He then plans to validate the ghost’s confessions through setting up a play that simulates the death of King Hamlet to get a reaction from Claudius (III,ii,40-72). When Claudius sees that scene, he bolts out of the room shrewdly yelling, “Give me some light. Away!” (III,ii,235), fearing that people may know about his treasonous act. Shakespeare writes using short sentences to show that Claudius is antsy and has his mind running on other things besides the play, proving his guilt. This is the tipping point for Claudius’ trust in the relationship. As of right now, he has no reason to distrust Hamlet, but with him suspecting Hamlet knows about what he did to King Hamlet Claudius ends all possible ties with
... of treachery and, luckily, Hamlet realizes the king’s subterfuge, crushing the plot and flipping it back on him. Claudius remains steadfast in his efforts to remove Hamlet, going so far as to set up a false fencing competition and foolishly pushing the poisoned wine without considering the suspiciousness of the action. In his short-sighted and rash decision making, Claudius shows that he allows his inflated sense of regality and self-worth to cloud his judgment.
For instance, Hamlet meticulously plans and revises the Mousetrap play to evoke a reaction out of Claudius. He recognizes that better details and acting in the play evokes a stronger a reaction thus allowing Hamlet to analyze the degree of guiltiness in Claudius. This is noticed during Hamlet’s perpetual reminders and advice to actors before the play, “Be not too tame neither, but let your own discretion be /your tutor. Suit the action to the word, the word to the /action, with this special observance, that you o’erstep /not the modesty of nature.” (3.2.16-19). With these reminders and advice from Hamlet, actors are able to perform exceptionally better thus Hamlet will achieve a more convincing reaction from Claudius. In addition, Hamlet’s analysis on who is trustworthy forwards his ability to be secretive and avoid being betrayed. He understands personalities of different people and their personal connections, and thus is able to only Horatio. When Hamlet condemns Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s guilt for spying on him, he uncovers to his good friends, boldly stating he will protect his secrets, “Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me.” (3.2.378-379). Though they are his childhood friends, Hamlet carefully and successfully evaluates them as spies and therefore avoids revealing what he hides. Hamlet’s meticulous trust in only one person
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.
Claudius is also a character who is neither true to himself nor to others: he is not being true to the rest of the kingdom. He does not want to give up his gains, so the people of Denmark do not know why their previous King has died and his brother taken over. While making an attempt to pray, he realizes that his sins cannot be forgiven.
The play is filled with corruption, lies and deception which result in tragic ends for most if not all of the main characters. It’s not just the one character though that creates all the corruptions and the deceits. For example Polonius pretends to be a loving and caring father but in reality he’s selfish, hypocritical and incredibly nosy. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern act as if they have come to comfort their “friend” Hamlet but turns out they were just spying on him and planning on killing him. They are all just as villainous as Claudius. However, the difference between Claudius and the rest of them is that he is cunning, lack morals and manipulative with his language, and unlike Hamlet, he is quick to take action. Without Claudius, there wouldn’t of been such a tragic story. Throughout the play, Claudius’ manipulative speech has been referred to as being like poison being poured into the ear, which also relates to how Claudius killed King Hamlet. Claudius uses his manipulative speech to influence the other characters to do the dirty work for him. He manipulates them to become corrupt and deceiving. For example when Laertes found out about his father’s death, Claudius confronts him and tells him it was Hamlet who killed Polonius. Claudius knows Laertes is a rash man and plans to use that to finally kill Hamlet without doing it himself. He quickly told Laertes of his plans in the hope that Laertes’ feelings were still fresh and raw, and further manipulated him by saying that if he did not avenge his father and kill Hamlet, then that was proof enough that he didn’t love his father. In doing so Claudius easily convinces Laertes to duel Hamlet. “Not that I think you did not love your father, but that I know love is begun by time, and that I see in passages of proof”(Act 4 Scene 7 lines
In Hamlet's speech to the players he tells them, "Suit the action to the word, the word to the action, with this special observance, that you o'erstep not the modesty of nature; for anything so o'erdone is from the purpose of playing, whose end both at the first, and now, was and is, to hold as 'twere the mirror up to nature, to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure." What Hamlet wants is for the actors to be moderate and natural in their depiction of life, not exaggerated, and not dull. The speech shows us the significance of how the fictional reality of art, can bring out the reality that Hamlet seeks in his uncle. He also believes that the theater exists to "hold the mirror up to nature" and hopes that Claudius will see his evil nature reflected in the performance.
Claudius is driven by power that has caused him to become a sinner through his actions. He is a man with ambitious when it comes to getting what he wants. Through his movements he was able to get the throne, his brother's widow and have control of Denmark. However, he has different characteristic when he is seen in public and in his intimate time. When he is surrounded by people he is seen as someone who is capable of being a great ruler and unite the people of Denmark. Despite that Claudius has a side others have not seen in him yet which he does the unexpected committed a murder. All the things that he has acquired throughout the play has been because of his wicked mind. He has the ability to fool others in order for his true identity to
The Shakespearean play of Hamlet captures the audience with many suspenseful and devastating themes including betrayal. Some of the most loved characters get betrayed by who they thought loved them most. The things these characters do to the people they love are wrong, hurtful and disappointing. These examples lead to the destruction of many characters physically and emotionally. The characters in the play who committed the act of betrayal end up paying for what they have done in the form of death, either from nature, their selfishness, disloyalty and madness. The act of betrayal truly captures and displays the play of Hamlet as a sad tragedy.
Trust is defined as the reliance on the integrity, strength, ability or surety of a person or thing. To break ones trust is to lose their confidence in the person or thing. Trust can be broken with a single, unreliable action and is often challenging and difficult to win back. In the case of the one whose trust was broken, it is a difficult, jarring and abrupt change of reality to discover the betrayal and loss of trust in someone who they once relied upon . In William Shakespeare 's play entitled Hamlet, the protagonist Hamlet is unable to take swift revenge on his father 's murderer. This is due to the fact that Hamlet has become distrustful of the most important people in his life and so this sparks a question in those around him but also
During his investigation, Hamlet discovered the motive for Claudius’s murderous betrayal; with the throne vacant, Claudius can rule over the kingdom. Hamlet sadly learns his father’s
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.
In general terms, corruption is the act of corrupting or of impairing integrity, virtue, or moral principle. In politics, corruption is the misuse of public power and image.Whether it is realized or not, no country is wholly free of the disease of corruption, and if it is allowed to develop and become significantly strong, it can obstruct the good processes of governing and deteriorate the fabric of society. It can become a barrier to continual development and make it so that essentially no room remains for justice to succeed. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the destructive force of corruption is clearly exemplified through the abundance of imagery concerning decay, death, disease, sickness, and infection as the play progresses. The first and foremost example of this corruptionis the murder of King Hamlet and the resulting incestuous marriage of Gertrude and Claudius, which forms the foundation for corruption becoming a regular happening in the state of Denmark.The disease of corruption in the play stems from Claudius and slowly spreads through Elsinore and eventually results in the collapse of Denmark, which is signified by the takeover of the castle and land by Fortinbras, the nemesis of Hamlet and the Norwegian Crown Prince.Through the characters of Polonius, Claudius, Ophelia, and Hamlet, the evolution and disease-like spreading of this corruption can be observed.