The Wrath of Deceit in Hamlet
There are many instances in life, where individuals are encouraged to deceive or be dishonest with each other. In a competitive world, people may turn to dishonest means to be successful, especially when the stakes are high. In the world of the Danish court, Hamlet is often a victim of deceit and dishonesty. In turn, this dishonest lifestyle leads Hamlet directly to his ultimate demise. At the beginning of the play, the first act of deception is Old Hamlet's description of his brother's treachery. Secondly, Claudius the master of deception seduces Gertrude; by becoming her husband, he cleverly becomes king. Lastly, it is proven that Hamlet himself is not dishonest or deceitful. Claudius admits this to Laertes as they prepare for the sword fight scheme. Hamlet only uses deceit when he is playing the game. The outcome of the play proves that being deceitful and dishonest with people can have tragic results.
The first act of deceitfulness in the game, is the discovery of Claudius' brutal murder of his brother, Old Hamlet. We see this, when Old Hamlet's ghost comes back from the afterlife. Hamlet has a suspicious feeling about the ghost's visitation, "My father's spirit in arms? All is not well. I doubt some foul play, foul deeds will rise." (I, ii, 255-259). We later find out, the spirit of Hamlet’s father has come back to explain the circumstances surrounding his tragic death, " 'tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard, a serpent stung me. So the whole ear of Denmark is by a forged process of my death rankly abused." (1, v, 35-38). Old Hamlet reveals to Hamlet the truth that resulted in his death, "The serpent that did sting thy father's life now wears his crown." (1, v, 3...
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...word fight. Hamlet only uses deceit against Claudius to expose him instead of hurting him. In a sense, Claudius’ use of deceit and treachery for his own gain ruined him in the end. Instead of Claudius having a great time as king, he ended up driving Hamlet to kill him. In addition, this proves that the deceitful behavior and lifestyle at court drives Hamlet directly to his ultimate demise.
The outcome of the play proves that a dishonest lifestyle can be detrimental. In the real world, people who are dishonest may excel at first but this behavior will eventually harm them in the end. People should try to have more sincere relationships with each other in order to remain successful, and not use negative means to achieve their goals. This is because deceit distorts your perceptions and it may lead you to loosing what you truly value in your life!
Claudius is responsible for the death of King Hamlet, regardless of this, he wants to portray himself as someone that is worthy of running the nation of Denmark. Claudius connects to the people of Denmark by demonstrating that they are all participating in the grieving of King Hamlet, “Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother’s death The memory be green, and that it us befitted To bear our hearts in grief” (I.ii.1-3). King Hamlet’s death is very recent, but Claudius places himself as someone that is part of the kingdom that will be mourning the death of King Hamlet. This is demonstrated through irony since instead of mourning he is actually enjoying what King Hamlet has left behind; the nation of Denmark and his wife, Gertrude. Through this, Claudius also demonstrates that he wants others to believe that he has not done anything wrong. In order to convey the image of being healthy, Claudius and his court drink merrily within the castle; making the excesses that the court enjoys apparent. Hamlet is not fond of the drinking but then comes to the conclusion that “His virtues else, be they as pure as grace, As infinite as man may undergo, Shall in the general censure take corruption” (I.iv.33-35). Hamlet then foreshadows his own destiny. No matter how good a person may be, that person can become corrupt due to something that has ...
This play shows that lying is wrong and will get you nowhere. At the end, lying will come back and haunt you. Also, lying will get you known as a liar. A liar who no one will believe at the end of the day. A liar that will be hard to be trusted by others. All of this is something that you want to avoid. Never lie and always tell the truth and you will end up feeling better about yourself. That is what I ended up getting from this ten minute play. Never lie because all those lies will be stored somewhere, maybe not recorded on tape like they were for the Person but stored somewhere like ones conscious. Lies will come back soon or later to come and bite you when you least expect it.
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."
The first major act of betrayal that kicks off the play is revealed when Hamlet is informed by late King Hamlet’s ghost that Claudius had betrayed him. This is seen when the ghost says, “Ay that incestuous, that adulterate beast, with witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gift,” showing that Claudius is in fact a traitor.
... 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.
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.
[4, 1, 40] These idiosyncrasies are observed in the play when Claudius becomes concerned he will lose power as King and the likelihood Hamlet will murder him to avenge his father’s death. This is apparent when Gertrude informs Claudius that Hamlet is, “Mad as the sea and wind, when both contend which is mightier”. [4,1,6] With these thoughts daunting Claudius, he approaches Laertes in a Machiavellian manner to convince him to murder Hamlet, for he knows Laertes is angry, deranged and “Vows to the blackest devil” [4,5,131] after the death of his father. In doing so, Claudius has the intent to use Machiavellian powers over Laertes who is currently mentally unstable, with the objective being that Laertes will murder Hamlet to avenge his own father’s (Polonius) death. Claudius is able to successfully persuade Laertes in a manipulative speech, especially with his snide comment, “Not that I think you did not love your father, but that I know love is begun by time, and that I see a passage of proof.” [4,7,96] Claudius’ malicious comment indicates he is using his power over Laertes, so that the burden and repercussions do not rest on him, so that he may retain his authority as King. By utilizing his power over Laertes, Claudius is successful, as Hamlet is slain, however, as reflected in Claudius’
Claudius is the king of Denmark, who is a very powerful and assertive man. He is the type of person that will do anything to get what he wants and everything in his power to stay king. He will do what it takes to get his way, even if that means betraying the person he is supposed to be committed to and love, his wife Gertrude. Gertrude is the mother of Hamlet, who she deeply cares for and loves. She is convinced that Claudius does as well. In order for Claudius to stay as king he must keep Gertrude happy and pleased. He accomplishes this by pretending to love Hamlet in front of Gertrude when in reality he wants to kill Hamlet. Claudius faces the truth that his secret got out and Hamlet knows he killed King Hamlet. Not wanting to ruin his reputation and of course stay king he plans to have Hamlet killed. He lets Gertrude believe...
Karen applied a more reality based approach while engaging Mike in conversation of what his believes were and then providing a reality definition of his believes. James engagement style was based more on Anthony’s strengths and what Anthony enjoys. It appeared that Anthony was able to trust James allowing him to be honest and open about his likes, dislikes, behaviors, and issues.
... the only way to honour his father Polonius is by killing Hamlet. In addition, as Claudius reads the letter from Hamlet to Laertes he says “'Tis Hamlet’s character. “Naked” And in a postscript here, he says “alone.” Can you advise me?” (IV, VII, 52-53). This shows that Claudius takes advantage of Hamlet’s return alone as an opportunity for Laertes to kill him. Through Claudius’s actions the readers observe how he deceives Laertes into killing Hamlet for his own benefit without getting blood on his hands. Furthermore, Claudius’ desperation to kill Hamlet leads to him losing sight of what is important, which is being the king of Denmark, what he originally wanted, instead the lies he told and the manipulation he spread is now taking over. To conclude, it is evident through the play that the words and actions of Claudius have only lead to the spread of deception.
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. When Cladius and Polonius hear of Hamlet’s madness, they decide to find out the reason behind it. They spy on Hamlet to figure out why he is acting this way. Through this Cladius learns that Hamlet is dangerous, and a threat to him. Hamlet’s trickery also leads to the death of Ophelia and her father Polonius. As well as triggering Laertes to seek revenge on Hamlet for causing the death of his family. After several attempts to kill Hamlet fail, Claudius teams up with Laertes and tries to murder Hamlet once and for all. Each of these plans directly or indirectly cause Hamlet’s death.
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.
Major depressive disorder, also known as clinical depression, major depression, unipolar depression or depression is a mental disorder characterized by a consistent low mood accompanied with low self esteem and a low interest or enjoyment in regular fun activities. Depression will affect one 's family life, work, schooling, sleeping habits, eating habits and all around health. No one is immune to depression, it has even affected some of the world 's most famous athletes and movie stars like Olympic gold medalist Clara Hughes or actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Chances are you or someone you know will be affected by depression in their lifetime.
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With his thinking mind Hamlet does not become a typical vengeful character. Unlike most erratic behavior of individuals seeking revenge out of rage, Hamlet considers the consequences of his actions. What would the people think of their prince if he were to murder the king? What kind of effect would it have on his beloved mother? Hamlet considers questions of this type which in effect hasten his descision. After all, once his mother is dead and her feelings out of the picture , Hamlet is quick and aggressive in forcing poison into Claudius' mouth. Once Hamlet is certain that Claudius is the killer it is only after he himself is and and his empire falling that he can finally act.