Can betrayal lead to a person becoming more scandalous than the one who committed the betrayal? In Hamlet, betrayal seems to be the reason everything else happens. Hamlet must decide exactly how scandalous he is willing to be, after finding out his uncle possibly murdered his father to take the throne. Shakespeare portrays Hamlet as someone who will figure out the truth and someone who will go as far as they need to. Shakespeare uses mood, tone, and irony to develop the themes of scandal and betrayal. Although scandal and betrayal are the two main themes used in the book, betrayal is basically what the book is centered around. In the book, Hamlet and Ophelia are having a conversation. Hamlet says, “ You should not have believed me; for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it.” It means that Ophelia shouldn’t have believed him when he was showing acts of love, and as the book describes more of the sentence, …show more content…
Hamlet has plans to find out what really happened that day that his father was out in the garden and was supposedly bitten by a snake. Did his uncle really pour poison in his ear like the ghost had said? In Act III, Scene I, Hamlet says, “Or if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool, for wise men know well enough what monsters you make of them.” Shakespeare’s tone confuses the reader as he has to be putting this words in Hamlet’s mouth for a reason. What reason? Hamlet must know that King Claudius and Polonius are eavesdropping. Shakespear’s tone is not too cruel, but Hamlet is definitely calling Polonius a fool, for trying to make his daughter marry Hamlet. The Mood of it would be how it makes themes seem even more scandalous. Why were they eavesdropping? The dramatic irony used in these scene was different. Hamlet obviously knew they were eavesdropping or he wouldn’t have called her a father a fool. We knew that they were up to something but did