In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Hamlet creates a plan to act as a madman in order to figure out who killed his father after being greeted by his ghost. Hamlet develops an obsession over his father's mysterious death leading Hamlet to form a plan to deceive the public as a madman, which leads to the ultimate demise of Hamlet and those around him. Through Hamlet’s deception, Shakespeare explores how deception impacts both the individual and society. After the death of his father, Hamlet is overwhelmed and conflicted with grief. Shakespear highlights this lingering grief through Hamlet's conversation between his uncle, King Claudius, and his mom, Gertrude, in which they urge Hamlet to move on. After finding out that his dad may have died from poison given to him by King …show more content…
. As Hamlet is portraying the act of a madman, one of the actions he takes is verbally assaulting Ophelia which descends Ophelia into madness. . Later, Polonius hides in Gertrude’s room to spy on Hamlet in order to find out the source of his sudden, bizarre behavior. However, this leads to the death of Polonius, after Hamlet thought Polonius was Claudius and killed him. The death of Polonius, who was Ophelia’s dad, takes an even bigger toll on Ophelia’s mental status, ultimately leading to her suicide. Through this Shakespeare not only displays the effect Hamlet’s deception had on those around him, but also highlights the effect Hamlet’s deception has on himself through the extreme lengths he is willing to take in order to enact his revenge. Hamlet’s behavior highlights that as time goes on and the more Hamlet involves himself in this character he has created for himself, the more he changes mentally to become a madman, displaying the toll deception has on an