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Hamlet Deception Essay

793 Words4 Pages

The name Amleth is said to mean ‘trickster’ or ‘stupid.’ The legend of this Danish prince was written by Saxo Grammaticus in 1200 AD and is the inspiration for the play Hamlet, which was written by William Shakespeare between 1599 and 1601. In the play, deception is a major component and the start of the horrible tragedy that ends in mass death. Hamlet, attempting to get revenge for his father's murder, devises a plan against the new king Claudius who is responsible for this treason. In a combination of pretend madness and stress, Hamlet kills a man, sending his old girlfriend Ophelia into insanity that drives her to suicide, resulting in her brother Laertes challenging a duel between them. However, with the chaos of change and different obstacles …show more content…

Early on, he was not afraid to talk to the ghost of his dead father even when they were alone, saying, “It’s not going to speak here so I will follow it” (Shakespeare Act 1 Scene 4 Line 68). Even though Hamlet knew it was much riskier if the two of them were alone, he was willing to take the risk. Also, Hamlet was a fine fencer and was not afraid to duel with Laertes in a fencing match, even though most people knew he was the best in the land and a difficult opponent to beat. “I’ll win the king’s bet if I can” (Shakespeare 180). This shows that Hamlet is daring and would have guided Denmark to succeed as its …show more content…

As stated before, when he talks, everyone listens. However, Hamlet also convinced everyone at the royal castle that he was going mad. Polonius even noted, “we all agree that Hamlet’s crazy” (Shakespeare Act 2 Scene 2 Line 105). However, when speaking to the actors he was excited to see, he did not seem insane. Another way Hamlet showed his acting skills is when he convinced Ophelia and her father, Polonius, that he was in love with her. He was so convincing that Polonius told Claudius to “Take my head from my body if I’m wrong” (Shakespeare Act 2 Scene 2 Line 167) when insisting “the cause of Hamlet's madness was unrequited love.” (Shakespeare Act 3 Scene 1 Line 187). Hamlet changed how others thought and convinced them to believe what he wanted them

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