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How Does Shakespeare Use Deception

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Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare is a play that revolves around deception and trickery. Much of the play involves the Duke of Vienna using deception to manipulate others and as an escape from his fears. He avoids the truth by disguising himself as a friar and no one questions him, not even the friar whose robe he borrows. Deception manipulates both the audience and the characters of the play. Deception has the ability to eradicate all sense of trust and faith in someone if they are found to be deceiving. Those with power are often the ones to use deception. The Duke in Measure for Measure uses deception to conquer the provocative nature that is starting to envelope Vienna due to his benevolent ruling and his ignorance towards the laws. There are many ways in which Deception can be employed. Deception is a veil that is used to mask the truth from others either linguistically or physically. When deception is used in speech it is often used to manipulate your audience with complex or irrational jargon which is …show more content…

The Duke is interfering with the laws of Vienna by tolerating extortion, and Isabella displays selfish qualities because she does not care about the consequences that might prevail for Mariana. The Duke also appears selfish when he grasps for a way to deal with Claudio’s execution: “Let this Barnardine be this morning executed, and his head born to Angelo” (IV.ii.183-84). He does not think of what could happen to the Provost if Angelo discovers that his orders were disobeyed. The Duke deceives Provost with his apparent knowledge of death when his idea gets questioned and replies with “O, death's a great disguiser; and you may add to it. Shave the head, and tie the beard; and say it was the desire of the penitent to be so bared before his death. . .” (IV.ii.187-90). The Duke demonstrates the ways in which he uses his deception to manipulate others and the laws that he is trying to

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141 Words | 1 Pages

On the other hand, his secrets were exposed and he wasn’t rich. He was in fact a phony person and tried to make everyone else idol him. For this reason, he always tried to take advantage of anyone and anything and if plans didn’t work, he would just pack up and move away to start fresh. For this reason, I found the Duke

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246 Words | 1 Pages

In the book there are many times when people lie for their own benefit which is deemed to be bad. The duke and the dauphin are notorious con men who lie for their own gain. “Alas, alas, our poor brother – gone, and we never got to see him; oh, it’s too, too hard!”

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211 Words | 1 Pages

Trickery and Deceit Trickery and deceit seem to surround the theme of William Shakespeare’s play, Much Ado About Nothing. It is hard to notice which is good deception and bad deception. Sometimes it is used to benefit each other’s lives.

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701 Words | 3 Pages

In the well-known play The Crucible, the themes of lies and deception are strong and always present, and it even shows the radical argument that no kind of deception can ever be ethically justified. At the heart of the play is the idea that lies and deception can be used to manipulate and control others, leading to tragic consequences. The characters in the play, whether knowingly or unknowingly, engage in acts of deceit, concealment, and seld-deception, highlighting the destructive power of falsehood and the importance of telling the truth. Through its portrayal of the Salem witch trials, The Crucible raises important questions about the nature of truth, justice, and morality, and highlights the dangers of allowing fear and hysteria to cloud one's judgment.

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713 Words | 3 Pages

Deceit is used both to help and to hinder characters, as well as to create situations, that help make the play more interesting and complex. Shakespeare uses deceit in Much Ado About Nothing to create specific situations. The whole plan of how Leonato, Don Pedro, Claudio, Hero, and her maids got Beatrice and Benedict together sums up perfectly of how Shakespeare created situations. These character had Beatrice and Benedict overhear them saying that Beatrice/Benedict was madly in love with Benedict/Beatrice. Without the element of deceit, these characters would have never admitted that they loved each other.

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758 Words | 4 Pages

The metaphor, ‘the baby beats the nurse’, is a good demonstration of how the Duke symbolises the people of the city as babies- giving the impression that they are child-like, have very limited ability to make decisions for themselves, and they know no better than the Duke does. The nurse symbolises the governing powers of the Duke- an essential part of the people’s lives to keep them from going astray and to keep order within the Duchy. However, the reality of the ruling of Vienna contradicts the one set out by the metaphor of, ‘the baby beats the nurse’. As the Duke has demonstrated the complete opposite of a good, solid leader needed to govern the people, this suggests a flaw within the Duke’s character and judgment. Through suggesting this, it depicts how the Duke is not one to take account for his own actions, and sees himself as someone much better than he actually is.

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1346 Words | 6 Pages

Deception is the name of the game—be whoever and say whatever to ensure that you woo that special lady before anyone else can get their grimy grabbers on her. In The Taming of the Shrew, this mentality proves to be quite prominent. Disguises and deception play a huge role in the play and reveal much about the author himself, William Shakespeare. Throughout the play, the characters lie in order to get what they want, but they may not always gain an advantage from it. In The Taming of the Shrew, the motifs of deception and disguise permeate the plot and characters and reveal much about Shakespeare and the his values.

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1940 Words | 8 Pages

Hamlet Character deception is a common characteristic that has and will be a reflecting characteristic in literature for centuries. In many of William Shakespeare’s tragedies, deception, whether positive or negative, is being used to mislead, to protect characters, or to hide a crime or future crime. Analyzing why the characters are using deception against each other is very important to the reader’s understanding of the work as a whole. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, He uses Hamlet’s deception of character and also the character’s use of deception towards Hamlet to carry out the overall theme of the tragedy. The theme that is represented, is that in able to get malicious revenge, you must be able to act as if you are someone different than your true self while in turn, being able to deal with others deceiving you.

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407 Words | 2 Pages

Shakespeare’s use of language helps to portray the major theme of deception in the play Hamlet. The utilization of diction helps to equate Claudius to an evil person, while metaphors help to make the comparison between Claudius and a deathly animal. By making comparisons and using specific word choice that help support the theme, Shakespeare is able to portray the deceitful antics of King

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1295 Words | 6 Pages

Deception comes in many forms and can be seen in all kind of ways but mainly when someone purposely causes someone to believe something that isn 't true to gain a personal advantage. Many authors use this tactic in their plays books and other literary work like in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the author uses the technique of deception to mislead Claudius, Gertrude, himself, Ophelia and his friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spare their feelings and to carry out a crime. Hamlet uses deception throughout the novel, but one way is to distract everyone from his true intention which is to gather information against Claudius to prove he killed his father. Shakespeare contributes all this back into his work by making each character in the play enact on some form of deceit to uncover the obscure truth.

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1544 Words | 7 Pages

Many works of art, especially literature, has a large focus on deception and how deception pushes a plot and story along the line to completion. This had been used in the long history of literature an uncountable amount of times by a lot of different authors, but one of the most popular works which has a heavy focus of deception and the consequences thereof is the drama, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, by William Shakespeare. This drama, often just called Hamlet features incredibly heavy themes of deception as almost every character is being deceitful in someway, which all has varying effects on the advancement of the main story and plot. Arguably the most deceitful character in the entire drama is the namesake Hamlet. Hamlet has

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765 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the play, deception is a vital element in the betrayal of both King Lear and Gloucester. For example, Shakespeare depicts Edgar’s scheme personality by saying, “A credulous father, and a brother noble— / Whose nature is so far from doing harms” (1.2. 192-193). By utilizing descriptions such as “credulous” and “noble” to describe Gloucester and Edgar, it reveals the malicious aspect of deception. Shakespeare shows the evil behind this deception by revealing Edgar wants to take advantage of the innocent for his own personal gain. In contrast, Kent’s deception is seen as, “If but as well I other accents borrow, /

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473 Words | 2 Pages

I do perceive/ these poor informal women are no more/ but instruments of some more mightier member/ that sets them on: let me have way, my lord, to find this practise out” (V, i, 2644-2649). The Duke ordered Angelo to marry Mariana and is not condemned to death after Isabella pleads for his life. The way that everything is settled at the play’s end is apropos in tying together the theme of justice at hand. Measure for Measure refers to the fact that, sooner or later, people get what they deserve. The play’s conclusion amends the excessive injustice that took place and either compensates or punishes each of the characters in compliance with their own virtuous

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339 Words | 2 Pages

Deception is an essential element in any tragedy. Its' affects on the lives of the characters could be destructive or benign. In William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark deceit proves to be the very foundation of the play. Shakespeare builds on this idea of deceit between the characters, from the very beginning. The deceit that is practiced is imposed on others as well as self inflicted ultimately leading to a tragic ending.

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839 Words | 4 Pages

Many of the characters in Macbeth use deception to persuade others to do things they want done. Most times these deeds are bad and in the end come back to haunt the characters. Throughout the whole play, Shakespeare uses the theme of deception to create tension, and scandals. These acts of deception will be the falling of many characters and also one of the main themes of the play. In acts one and two, the use of deception is demonstrated.

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