How Does Shakespeare Use Deception In Hamlet

Jocelyn Laux

Mrs. Ludwig

ENGL 1205

13 January 2023

Dangerous Deception

Psychologists have found a multitude of reasons to explain why people lie and deceive. Some individuals deceive to avoid punishment or protect the feelings of another while others, knowingly or unknowingly, partake in self-deception as a way of protecting themselves (Lewis). Depending on the person, they may use one or more of these tactics to get what they want. All characters in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet employ methods of deception, and it becomes a recurring motif in the play. Many characters make selfish or greedy choices, and they use deception to camouflage their selfish desires. Claudius’s success and marriage are entirely reliant on his skills in manipulating

His desire for power leads him down a dark path. He murders his brother to become king and disguises his actions as an accidental death (1.5.41-53). He also marries King Hamlet’s wife, Gertrude, which causes turmoil in Hamlet’s life. He cannot fathom why his mother would remarry so quickly and even states that "a beast that wants discourse of reason / Would have mourned longer!” (1.2.154-155). He is shocked by how quickly his mother moves on and how she does not seem to grieve over her dead husband. Claudius takes what he wants, and he does not bother to care about the negative effects on the people around him, particularly Hamlet. Hamlet has always been wary of Claudius, but when the ghost of King Hamlet reveals to Hamlet that “the serpent that did sting thy father’s life / Now wears his crown,” his suspicions are confirmed (1.5.46-47). No one else is aware of the actions Claudius has taken, so it is easy for him to manipulate and deceive people into following him since he is innocent in their

His soliloquy “reveals him not only as passionately remorseful – with a heart in no way cauterized by crime – but as so clear-sighted, so pitiless in the analysis of his own offences and of the motives that actuated them that he cannot juggle with his conscience” (Gopinath and Abraham 12). It is obvious that he values the benefits and not the emotional effect of his actions on the people around him. The people closest to him are harmed by his selfishness, but they do not realize they have been manipulated into doing Claudius’s deeds until it is too late. Selfish desires are a normal experience, but acting upon them frequently and deceiving others to achieve these wishes not only harms the relationship between people, but it also has a negative effect on the deceiver’s conscience and leads them to believe that they are doing what is best for