ipl-logo

Lies And Deception In Hamlet

625 Words3 Pages

In 1603 William Shakespeare wrote a play by the name of Hamlet.(Britannica) Hamlet is about a young man whose father, the king of Denmark, was murdered coldly by his own brother. His brother’s name was Claudius and Claudius wanted money, power, and the queen. Once this discovery of foul play is known to Hamlet his quest for revenge had begun, introducing the downward spiral of royal family’s everyday live. Once begun the many occasions of acts of rage, lies and deceit took place, and just like in Hamlet, impulsive actions, lying and deception are very prevalent in today’s society. A perfect example would be this year’s 2016 election. Politicians have an infamous reputation for stretching the truth and being entangled in heated arguments, and with all of the excitement of Donald Trump running for president, whether good or bad, it has caused quite a reaction in millions of people around the world. Many of these debates have been centered around him and his obscene fits of rage and sometimes rude statement and opinions. And like Donald Trump, Hamlet was very quick to act out of rage when finding out that his this uncle had been poisoned. He instantly wanted revenge, not caring about what consequences may follow him during his quest to killing Claudius. Hamlet sets up his “friends” Guildenstern and Rosencrantz and has …show more content…

Towards the end of the play Laertes and Claudius both plot Hamlet's murder, knowing that he nor laureates could kill off hamlet themselves, knowing that he is loved by all of Denmark and his cherished by the queen they chose poison as their weapon. Setting up a fencing match between hamlet and laertes the two had laced laureates sword and hamlets drink. But just as fate would have it, their plan backfired when the queen drank the poisoned drink, ending her life. Hamlet then discovers he has been set up and attacks his uncle, killing him

Show More
Related
1250 Words | 5 Pages

After learning this, Hamlet’s sole motivation is to avenge his father’s death by revealing Claudius’ deception. Hamlet’s initial plan to expose Claudius is to have performers put on a play imitating the events of his father’s death. Hamlet says, I’ll have these players play something like the murder to my father before mine uncle. I’ll observe his looks; I’ll tent him to the quick. If ‘a do blench, I know my course…The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King (Shakespeare

Read More
1430 Words | 6 Pages

I wholeheartedly agree that Shakespeare brilliantly portrays a world in which deception and false appearances dominate. The masterfully crafted setting of Elsinore is a rotten cesspool of lies and deceit, filled with characters masquerading as honest and regarding over obsequiousness and espionage as perfectly moral practices. Nothing is ever as it seems and the dishonesty sweeps up even those opposed to it. Polonius is certainly the embodiment of sycophantic falsity in this play. He is constantly trying to ingratiate himself with others and is repeatedly seen to be prying into the business of others, which ironically leads to his demise.

Read More
402 Words | 2 Pages

Hamlet Act Three Essay Question 5 What defines a rat is the fact that these creatures are subtle, reprehensible, and deceitful. In Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet, no other characters define this description quite as well as Polonius. Being the main advisor to King Claudius, Polonius is in a high position of power and has a right to deploy any means to find what he wants from people, however, born from a lust for power, Polonius relies upon deceit to arrive at the truth. This use of deceit has been used as message by Shakespeare to convey several distinct themes about people who use these tactics.

Read More
621 Words | 3 Pages

Charles Dudley Warner said, “People always overdo the matter when they attempt deception.” Hamlet is a play that is filled with deception. Nearly every character within the play has lied to one another or committed a form of deception, making almost every character a master in the act. Lying and secrets are prominent from the very beginning of the play. When the ghost, said to be the late King Hamlet, is introduced, it is very secretive and kept quiet.

Read More
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.

Read More
407 Words | 2 Pages

One of the major themes in the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, is deception. In Act I Scene IV, one of the characters, Marcellus, claims: “Something is rotten in the State of Denmark” (1.4.100). This is referring to the act of deception, where everything may look fine to the naked eye, but there are underlying problems occurring in the state of Denmark. In utilizing diction and metaphors, Shakespeare adds more depth to one of the major themes of the play. Metaphors are used by Shakespeare to compare Claudius to a deathly creature, while nobody realizes his mal intentions.

Read More
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.

Read More
1327 Words | 6 Pages

When betrayed, one usually has negative emotions towards the people who have betrayed them. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare this idea is well illustrated, it is shown that betrayal affects the actions of Hamlet towards his friends and family, which indicates that the pursuit of vengeance often can cause one to forget the value of life. The betrayals that Hamlet suffered at the hands of his close friends and family, revealed important parts of Hamlet’s character, such as his intelligence, he is a very meticulous thinker that looks at situations from all angles, he is cunning, he has the ability to manipulate everyone into believing that he is insane, and he is skeptical, he does not believe any information until he finds it out for

Read More
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

Read More
647 Words | 3 Pages

His suicidal thought and his erratic behavior cause for the king, queen, Ophelia and his friends to begin to spy on him just pushes him over the edge. His action cause concern for King Claudius who shows in ways that he is not trusting of Hamlet because of this the King begins to plot with Laertes to kill hamlet in fencing dual. During this dual Hamlet is stabbed and dies from the poison that was on the blade. Gertrude is seems to be a shallow woman in some ways yet King Hamlet, Hamlet and King Claudius are all devoted to her.

Read More
1168 Words | 5 Pages

By expressing their unwavering loyalty to the king by agreeing to spy on Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern reinforce the theme of deception as he betrays Hamlet, their long-time friend, in order to carry out Claudius’s dirty work. This betrayal and deception ultimately lead to their tragic demise as the letter, Hamlet’s execution note, which they are ordered to deliver, is discovered by Hamlet himself and used against them. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are executed and Hamlet feels no guilt whatsoever, as their betrayal really hurt him. Another illustration of deception is highlighted through the various acts of King Claudius, as he is the mastermind behind many of

Read More
731 Words | 3 Pages

As a result,Hamlet can never trust his uncle’s wicked ways to get into people’s heads. Hamlet was betrayed by his friends because they worked for Claudius and gave orders from him,which caused him to not trust them either. For example,when Claudius summons Guildenstern and Rosencrantz to spy on Hamlet,Claudius said,”see if you can make Hamlet feel better and see if you can get info on what he is up to”(Shakespeare 87). This behavior shows evil purposes and twisted words. Claudius sends Hamlet’s friends to make him happier but also use them to see if Hamlet is mad.

Read More
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.

Read More
1534 Words | 7 Pages

Firstly, Hamlet is a play of a man by the name of Hamlet, whose father was murdered by Claudius, his uncle. Claudius murdered the king by pouring poison in his ear to claim the throne for himself. Hamlet is then told by a ghost to murder Claudius for revenge, and he struggles within himself for the length of play whether to do it or not. When Hamlet begins to hesitate it does more damage than good and causes a chain reaction of tragic events, and makes the readers question whether Hamlet is truly sane or not. Claudius’s corruptness begins to show when he uses his authority to order those around him to rid of Hamlet.

Read More
1854 Words | 8 Pages

Deception is an action driven with the motive to employ one purpose which can be to mislead another individual in order to gain knowledge, to get revenge, or to reveal a plan unknown to the public eye and keeping it that way for the dutiful well-being of the Kingdom of Denmark. In the tragedy Hamlet by William Shakespeare, deception develops into the character trait that initiates the actions, heartbreak, and revenge driving this play. This attribute held by Hamlet is the leading cause of this same flaw development in Ophelia, King Claudius, and many others in an attempt to reinforce the theme. This theme is one of heroism, but the deceptive notion each action reveals challenges the perception the reader has on each of the main characters. In order to be able to fully analyze the part Hamlet’s deception plays in driving the plot and storyline of this tragedy, one must understand that a foil character juxtaposes each character to illuminate their shortcomings.

Read More

More about Lies And Deception In Hamlet

Related Topics

Open Document