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Masks In Hamlet

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Is there ever a time when you know someone and they appear to be different than you expected? The characters in Hamlet have background stories, but they don’t tie in with who they are in the present. Their masks explain perspective and their faces explain reality. Their appearances don’t show who they really are. The characters are not who they say they are. Prince Hamlet appears to be a nice guy, but he is actually a deranged lunatic. Hamlet is arguing with Horatio and Marcellus about keeping him from following the Ghost, his father. "It will not speak. Then I will follow it … what should be the fear … hold off your hands” (I.iv.62, 64, 80). This tells us how Hamlet is going down a path to where he will do something and not know what will
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Contrasting his attitudes with the moments that the king walks in, his behavior towards Polonius while the play is preparing, and his actions to Ophelia during the play, Hamlet is sporadic, when alone with Horatio, he is calm and collected, then again the sudden resumption to his “antic disposition” when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enter. There is a long break in which we don’t sense any insanity from Hamlet, this is due to the fact that he has no need to assume his disguise. When we find Hamlet with the players, he is giving them directions for the play. With the players, Hamlet acts normal and of sound mind because the players are not likely to betray him, they don’t have the opportunity or the wish to do so.

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Act 1, scene 4: “And there assume some other horrible form, Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason, And draw you into madness? Think of it”. -Horatio (After Hamlet sees the ghost, Horatio worries it will affect Hamlet’s brain and possibly make him go crazy. At this point, Hamlet is still sane, he is just overwhelmed by the presence/requests of the ghost.) Act 2, scene 1: “My lord, as I was sewing in my closet, Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbraced; No hat upon his head; his stockings foul’d, Ungarter’d, and down-gyved to his ankle; Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other; And with a look so piteous in purport As if he had been loosed out of hell To speak horrors, -he comes before me”.

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Hamlet is a horrible heir to the throne: not because he dithers too much, but because he has almost no impulse control. If he has a thought, it is going to come out of his mouth. I believe a major reason he feigns madness is because he knows this about himself. He knows he won 't be able to help giving himself away and getting out of control. So he covers it with "Don 't mind me.

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Good people, regardless of their social status, can be driven to act and speak in an insane manner when circumstances spiral out of control. As Hamlet loses control over a situation, he loses control of himself. Before the play begins, Hamlet’s father dies in a suspicious and vague event. His reaction to

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Not only is Hamlet in a vulnerable spot at this point, but his father’s ghost appears to him asking him to seek revenge on his behalf for being murdered by his uncle, here is where the game begins. Slowly the pawns are being picked, Hamlet being the first to be set down. After hearing what the ghost had to say about Claudius and how he had poisoned the king, Hamlet at that moment vows to not think of anything else, but vengeance. Here is a pawn ready to serve his father’s will, but instead of taking action he decides to go into a crazed state of

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542 Words | 3 Pages

When the play first began Hamlet did not seem crazy but more depressed and suicidal after his father’s death, he did not begin to act crazy until learning about his father’s murder. ”How strange or odd soe’er I bear myself, to put an antic disposition on...”, here Hamlet tells Horatio that he will start to act crazy but for them to just ignore it. After this when Hamlet only acts mad around thoses who he does not trust but when

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His detailed plans and keen mental ability make him the most intelligent character in the entirety of the play. Hamlet is a very clever and motivated individual who creates extravagant plans to achieve success. In the beginning of the play, Hamlet creates a false persona to divert the kingdom’s attention away from his intention to kill Claudius. He tells Horatio that he will “put an antic disposition on,” (I.v.172) to create a sense of madness. This falsehood is created to ensure Hamlet will not be taken seriously and can follow through with his plans without being suspected.

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The characters in Hamlet show themselves as one thing, but they are completely different people in the inside and even they surprise themselves with their fake lives.

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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.

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He has a doubt about what the ghost told him and instead of acting instantly to ravage his father’s murder, he starts to figure out about whether Claudius was guilty or not, as he says “I’ll have grounds more relative than this” (2.2.565) which shows that he is looking for enough evidence to kill Claudius. But Hamlet is a great

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1053 Words | 5 Pages

Hamlet was a wonderful drama that undoubtedly entertained the reader. One theme in particular played a major role in the outcome of many peoples lives. There is a major difference between the appearance of something versus its reality. There are many points throughout Hamlet that show this to be true. Some examples include, the appearance of the ghost, Gertrude, Claudias, and a few others.

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Since the earliest of times, there has always been debate over the concepts of fate and free will. The most frequent dispute is whether or not man truly has free will, or if fate is the ultimate determinant of how one's life will turn out. One play that depicts this concept is Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. In this tragedy, Oedipus receives a prophecy that he would bed his mother and murder his father. After learning of this prophecy, Oedipus attempts to undo fate and utilize his free will to escape what would be his destiny.

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Due to himself being too idealistic and restrained, he does not take decisive actions even after using the planned play to test the Claudius's conscience that could possibly expose himself and left himself in unfavorable circumstances. Hamlet’s inability to act is caused by his overanalysis of the situations that further render him from not carrying out actions in response. If Hamlet is not indecisive, he would not be uncertain about the evidence regarding to his uncle’s crime, he would not be delaying his revenge, he would not be having emotional breakdowns and become a tragic figure. Hamlet’s personality ‘borns’ and develops under his royal position and the growing

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