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The Theme Of Deception In Hamlet

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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
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In the drama Hamlet deception plays a key role in advancing the plot and more, this in most apparent in the character Hamlet whose motives for his deceptions are, the obvious, easily stated motive to kill King Claudius and take revenge for his father, but also the underlying motive of trying to find the true point of his life and whether or not to keep living or let himself
Barton 2 go, and this contributes to the main plot by making everyone think he is completely mad and disregarding him as a vengent filled lunatic who has no real true control over his thoughts and actions. The first and primary motive of Hamlet’s deception is to take vengeance for his murdered father and kill King Claudius. “So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word:/It is Adieu, Adieu, remember me./ I have sworn’t.”(1.5.110-12) Hamlet gave his word to his dead father, the old king, that he would take revenge and kill Claudius, but Claudius is the new king, so Hamlet cannot just go storming into the castle and murder the king, he has to be deceptive and …show more content…

He uses his deception of madness to make this sound like mad ramblings to everyone else, but he is truly asking these questions and wondering about the ins and outs of how life truly works, and what it all means. So Hamlet basically acts insane to cover up the seriousness of these questions he is seeking the answers to. “But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,/Could force his soul so to his own conceit,/That from her working all his visage wann’d,/ Tears in his eyes, distraction in’s aspect,/ A broken voice, and his

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Hamlet develops the play-within-the play to try and get a reaction out of Claudius. Although it does work and he gets the reaction he desires on a silver platter just as he hoped, he is then further uncertain within himself and procrastinates on what needs to be done. Within this action of setting up this play he desires enough certainty to act on his thoughts and he receives that assurance, yet he still chooses not to, which then leads to more procrastination which is a common theme within the play. As a result of his inaction, others are harmed and chaos erupts. As such, Hamlet does not act despite having the external assurance that Claudius did murder his father, he just lacks the certainty within himself to do the actions.

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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.

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In great literature there are often characters who are deceitful to others to carry out a greater purpose. By doing so the character often compromises relationships with friends and family but it can also compromise the safety of the character and others around them. In the play Hamlet Shakespeare uses Hamlet’s character to elaborate on this situation, Claudius is deceiving his family and friends for a greater purpose which at times seems to do more bad than good. Claudius deceives many people in the tragedy Hamlet.

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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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Unlike the other characters in my project, Hamlet does not need something to hide behind, because he blatantly lies and fools others

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In Hamlet, Shakespeare uses many references to sanity and insanity. Throughout the play, Hamlet goes back and forth between sanity and insanity, whether pretending to be insane just to mess with those he does not like or to save himself from getting in trouble. Hamlet is actually one of the smartest characters in the play, which is why he can pull off acting crazy so well. Shakespeare uses this idea of sanity and insanity to help the plot change and take a different directions. One of the most discussed topics of the Hamlet is whether Hamlet is insane or if he was just pretending the whole time.

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The way Hamlet sacrificed his reputation and pretended to be insane ultimately lead to his true insanity and final act of revenge. Hamlet’s supposed insanity was due to two motives. The main motive for his act was his plan to seek revenge for the murder of his father. Hamlet deliberately began to be distant and unstable in order to deceive those around him. He intended those around him to see him as vulnerable, therefore causing many people to underestimate his intelligence, and this underestimation gave Hamlet the opportunity to continue on and pursue his plan without the immediate suspicion of his family or peers.

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When he learns Claudius is responsible for the death of his father, he intends to reveal this newfound information to not only Gertrude, but the rest of the characters. He is smart enough to know that she will not believe him based solely on his encounter with the ghost, and must create a trap where Claudius will reveal his guilt on his own. When the players arrive at the castle, he alters their script to mimic the king’s murder and “catch the conscience of the king” (II.ii.567). During the performance, Claudius shows signs of guilt and worry, making Hamlet’s plan a success and proving his

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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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His mournful disposition allowed him to be tolerated by many characters in Hamlet, but he failed to prolong his deception due to the unplanned interference of the supernatural world. Foiling Claudius’ plan,

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He feels that without proof, the act that he’s about to perform will not be justified at all. Next is that Hamlet wants to fulfill his father 's command for justice yet has a hard time acting swiftly because he feels he must have proof. After Hamlet having the thought of his father’s spirit being the devil he feels that he needs proof before committing the fraud against king claudius. He feels that proof will lead to his conviction of that claudius being the murderer and leading to a righteousness way of doing it. Which is why he plans to use the play to get the proof that he needs to make his judge if getting revenge on Claudius is right and justice.

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They use deceptive language to ensure that they cover up some mistakes that could make them guilt nature. Thus, the deception is designed to benefit the characters through drawing attention away from their suspicious activities. In Hamlet, the entire story revolves around Hamlet’s dilemma of means to murder his uncle, whilst being deceptive enough; therefore, that no one finds out regarding the cost. Claudius utilizes deception to protect himself from being jailed for his crime of murdering the King. Claudius says that “ To our most valiant brother…” demonstrates that he was not remorseful regarding his brother’s death and may be covering up the reality that he murdered him (Hamlet 21).

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He then states that the current king is worthless and that the concept of a king transcends the boundaries of only one man. Finally, he reveals his intentions of murdering Claudius as he implies that the current king will be worthless once he satisfies his desire for vengeance. In addition, Hamlet’s crave for revenge gives the play its tragic nature, Hamlet attempting to avenge his father’s death remains a noble cause: “I’ll wipe away all trivial fond records/ . . . /And thy commandment all alone shall live” (1.5.100-103). Hamlet displays his obedience as he accepts his father’s orders.

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After encountering his father’s ghost, who reveals the truth behind his death, Hamlet comes up with a plan in order to avenge his father, King Hamlet. He pretends to act crazy in order to fool people around him into believe that he really has gone crazy; “How strange or odd soe’er I bear myself (As I perchance hereafter shall think meet To put an antic disposition on)” (I, 5, 190-200); however only certain people whom he trust know that he is simply acting and perfectly sane, at least at first he is. The whole purpose of his actions was to reveal Claudius’s guilty for the murder of his father.

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In the drama The Tragedy of Hamlet , Prince of Denmark there are different types of characters. There are some characters who appear quite a bit, but are essentially irrelevant when considering their overall importance in the play. There are some that appear all of the time and play key roles in the development of the play. There are characters who appear seldomly, and have little to no influence on anyone else in the play or on the play as a whole. Finally there are certain characters who rarely make a physical appearance, but have a remarkable effect on other characters and on the overall plot of the play.

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