Essay Example on In the play Hamlet written by William Shakespeare in 1599

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In the play Hamlet written by William Shakespeare in 1599 the theme deception is extremely prevalent throughout the whole story Characters who fear deception ironically end up using deception as well to conquer their fear even though their actions may result in death Deception is a key tool which builds up the main plot of the play and is the reasoning to why many characters behave the way they do Deception also shows death and insanity so without it the play would have no story line In the very beginning of the play King Hamlet s ghost appears and tells his son Hamlet the truth about his death and what he must do in order to get revenge on the murderer Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder The serpent that did sting thy father s life Now wears his crown 1 5 23 24 A snake did not bite the old king instead his very own brother murdered him so he could rule Denmark Now it is Hamlet s duty to get revenge on his uncle However Horatio fears that the ghost is trying to deceive Hamlet into committing murder Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damned Bring with these airs from heaven or blasts from hell This fear then causes Hamlet to use deception himself to find out if the ghost was being truthful so he can kill Claudius Hamlet deceives Claudius into thinking that there is going to be a play about The Murder of Gonzago which there is but what he doesn t know is that Hamlet has added scenes in that portray the murder that his father s ghost has described so he can catch the conscience of the king 2 2 50 If the king reacts to the changed scenes then Hamlet will know that he is guilty and that he must kill him 



As Lucianus the actor portraying Claudius pours poison into the player king s ear Claudius stands up and demands Lights lights lights 3 2 65 and then storms out of the room This is the exact proof Hamlet needed to prove that he did murder the king The ghost was in fact not deceiving Hamlet but he could only verify that by deceiving Claudius and making his actions reveal his guiltiness Hamlet s action of deception later leads to the death of Claudius How does the queen O Villainy Ho let the door be locked The point envenomed too Then venom to thy work 5 Since Hamlet has already proved that Claudius did in fact kill the former king through deception he was able to listen to the ghost and get his revenge Horatio is not the only character that is weary of deception Claudius is afraid that Hamlet is acting mad because he is trying to deceive someone so he sends Hamlet s two close friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on him Some little time so by your companies To draw him on to pleasures and to gather So much as from occasions you may glean Whether aught to us unknown afflicts him thus That opened lies within our remedy Claudius does not trust hamlet so he needs to figure out what is wrong with him However he cannot do that himself because he is worried that Hamlet is already deceiving him and doesn't know what else Hamlet could be planning Laertes and Polonius are more characters who fear deception and wants to keep others safe His greatness weigh d his will is not his own For he himself is subject to his birth He may not as unvalued persons do Carve for himself for on his choice depends 



The safety and health of his whole state Laertes and Polonius think Hamlet doesn t really love Ophelia because he cannot choose whom he marries and Ophelia will not be chosen since she is not royalty as well so the love he gives her is not true As a result of this Polonius tells Ophelia that she can no longer see Hamlet because they are protecting her from his deception Even though Polonius fears deception he uses it many times as a tool of investigation When Polonius is approached by King Claudius and Queen Gertrude they ask him why Hamlet is acting crazy and he believes it's because he loves Ophelia but she will not see him since she was banned from doing such And he repulsed a short tale to make Fell into a sadness then into a fast Thence to a watch thence into a weakness Thence to a lightness and by this declension Into the madness wherein now he raves In order to prove that Hamlet is truly love sick Polonius pitches a plan where he and Claudius hide behind the curtains in the main hall when Hamlet and Ophelia meet to see if his craziness is related to love or not This shows that Polonius has a dark deceitful side to him because he wants to spy on his own daughter


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