Essay About Deception in Hamlet
Shakespeare's “Hamlet” is often credited with being one of his most famous works. This is highly due to Shakespeare's utilization of multiple themes to enhance the plot and captivate his audience, amongst these themes is the discrepancy between appearance & reality. Appearances refer to what people want others to view them as, and reality is the truth that is buried beneath; often hard to decipher with the naked eye. In the play, Hamlet, it seems as if every main character, specifically Hamlet, Polonius and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern, are masking their true intentions in order to aid their plans. As a result, this theme becomes highly significant to the play as it creates tension and conflict between the characters, overall helping develop the storyline. The fundamental problem with this disparity, however, is that eventually, it leads to each character's downfall.
The main character Hamlet is a prime example of how deception ultimately leads to his downfall. Throughout the play, Hamlet has one goal; to avenge his father's death by killing his uncle, Claudius. In order to accomplish this, Hamlet uses deception to pretend to have gone mad- “How strange or odd some’er I bear myself, as I perchance hereafter shall think meet to put an antic disposition on” (I.V.190). In this quote, Hamlet tells Horatio and Marcellus about his plan, in front of everyone, he will appear mad, but in reality, he is scheming his revenge against Claudius. Eventually, the line between appearance and reality becomes blurred for Hamlet, he becomes too obsessed with killing his uncle that he eliminates anyone, for example, he mistakenly kills Polonius, thinking it was Claudius; “O me, what hast thou done? Nay, I know not. Is it the King? (III.IV.30). This event opens doors for Claudius to manipulate Polonius’s son, Laertes, “Hamlet comes back; what would you undertake To show yourself indeed your father’s son More than in words?” (IV. VII. 140). In this quote, Claudious tells him that he must seek revenge for this father’s death. In the end, Hamlet faces his fate when he is stabbed with a poisoned sword by Laertes. As a result, this leads to his demise.
Polonius is a nosy, intrusive, and deceitful character which ultimately becomes the primary reason for his demise. The main way in which Polonius shows his deceitful character is through spying. Throughout the book, Polonius spies on Hamlet multiple times, and even uses his own children as bait to aid in his spying. One of the first instances, where we see this unfold is during act I scene III, during this scene, Polonius instructs his daughter, Ophelia, to meet up with Hamlet in order to use her as bait to spy on him. The main goal of his spying is to figure out the real reason behind Hamlet’s madness. He manipulates Ophelia, “Do not believe his vows, for they are brokers Not of that dye which their investments show, But mere implorators of unholy suits” (I.III.135). This quote illustrates how manipulative Polonius is, on the outside, he pretends as if he is a caring father trying to warn his daughter that Hamlet only desires her for pleasure, but in reality, he fills her head with lies in order to execute his plan. However, his habit of spying eventually catches up to him when he spies on Hamlet and his mother, Gertrude. During act III scene IV, Polonius hatches a plan to eavesdrop on Gertrude's argument with her son behind a curtain, with the aim of determining the source of Hamlet's strange and threatening behaviour. Hamlet mistakes him for his step-father, and stabs his sword through the tapestry, killing him-” How now, a rat? Dead for a ducat, dead” (III. iv. 22). Ultimately, his deceptions lead to his downfall.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s inability to decipher appearances from reality eventually leads to their downfall. At the start of the book, they are called upon by the king and the queen to find the cause of Hamlet’s insanity- they agree instantaneously, “Both your majesties might, by sovereign power you have of us, put your dread pleasures more into command than to entreaty. But we both obey, and here give up ourselves in full bent to lay our services freely at your feet, to be commanded" (II.II.27-34). From this quote, it is evident that both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern proclaim their loyalty to their king. When asked by Hamlet for the cause of their visit, they lie to him claiming they were concerned for him- “To visit you, my lord, no other occasion” (II.II.290). In reality, they were only trying to spy on him for the king, however, Hamlet sees right through their lies. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are completely unaware of the fact that they too are being deceived by the king himself. Claudius gives them a sealed letter to deliver to England, they are unaware of the fact that the letter instructs the King of England to have Hamlet killed once he arrives, however, Hamlet catches on and switches his name with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. When they arrive they are killed. If they were not deceiving Hamlet, he would not have written their names, thus, their deceptions toward Hamlet and their inability to decipher the deceptions around them ultimately lead to their deaths.
To conclude, the disparity between appearance & reality is significant to the play “Hamlet” as it was the leading cause for the character’s downfalls. Despite all the characters mentioned having different reasons for their deception, in the end, they suffered the same fate. Hamlet pretending to be crazy, Polonius’s constant spying and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern's naiveness toward the events unfolding all lead them towards their demise. Through this theme, Shakespeare highlights how not everything is as it seems, although someone may present themselves as one thing, the reality can be completely different.
