Real Eyes Realize Real Lies

Everything is not always what it seems. Such a cliché holds especially true in Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, where a young prince sets out to uncover the truth behind his father’s death. Along the way, Hamlet discovers the deceiving façades characters put up to hide their true opinions and actions. The Denmark kingdom, which appears to be in good health, is, in reality, decaying from the inside out from all the fabrications composed within its walls. While Hamlet is on his search for the truth he not only gets caught up in the lies which impede him from taking action, but he also must himself turn to trickery and act mad to fool everyone else, as well as realize that the more sense one tries to find in people the less is actually distinguishable. Prior to the play’s opening, King Hamlet was found to be dead in his garden. The kingdom writes it off as a natural cause, but when the King’s ghost pays a visit to Hamlet he reveals the unnatural, twisted ploy which was his murder, saying, “Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole, with juice of cursed hebona in a vial, and in the porches of my ears did pour the leprous distilment” (Act 1 Scene 5). With this revelation of treachery Hamlet is obligated to expose the true events which took place and avenge his beloved father’s death. However, while Hamlet is ready to rid the kingdom of its weeds, he still isn’t completely convinced of his uncle’s guilt and must devise a plan to know the truth within the web of lies he now sees in the kingdom, claiming that “the play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king” (Act 2 Scene 2). Because of his skepticism of the ghost’s claims, Hamlet is barred from taking any quick action, which is ultimately his biggest downfall. He doesn’t trust the ghost, criticizing that “the spirit that [he has] seen may be a devil” (Act 2 Scene 2). His doubt draws out his resolute and allows the new king, his uncle, to counterattack, proving a fatal end to the whole kingdom.