Deception And Pretense In Hamlet

The play, “The tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark,” written by the famous William Shakespeare is one of constant drama just like most of his works. It is based on lies, deception, greed and revenge. It is an act within a play, the characters in it pretend to be something they are not. The characters act like they are friends, but are plotting behind each other’s back. They act as a family, but in reality, they are strangers concealed by their need of revenge and greed. Hamlet is a play in which nothing can be taken at face value: appearances are frequently deceptive, and many characters engage in play-acting, spying, and pretense. The dialogues have hidden meanings, and if looked twice one might be surprised. Soliloquies reveal the real motives and the true natures of the characters.

The main character of the play, Hamlet, is seen as an insecure teenager, who is doomed to seek revenge for his father’s unfortunate murder by his own uncle. Who have married his mother and have taken over the throne. The lack of grief and mourning from his mother and uncle makes him mad and leads him to be depressed. Upon finding out that his uncle
The play is mainly based on deception, Hamlet deceives everyone by acting mad and letting people believe that he’s mad. King Claudius deceive Hamlet and the kingdom by killing their former king and his brother, King Hamlet. Polonius deceives Hamlet by, spying on his conversations. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern deceive Hamlet by pretending to be his friend, but in reality, they are there because of the King and Queen’s orders. Because of all the pretenses, acting and disguising, they all end up killing each other, and their enemy Fortinbras take over the Castle and the kingdom of Denmark. Shakespeare is trying to convey that, the lack of honesty leads to unchangeable and life altering mistakes, it is an applicable message to all