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Deceit In Hamlet Quote Analysis

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The truth is an object that sometimes alludes society. Manipulation run rampant among people whose sole ambition is to achieve an ignoble cause. Shakespeare exploits this concept in Hamlet, in which most of the characters use deceit to achieve their goals. One of the most treacherous characters is ironically Hamlet. Throughout his journey to avenge his father, he continually misleads people to advance his cause. In the beginning he deceives to try and discover the truth behind his father's death. As the play progresses, Hamlets forges to enact his revenge. Once the Ghost of King Hamlet reveals his murder by Claudius, Hamlet concocts a plan to feign insanity. He uses deceit to trick the ignorant nobility of the play into divulging information …show more content…

This play itself is deceptive as well. Not only is Hamlet trying to deceive Claudius, he is also creating a fake play for the actors. The play is based on the Murder of Gonzago. Hamlet added, “One scene of it comes near the circumstance. Which I have told thee of my father’s death” (141). This scene is eerily close to murder scene that King Hamlet’s ghost told Hamlet. Due to Hamlet’s false madness, Claudius has a false sense of security and is under the impression that the play is an innocent act. Hamlet’s intent is shown when he tells the players that, “Now this overdone or come tardy off, though it make the unskillful laugh, cannot but make the judicious grieve” (137). He is telling the players that if this play is poorly acted, Claudius will take it as a joke and will not react. Also the regular viewers of the show will be unhappy and, “the censure of the which one must in your allowance o'erweigh a whole theatre of others” (137), meaning that the regular viewers are the only people you should make comfortable viewing this play. Hamlet here is indirectly telling the players that the play needs to make Claudius uncomfortable so that he can verify that Claudius did kill King Hamlet. Hamlet also deceives himself by even putting on this play. Hamlet knows that Claudius did kill his father, but due to his self doubt he is able to …show more content…

They want to figure out why Hamlet is mad. Again Hamlet’s madness offers him an opportunity to advance his search for justice. When Hamlet enters Gertrude's room, he puts on an act. He feigns anger, which plays into his insanity. When Gertrude tells Hamlet that he has “thy father much offended” (169), Hamlet explodes. The ‘father’ that Gertrude is referring to is Claudius, which completely offends Hamlet since he knows what Claudius has done. Hamlet wants to get Gertrude on his side, so he wants to tell her about Claudius’s crime. To get his point across he “will speak daggers to her, but use none”(161). He wants to expose Gertrude for all her hypocrisies and to drive home his message we wants to speak aggressively. When Hamlet says “Come, come, and sit you down. You shall not budge. You go not till I set you up a glass. Where you may see the inmost part of you” (171), Gertrude takes this threat as a threat of murder and calls for help. Polonius scuffles around and Hamlet kills him thinking it was Claudius. Once Polonius is dead, Hamlet tells Gertrude about his entire scheme. He tells her about his fake madness and Gertrude agrees to keep his secret. She also agrees to be abstinent, just to ensure she will not accidentally reveal Hamlet's madness. This is significant since Gertrude will now betray Claudius. Gertrude up until

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