In Hamlet, Denmark is a prison and a
police state full of spies. The King and Prince vow revenge against each other, and en
entire family gets caught in the crossfire. The Prince only appears to be mad, but his
girlfriend really is. There is one true friend of the Prince (Horatio), fake friends
(Rosencrantz and Guildenstern), and friendly players and clowns who tell the truth in
riddles. In sum, no one is who he appears to be. Or not to
be.
Some choice lines that deal with
deception:
Hamlet tells R &
G:
I
tell you,
must show fairly outward, should more
appear like
entertainment than
yours. You are welcome: but my
uncle-father and aunt-mother
are
deceived.
AND
Hamlet
tells Ophelia, "I loved you not." Ophelia
responds:
Hamlet
writes to Ophelia:
readability="0">And
the Player Queen says:readability="0">That I
distrust you. Yet, though I
distrust,
Discomfort you, my
lord, it nothing must:
For women's fear and love holds
quantity;
In neither aught, or in
extremity.
- Hamlet
deceives all by appearing to be mad, even the Ghost. The Prince was instructed to leave
Gertrude to heaven, but he still threatens violence against his
mother.- Claudius deceives all, except Hamlet. His
behavior at the Mousetrap is a confession brought on by art. "The play's the thing to
catch the conscience of the king."- Polonius deceives his
family by using them as pawns for spying.- Gertrude is
deceived all men, even Hamlet. She thinks he's
crazy.- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are deceived by
Hamlet. The Prince switches the letter of execution, and they die
instead.- Ophelia is deceived by all men, especially
Hamlet, who misdirects his anger toward his mother onto her in the "get thee to a
nunnery speech."- The Ghost deceives Hamlet for a while.
The Prince cannot tell if he is a demon or a soul trapped in
Purgatory.
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