“To be, or not to be? That is the question-” (III, i, 57). This famous quote is a quote that we have all heard at least once in our life. The quote is from one of William Shakespeare's more famous plays, Hamlet. Not only is Hamlet one of his more famous plays but Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, and Macbeth were all plays written by the best poet known to England, William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare was christened on April 26 but it is believed he was born three days earlier, on April 23 which happens to be the same day he passed away. Shakespeare was a genius at expressing complex universal truths. The majority of the plots for Shakespeare's plays were unoriginal, he took sources from other places and added his own touch to the plays
…show more content…
In Hamlet, there are several obvious places where something appears to be one way but it actually is not that way. Hamlet’s antic disposition is an excellent example of appearances versus reality. Hamlet decides the best way to avenge his father's death is to act as if he is crazy when he is in fact not crazy at all. These lines show this: “How strange or odd soe’er I bear myself/ (As I perchance hereafter shall think meet/ To put an antic disposition on),” (l.171-173) In Act II actors come to the castle and Hamlet decides to use them to his advantage. He makes them act out what he believes Claudius did to his father so that he can watch Claudius and see if and how he reacts so that he can tell if he actually killed him or not. The play seems like it is actually just a play for entertainment, but it is actually to see if Claudius is guilty of killing his father or not. Hamlet informs Horatio of the plan to recruit his help “Observe mine uncle. If his occulted guilt/ Do not itself unkennel in one speech,/ It is a damned ghost that we have seen,/ And my imaginations are foul” in lines 73-76 Another example of appearances versus reality that Shakespeare portrays in Hamlet is the fact that the king- Claudius- seems to be a good man, but in fact, we know he killed his own brother so he can become the king. The ghost delivers this information to Hamlet in line 74-75 when he states: “Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother’s hand/ Of life, of crown, of queen at once
In Hamlet, there are several obvious places where something appears to be one way but it actually is not that way. Hamlet’s antic disposition is an excellent example of appearances versus reality. Hamlet decides the best way to avenge his father's death is to act as if he is crazy when he is in fact not crazy at all. These lines show this: “How strange or odd soe’er I bear myself/ (As I perchance hereafter shall think meet/ To put an antic disposition on),” (l.171-173) In Act II actors come to the castle and Hamlet decides to use them to his advantage. He makes them act out what he believes Claudius did to his father so that he can watch Claudius and see if and how he reacts so that he can tell if he actually killed him or not. The play seems like it is actually just a play for entertainment, but it is actually to see if Claudius is guilty of killing his father or not. Hamlet informs Horatio of the plan to recruit his help “Observe mine uncle. If his occulted guilt/ Do not itself unkennel in one speech,/ It is a damned ghost that we have seen,/ And my imaginations are foul” in lines 73-76 Another example of appearances versus reality that Shakespeare portrays in Hamlet is the fact that the king- Claudius- seems to be a good man, but in fact, we know he killed his own brother so he can become the king. The ghost delivers this information to Hamlet in line 74-75 when he states: “Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother’s hand/ Of life, of crown, of queen at once