In numerous works of literature, authors create round characters with dynamic personalities. Often, a character’s complete personality and emotions are not easily accessible to the other characters of the work. Therefore, the other characters must utilize different means of discovery to find the true nature of the character. Such is the case with William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Shakespeare employs the motif of spying to reveal Hamlet’s inner personality throughout the play. The protagonist, Hamlet, does not display his thoughts and feelings in relation to his supposed insanity to the other characters in the work. As a result, Claudius resorts to spying on Hamlet through the help of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as illustrated in the passage. Claudius
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Ophelia never directly spies on Hamlet in the play. However, she is used as a tool by Claudius and Polonius to understand Hamlet’s thoughts. Ruth Nevo notes, “The audience watches the two spies [Claudius and Polonius] watching Hamlet…probing the genuineness of Ophelia’s feelings, and announcing his own with wildly contradictory declarations…and the audience watches Ophelia utterly bewildered by all she sees and hears…” (48-49). Claudius uses Ophelia as bait in drawing out Hamlet’s true feelings and reasons for his madness. However, Hamlet senses Ophelia’s act and declares that his love for Ophelia does not exist. Through the spying, Ophelia is not able to find his genuine emotions and is simply confused by Hamlet’s contradictory statement and feels pity at Hamlet’s degraded state. Claudius and Polonius also receive mixed signals as the result of the scheme does not match up with their prediction of Hamlet’s love for Ophelia as being the source of his insanity. His true feelings for Ophelia in the end is not uncovered by spying. Rather, it is uncovered with the tragic death of Ophelia. Hamlet see the funeral processions of Ophelia and jumps into her grave with Laertes. He mocks Laertes, “but the bitterness of his mockery, the nastiness of it, derives from his own sincere grief for Ophelia” (Rose 126). He does not display his true feelings for Ophelia …show more content…
Claudius utilizes different characters in the play to understand the real motives of Hamlet’s actions. However, the characters are not able to easily access Hamlet’s true character due to the complex nature of the protagonist that Shakespeare creates. Polonius’ tactic to spy on Hamlet behind the curtains ends up in failure as he dies without uncovering information. Moreover, Ophelia is not able to understand Hamlet’s true actions and ends up in confusion due to Hamlet’s contradictory statements of love. Rosencrantz’s and Guildenstern’s conclusion of Hamlet’s personality is only a small characteristic of Hamlets true personality. By incorporating the instances of spying in the play, Shakespeare demonstrates the greater idea of the complexity of human kind. He displays the numerous sides to Hamlet that is not easily accessible to the other characters. With this concept, Shakespeare makes a statement about the complex actions of man. It is impossible to look into the soul of a person past their appearance and present actions. As the other characters never learn the true cause of disturbance in Hamlet’s mind, people never know the true character of
Ophelia never directly spies on Hamlet in the play. However, she is used as a tool by Claudius and Polonius to understand Hamlet’s thoughts. Ruth Nevo notes, “The audience watches the two spies [Claudius and Polonius] watching Hamlet…probing the genuineness of Ophelia’s feelings, and announcing his own with wildly contradictory declarations…and the audience watches Ophelia utterly bewildered by all she sees and hears…” (48-49). Claudius uses Ophelia as bait in drawing out Hamlet’s true feelings and reasons for his madness. However, Hamlet senses Ophelia’s act and declares that his love for Ophelia does not exist. Through the spying, Ophelia is not able to find his genuine emotions and is simply confused by Hamlet’s contradictory statement and feels pity at Hamlet’s degraded state. Claudius and Polonius also receive mixed signals as the result of the scheme does not match up with their prediction of Hamlet’s love for Ophelia as being the source of his insanity. His true feelings for Ophelia in the end is not uncovered by spying. Rather, it is uncovered with the tragic death of Ophelia. Hamlet see the funeral processions of Ophelia and jumps into her grave with Laertes. He mocks Laertes, “but the bitterness of his mockery, the nastiness of it, derives from his own sincere grief for Ophelia” (Rose 126). He does not display his true feelings for Ophelia …show more content…
Claudius utilizes different characters in the play to understand the real motives of Hamlet’s actions. However, the characters are not able to easily access Hamlet’s true character due to the complex nature of the protagonist that Shakespeare creates. Polonius’ tactic to spy on Hamlet behind the curtains ends up in failure as he dies without uncovering information. Moreover, Ophelia is not able to understand Hamlet’s true actions and ends up in confusion due to Hamlet’s contradictory statements of love. Rosencrantz’s and Guildenstern’s conclusion of Hamlet’s personality is only a small characteristic of Hamlets true personality. By incorporating the instances of spying in the play, Shakespeare demonstrates the greater idea of the complexity of human kind. He displays the numerous sides to Hamlet that is not easily accessible to the other characters. With this concept, Shakespeare makes a statement about the complex actions of man. It is impossible to look into the soul of a person past their appearance and present actions. As the other characters never learn the true cause of disturbance in Hamlet’s mind, people never know the true character of