Deception is a common theme among literature as it creates drama, tension, and suspense within a story. It can have positive outcomes, such as sparing the feelings of a character, or negative outcomes, such as trying to carry out a crime. Shakespearean plays often contain the theme of deception because many of the characters have a conflict that is resolved through the use of deception. Whether it be telling lies or misleading others, Shakespeare’s literature is packed full of deception. In Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet, due to the aftermath of the death of King Hamlet, Hamlet is a character who clearly deceives King Claudius, but also ends up deceiving Queen Gertrude as well as Ophelia and as a result he goes mad.
Hamlet’s ability to deceive …show more content…
Hamlet claims to have loved Ophelia early on in Act I, however during their confrontation in Act III it’s not so obvious. Hamlet tells Ophelia that she shouldn’t have believed him“for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it”, and then he tells her he did not love her (3.1 117-119).This confrontation occurs promptly after Hamlet’s questioning of suicide in his “to be or not to be” soliloquy. This speech is pivotal to the play because it shows how Hamlet may actually be going insane, and not feigning madness. Ophelia is quite suspicious and in a sense frightened by Hamlets behavior. She is a very innocent character who Hamlet essentially deceives into thinking he loves her. Sadly, she goes a little insane herself at the end of the play and eventually drowns herself. That is why Hamlet proclaims his love for Ophelia at her funeral, couldn’t do so when she was alive because he had been “overcome” with madness. Hamlet announces to Laertes at Ophelia’s funeral that “he loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up (his) sum” (5.1 271-273). Of course Claudius shuts down Hamlet quickly and tells Laertes that Hamlet is simply insane and he never loved Ophelia. However, I firmly believe that Hamlet did love Ophelia but since he was distraught over his fathers death, he
Hamlet’s ability to deceive …show more content…
Hamlet claims to have loved Ophelia early on in Act I, however during their confrontation in Act III it’s not so obvious. Hamlet tells Ophelia that she shouldn’t have believed him“for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it”, and then he tells her he did not love her (3.1 117-119).This confrontation occurs promptly after Hamlet’s questioning of suicide in his “to be or not to be” soliloquy. This speech is pivotal to the play because it shows how Hamlet may actually be going insane, and not feigning madness. Ophelia is quite suspicious and in a sense frightened by Hamlets behavior. She is a very innocent character who Hamlet essentially deceives into thinking he loves her. Sadly, she goes a little insane herself at the end of the play and eventually drowns herself. That is why Hamlet proclaims his love for Ophelia at her funeral, couldn’t do so when she was alive because he had been “overcome” with madness. Hamlet announces to Laertes at Ophelia’s funeral that “he loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers could not with all their quantity of love make up (his) sum” (5.1 271-273). Of course Claudius shuts down Hamlet quickly and tells Laertes that Hamlet is simply insane and he never loved Ophelia. However, I firmly believe that Hamlet did love Ophelia but since he was distraught over his fathers death, he