The Theme Of Deception And Deceptance In William Shakespeare's Hamlet

In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet the theme of deception and surveillance functions as big role in the tragic story. Almost all of the characters are a part of a web consisting of corruption and lies that surround the castle Elsinore, and right in the middle of that web is Hamlet. Being the tragic hero of the play Hamlet is a threat to all of the antagonist characters that have secrets to hide. He becomes a victim of all of their lies, yet manages to keep his own intentions a secret from them all. Even some friends that were closest to him begin to investigate his words and actions very meticulously. The famous saying “ Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” means here that the castle is surrounded by deception, corruption, and death. The first of Hamlets friends to spy on him are Rosencrantz and …show more content…
He delivers his madness could be because of “the affliction of his love” (3. 1. 36) with Ophelia. At first Hamlet is kind and courteous to Ophelia but then turns sour and vulgar when he hears a noise. He says, “Where’s your father?” (3. 1. 141) thinking that Polonius is hiding somewhere and listening to his conversation with Ophelia, this shows how on edge and how paranoid he is with all the corruption and spying. Once he realizes that Ophelia is keeping quiet about helping Claudius and Polonius spy on him he feels betrayed and starts to harass Ophelia, telling her appalling things such as “If thou dost marry, I’ll give thee this plague for thy dowry: be thou chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny. Get thee to a nunnery, farewell” (3. 1. 145-149). This change in mood shows how frustrated he is, because even his girlfriend is corrupted and spying on him. Being the hero has many consequences for Hamlet including the loss of trust in the people he