When betrayed, one usually has negative emotions towards the people who have betrayed them. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare this idea is well illustrated, it is shown that betrayal affects the actions of Hamlet towards his friends and family, which indicates that the pursuit of vengeance often can cause one to forget the value of life. The betrayals that Hamlet suffered at the hands of his close friends and family, revealed important parts of Hamlet’s character, such as his intelligence, he is a very meticulous thinker that looks at situations from all angles, he is cunning, he has the ability to manipulate everyone into believing that he is insane, and he is skeptical, he does not believe any information until he finds it out for …show more content…
The betrayals that Hamlet suffered were done to him by people who were very close to him. The biggest betrayal Hamlet suffered was done to him by his uncle, Claudius, which then caused the betrayal of his mother, Gertrude, who then convinced Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to betray Hamlet as well. The betrayal by Claudius is the reason that Hamlet began his quest for vengeance, Claudius murdered Hamlet’s father, Claudius’ own brother, in order to get the throne and his brother’s wife, Gertrude, Hamlet found out about Claudius’ betrayal from the ghost of King Hamlet who said “The serpent that did sting thy father’s life / Now wears his crown.” [Shakespeare I,ii,38-39] the serpent that the ghost referred to is obviously Claudius, as he now wears the king’s crown. This is a betrayal against Hamlet because he was extremely loyal to his father, and thought very highly of him. Gertrude’s betrayal of her son was caused by Claudius, as he comforted her after her husband’s unfortunate demise, and later married her, this was betrayal to Hamlet because he had a very high opinion of his father and thought very little of his uncle, Hamlet said “-married with my uncle, / My father’s brother, but no more like my father / Then I to Hercules; within a month” [I, ii, 151-153] showing that he believes that his mother betrayed him and his father’s memory by marrying his uncle, it also …show more content…
Hamlet’s intelligence is shown when he does not blindly listen to what the ghost said “Hamlet is aware of the unreliability of otherworldly apparitions and consequently reluctant to heed the ghost’s injunction to perform an action that to him seems objectively evil.” [Foster 2], and instead makes his own plan to see if Claudius is truly guilty of murder because. Hamlet plans to “...have these players / Play something like the murder of my father / Before mine uncle. I’ll observe his looks” [Shakespeare II, ii, 596-598], and see how his uncle reacts to the play , which is like the murder of King Hamlet because “Hamlet believes that he must have greater certitude of Claudius’s guilt if he is to take action.” [Foster 2] he does not rush into anything without analyzing the facts that he has, and checking to see if they are true. Hamlet shows a great deal of cunning, as he convinced everyone he knew that he was insane, even though he was not really, Hamlet said that he will “put an antic disposition on” [Shakespeare I, v, 171], so no one would suspect that he knows anything and check that the people who betrayed him were truly guilty, before he has his vengeance. Hamlet shows his skepticism of all information that is given to him, in case he was being fed false information or trying to trick him, Hamlet is very skeptical of Rosencrantz and
Hamlet’s deception stems from his yearning for revenge on his uncle. After Hamlet learns about the true nature of his father’s death, he begins demonstrating his hypocritical qualities. Hamlet attempts to mask his anger towards Claudius; he does not want
Most readers aren’t able to differentiate his behavior from a demented mind or genuine madness. In an article titled “The Real or Assumed Madness of Hamlet”, the author Simon Augustine Blackmore mentions that “the poet (Shakespeare) portrayed the abnormal actions of a demented mind and that a real madman could not enact the character more perfectly.” We see how Hamlet uses his mimic madness to guard the truth of his father’s fratricide. Simon also acknowledges “the unaided genius of Shakespeare” because of how he creates such a perfect character from a real life tragedy. If Hamlet were indeed using sarcasm to cover up what he knew, this would make him the most intelligent persona in the play.
Hamlet at first was a little bit weary of the ghost but when the ghost told Hamlet that he was stuck in purgatory until revenge was sought out, hamlet was on board. Hamlet adored his father so when the ghost asked him to seek revenge, and when it told him to murder claudius it's all he focuses on for the majority of the novel. The effect seeking justice had on Hamlet was profound. He became obsessed with finding a proper way to kill the king. His first attempt was to put on a play where he hired actors to recreate the old king's murder to see how the queen and Claudius would react.
In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet’s father, King Hamlet, dies and his uncle, Claudius, takes the throne. Claudius does this by marrying his brother’s widowed wife, Gertrude. This disturbs Hamlet, and he is told by a Ghost of his father that Claudius murdered him. The Ghost pleads Hamlet to avenge him by killing Claudius. After this meeting, he explains how he will begin to behave differently.
Horatio is around Hamlet while he speaks to the ghost and hears the devious plot to murder Claudius, yet he never concludes that Hamlet is mad. King Claudius states that many of the citizens of Denmark love Hamlet; this is shown with the players cooperation to Hamlet. He acts them to act out some extraordinary things when reenacting the murder of his father. I think it is noteworthy that the players never question Hamlet’s crazy ideas and how he wants them to act. Neither of the players viewed Hamlet as mad which makes me believe that he actually acted fairly reasonable around strangers which is not a result of madness.
For instance, he wasn’t sure if the ghost was telling the truth so he modifies the play, The Murder of Gonzago, to resemble the murder of his father. While the actors are performing the play, he will watch Claudius’ reactions to see if he truly is guilty. He also asks Horatio to watch Claudius to have a second opinion because Hamlet’s judgment may be bias. He says, “The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King” (II, 2, 60). Another scene in the play where Hamlet thinks logically before lashing out is when he sees Claudius praying and is completely vulnerable, but restrains from killing him.
Even though Hamlet is not capable to trust others as a result of the betrayals from others, there is additionally the fact that he also dishonest to others. Hamlet isn’t a honest person, he himself does commit sins. Hamlet is not privileged to difficult thoughts and actons: “’I’ll have these players Play something like the murder of my father Before mine uncle, I’ll observe his looks, … If he do blench, I know my course.”’ (Hamlet Act II scene II, lines 596 – 600.) “’O, from this time forth, my thoughts are bloody, or be nothing worth!’”
Instead of taking action and killing claudius, he questions whether the ghost was actually his father asking to revenge his death or the devil resembling his father to try to tempt him into murder. In No Fear Shakespeare from Sparknotes, Hamlet talks about his doubts to believe the ghost is actually his father or not by saying “May be the devil, and the devil hath power T’ assume a pleasing shape. Yea, and perhaps Out of my weakness and melancholy, As he is very potent with such spirits, Abuses me to damn me (Act 2 Scene 2 Page 24). This shows how Hamlet was indecisive and how the ghost of his father was one of the major reasons why he was indecisive.
Deceit and deception are not the only themes in the story of The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, but it is also a way certain characters, mainly Hamlet himself, use to carry out their own personal gain. The focus will mainly be on the main character as he is the best example for a character using deception to his own ends. Hamlet is a very odd and curious character. He does not seem very ambitious, but actually, he is. He uses the tool of deception, under the disguise of moral justice, to seek revenge for his father’s death.
He has a doubt about what the ghost told him and instead of acting instantly to ravage his father’s murder, he starts to figure out about whether Claudius was guilty or not, as he says “I’ll have grounds more relative than this” (2.2.565) which shows that he is looking for enough evidence to kill Claudius. But Hamlet is a great
The ghost (of the king) asking Hamlet to do so leads to Hamlet trying to find out whether Claudius is guilty or not, which is a big part of the plot. Once Claudius is found to be guilty, Hamlet begins to act rather hastily. For example, when he hears a sound behind the tapestry in the chamber of his mother, without thinking things through, he yells, “How now, a rat? Dead for a ducat, dead!” and stabs his sword at whatever made the sound.
Many characters show signs of intelligence throughout William Shakespeare’s Hamlet as they conjure plans to achieve their goals. However, Hamlet’s intelligence is far superior to that of all the other characters. He is capable of altering the kingdom’s perception of him to his advantage by adjusting his behaviours. The schemes he devises outsmart everyone and leave him to appear innocent. Most importantly, Hamlet miraculously escapes his own death and instead brings an end to those involved in his execution.
Hamlet himself is unaware that he behaves instinctively as a killer and doesn’t realize that his actions are morally wrong, and the reader can easily take from this that Hamlet is truly in the right and that the actions he takes are justified due to his problematic relationships. Claudius tells Gertrude, “When sorrows come, they come not in single spies, but in battalions” to remind her that bad things normally happen in quick succession after long periods emotional rest (IV, v, 61-62). In Act 1, the Ghost says, “Murder most foul, as in the best it is. But this most foul, strange, and unnatural” when Hamlet is becoming gung-ho about murdering his father’s killer (who he does not yet know is Claudius). Hamlet is pushing the Ghost toward telling him about the murder so that he feels like he has the right to move forward with his plan of revenge.
A ghost is considered earthbound if its essence remains lingering in the physical world and hasn’t been able to cross over into the spiritual realm. They get stuck behind here on Earth, caught in limbo between the living and dead, and wander restlessly seeking resolution. Hollywood tends to thrive on the idea that these ghosts are roaming around creating chaos to the lives of those they encounter. The fact of the matter is we can’t really be sure what the true purpose is a departed soul. There are many theories as to why a ghost, or more appropriately a spirit, may become static on Earth instead of moving on to the beyond.
In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, the themes vary from conditional and unconditional love, deception, honour, power and ambition and lastly poison. But the most significant theme is loyalty and betrayal. This theme ties all the other themes together. The theme loyalty and betrayal both have major effects on each other. Through the different actions of characters and what they say to one another, is where the audience discovers whether or not they are loyal or disloyal.