Appearance vs. Reality in Hamlet
What problems does Hamlet face in regards to the surface appearance of the characters he meet? Hamlet is often faced with characters that put on a false appearance in order to hide the reality of his or her actual motives. Even his good friends betray him by conversing with him with the pretense of merely visiting him. Although he is faced with the fundamental problem of appearance and reality, he is guilty of this himself. Claudius is the first character in the play Hamlet that masks his true self as well as his intentions. Although he appears to be sympathetic to Hamlet and the king's death - "Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother's death The memory be green, and that it us befitted To bear our hearts in grief" (19) - the reality is that he is actually, according to the ghost, the one that caused the king's death and Hamlet's pain - "The serpent that did sting thy father's life Now wears his crown." (61). Instead of asking directly, Claudius sends for Hamlet's friends to find out what is wrong with him - "so by your companies To draw him on to the pleasures, and to gather So much as from occasion you may glean, Whether aught to us unknown afflicts
They answer almost as if they are one person, sometimes taking turns speaking and then both speaking at once. Thus, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are left in a situation where they do not want to offend either the king and the queen or Hamlet. He does not think of others, but of himself, which is evident because he likes to hear himself talk. Polonius even gives specific detail on how to spy on Laertes. They also have a peculiar quality in which they are strikingly similar. " (81) -, which is true to what he told Horatio - "As I perchance hereafter shall think meet To put an antic disposition on" (71). - "And then, sir, does he this-he does-what was I about to say? By the mass, I was about to say something: where did I leave?" (77). Above all, Hamlet, himself, is also forced to hide his intentions to keep his enemies from guessing - "Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbrac'd. " (105) -, but Hamlet quickly discovered their motives - "I know the good king and queen have sent for you. Hamlet fails to see how an actor can shed tears for someone they don't even know - "For Hecuba! What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, That he should weep for her?" (127) and yet he, with a good reason, cannot follow through with his plan for revenge - "Yet I, A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak, Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause, And can say nothing" (127). The players are also important in the play because they give Hamlet a reason to question his own abilities. They are even responded to from the king - "Thanks, Rosencrantz and gentle Guildenstern.
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,
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Acceptance Essays
