Dishonesty in Hamlet Essay

Many critics have suggested settlement chronicles the perils of manner at heart a largely false and dishonest world. To what extent has this been your experience of Shakespeares play?The world we underwayly know has experienced many stages and eras such(prenominal) as the rebirth era and the New World Era. In each of these eras, falsehood, s squirmling, deceit and revenge all seem to grow rich, however repentance and guilt grow poor. Like a domino effect, with all this excogitateidable falsehood come fatal and destructive dangers in life. Whether it be ascribable to the risks of overthinking, or perhaps the risks of taking action, they seem to grow exponentially with time. William Shakespeare portrays simply this changing world and its forever increasing perils of deceit throughout the play village, representing the afterwardmath of lying and its effects on everything around us, special(prenominal)ally the Great Chain of Being and Nature itself.The world the audience is aimn as they enter Hamlet is stuck in a phase between the Renaissance and New World Era. The men of the Renaissance era were warriors and put consecrate in themselves, whereas in the New World, more(prenominal) men are brains as they have lost a sense of existential trust. This transition is essentially portrayed in the allusion to the story of the Helen of Troy, recited by Hamlet himself in mold 2 photo 2 where Pyrrhus, a son who vows to avenge his deathly father, seeks revenge on his murderer, Priam. Pyrrhus goes on to slay Priam, but before doing so, inter mixed bagable a neutral to his will and matter does nonhing. However after this pa call, he is able to follow through with his mission.Pyrrhus hence portrays a square(a) warrior. Similarly, we see in Act 3 scene 3, Hamlet pastime in Pyrrhus legacy to avenge his father, however there is a unwholesome difference in Hamlets methods. Hamlet, being a thinker from the new world, pa uses before striking King Claudius, ho wever he does what Pyrrhus would not dare do think. Essentially, Hamlet changes what should have occurred, and in turn feats a ripple effect where Polonius, Ophelia, Gertrude, Rosencrantz, etc. all die. This ultimately demonstrates how Shakespeare intends to chronicle how as the world changes and deceases less trusting with ones self, the perils of overthinking life beget more and more real and and so cause the perils of death.All this change in the world and the ever-increasing deceit add up and cause a significant rupture and destruction of the Great Chain Of Being (GCOB). Where a king should be a descendant of the original king, instead of Hamlet becoming king, Claudius takes his position. Claudius crown is an extensive metaphor for a mask he dupes in which it makes himself feel much more evocative and powerful, something he is not. passim the entire play, Claudius life is ultimately an existential lie.Portrayed through a metaphor utilise in Hamlets conversation with Ros encrantz and Guildenstern in Act 2 Scene 2 that Denmarks a prison house, Shakespeare suggests that the city has spiralled into destruction, violence and unlawful sins. Also with the use of the metaphysical appearances of the apparition of Old Hamlet in multiple scenes, the audience is brought to conclude that the artifice of King Claudius has inflicted disruption to each and every person in Denmark. Hamlet tells the story of a real life Machiavel and how his villainous actions cause dip and havoc to all life in Denmark. Ultimately, the anecdote of King Claudius is used to represent how ones deception to himself, and to everyone around him, create dangers to not only himself, but to nature and society itself.The idea that lies and deceit cause disturbances to every persons lives is further enhanced by the use of structure in Hamlet. In almost every scene in which lies are being told (such as Act 2 scene 2 where Hamlet insults Polonius with his lies and where Rosencrantz and Guild enstern attempt to lie to Hamlet, and again in Act 3 Scene 2 where Hamlet teaches the players how to act or, in other words, lie, and so forth) the structure changes from Shakespeares famous iambic pentameter, to structure less speech.This use of transitory structures is Shakespeares method of metaphors to demonstrate that as people become more and more dishonest, they go about to destroy the unadulterated harmony of life and how its sequences should play out, pushing it into madness and confusion. Shakespeare attempts to portray to his audience his idea that the more lies and artifice, the more the perils of causing death and destroying the true sequence of events that are meant to be followed, falling back on the idea of disturbances of the GCOB.An old myth states that if you fall out making faces as the wind changes, your face will remain that way. Analysing this further, if you wear a mask in many different situations, you soon begin to wear that mask forever. Shakespeare all udes to this myth in Act 2 Scene 2 where Hamlet says he is but mad north-north-west but when the wind is southerly, he knows a hawk from a handsaw. In Act 1 Scene 5, Hamlet states how he will put on an jocularity disposition, in other words put on a metaphorical mask whenever he is around those he does not trust. Shakespeares allusion to the myth suggests that if Hamlet continues to act like someone he is not, he will remain that way he will remain to be crazy.Essentially, Hamlets dishonesty with himself and with those around him foreshadows his downfall, and, ultimately, his death. By alluding to the myth in one scene, and portraying how Hamlet is indeed wearing this mask as the wind changes in another scene, it can be extracted that Shakespeare intended to show a developing story of the dangers of lying and wearing masks to cover up the truth. If in your own world, you must lie to yourself, and continuously lie and cheat yourself, indeed you will remain that way, and henceforth lead on to much more fatal things such as becoming permanently insane.This plan of wearing masks to cover up ones true indistinguishability is evident throughout the course of Hamlet. It is again seen where Polonius hides himself behind an arras in Act 3 Scene 4, spying on Hamlet and his arrives conversation. Essentially, Polonius choice to hide behind an arras and lead himself into dishonesty unravels and causes him to be accidentally murdered. The demonstration of the consequences of lying and deceiving is genuinely strong here, where it does not lead to simply madness nor pain, but the worst punishment of our current world death. This irreversible consequence demonstrates the desperation of Shakespeare to get his message across that with lying and dishonesty, there is a chain reaction and it may peradventure lead to death, ultimately the greatest peril of life.There is a specific order in which the world works, and when one lies, or deceives those around them, indeed they d enature the destined sequence of events in life. In doing so they form a sense of confusion and cause even more dishonesty with everyone around them. In conjunction with the above, it is overly simplistic to conclude that William Shakespeare depicts the ever-increasing dishonesty and deceitfulness throughout Hamlet and in turn successfully and plainly chronicles the consequences and aftermath of these sinful actions.