Hamlet: Deception and trickery

Both deceit and trickery are used frequently in Hamlet’s universe. Claudius the brother of King Hamlet, murders King Hamlet and steals the Danish throne. Claudius deceived Hamlet’s mother and tricked the whole kingdom. Claudius kills King Hamlet, poisoning his ear as he slept in an orchard at the castle. Claudius lies to everyone and claims the Danish throne. He marries Gertrude the widow of the late King and mother to Hamlet. The new king in Denmark is fully aware of his sins but cannot bear the pain for the atrocities committed. Claudius tries desperately to reconcile with God, but he quickly realizes how much Claudius has loved his new life and the things he gained from his brother’s murder. Claudius finds himself alone and decides to confess his sins to God. He prays loudly. The new king declares that his fault is behind him. Oh, what prayer is there that can say to me, “Forgive, my foul crime!” This cannot be true, because I still possess those effects which led to the murder: My queen, my crown, and mine ambition” (Shakespeare188). This shows that Claudius does not feel any guilt or remorse for the actions he took against his brother. Claudius believes that Claudius murdered his brother in pursuit of his ambition.

Claudius is also plotting to send Hamlet to England to die. Claudius reaps the rewards of his newfound position at the throne while Hamlet is becoming a direct threat his livelihood. The new king gradually realizes Hamlet isn’t his lover and is starting to gain mental clarity. Young Hamlet also learns of Claudius’s actions in completing the play. Claudius was clearly distraught during the reenactment for the murder of the Danish king. Claudius sends Hamlet to England to save himself. Hamlet again falls prey to Claudius’ trickery. This time, he doesn’t realize that Rosencrantz or Guildenstern were childhood friends of Hamlet. Hamlet’s ship was attacked and destroyed by pirates while he was on the way to England. Fortunately, he was able to return to Denmark with his crew. Claudius was fooled by Hamlet’s ability to find the letter calling him for execution and change it so that the letter calls for the executions of the people who received it. Hamlet tells Horatio later that he doesn’t feel any remorse about Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and their betrayal and that they followed Claudius’ orders.

We also see deception mixed in with madness. Hamlet is trying to offend Polonious in indirect ways through his words, actions and possibly exaggerated stupidity. Although he may seem insane, he is still smart and is aware of Polonious’ evil intentions. In the quote, Hamlets is confident in drawing attention to Polonious’ bad intentions. Hamlet wants Guildenstern to know that he is not crazy, but knows exactly what is happening. We can see that Hamlets two friends Guildenstern (and Rosencratz) were sent to spy upon him. The characters seem to be pondering and meditating on their thoughts without any actual action. It is an easy task that the boys are willing to admit to. Hamlet keeps deceiving himself more, but he admits that he is insane and is still intelligent.

We will again say that trickery, deception and other tricks are frequent in Hamlet. The play is based on trickery and deception, which the reader can see in many of the plays. These two devices account for a large amount of the story. Without them, it wouldn’t be as interesting.