The theme of deception in Shakespeare’s plays The typical themes of Shakespeare’s works, especially his plays, often reflect popular moods, problematic occurrences and typical traits of human nature from his time which are relevant even today. One such theme is deception. The idea of deception in Shakespeare’s plays has many different faces. In one instance, it is accidental, as in The Comedy of Errors. In another instance, it is used as defense against greater harm, as in Othello.
The next two acts of trickery are two of the most important scenes in the play- the overhearing scenes. Leonato, Don Pedro and Claudio- with full knowledge that Benedick is in earshot, have a ‘very loud’ conversation about how Beatrice was deeply in love with Benedick. Benedick would not have believed in this deception were it not for the fact that Leonato was participating, because he knew that Don Leonato was mature enough not to joke about those kinds of matters. When Hero, Margaret and Ursula play the same trick on Beatrice, “My talk to thee must be of how Benedick is sick in love with Beatrice…” Is what Hero says to her gentle-women. In saying that Benedick is head-over-heels for her, they make sure to include the fact that Benedick would never tell of his love.
Much Ado is a play based around the theme of deliberate deception- sometimes this deception is malevolent and sometimes benevolent but much of the play hinges around them and their effect on the characters. An example of malevolent deception would be Don John trying to ruin Hero and Claudio’s marriage whereas an example of benevolent deception would be the gulling’s of Beatrice and Benedick in an attempt to get them to admit their true feelings for one another to get them to wed. The gulling scenes both rely on Beatrice and Benedick being persuaded into believing that they are in love with one another, this is dependent on them ‘accidentally overhearing’ the other characters talking about them whilst being within earshot but so as not to be seen. The majority of the subplot is dependent on these gulling scenes being successful as if they hadn’t worked or if Beatrice and Benedick hadn’t been so susceptible to this benevolent deception than there wouldn’t be much of a story. These gulling scenes provide comic relief in contrast to Don John’s malevolent deception and make Much Ado lean towards being a comedy rather than a tragedy as they use dramatic irony for humour.
It could be interpreted that Orsino is considering that an excess of music might cure his obsession with love, in the same way that eating too much might result in a loss of appetite. This idea exemplifies Orsino’s self-indulgent and excessive nature in relation to the love he feels for Olivia. The audience may feel pathos for Orsino as he expresses’ the torment caused by his love for Olivia, alternatively the audience may perceive Orsino’s behaviour as humorous because of the foolishness of
He appears to be solely interested in women’s sexuality, shamelessly objectifying them. For instance, when Claudio asks whether the world could ‘buy such a jewel’ as Hero, Benedick replies ‘yea, and a case to put it into’. The objectification of Hero as something valuable and desirable (but with no human emotion) is taken further by Benedick; his play upon Claudio’s romantic metaphor is witty but deeply sexist, as he is calling Hero worthless. Whilst a modern audience might see this as derogatory, an Elizabethan audience would have potentially been indifferent; in that age, men were superior; they could be an eligible bachelor, but if they married they would look for a chaste and wealthy wife- talk of ‘buying’ Hero is in a sense quite literal as Claudio would be ‘buying’ into her wealth. On the other hand, Shakespeare hints that this is a façade.
RICHARD DAVIDSON The Theme of Spying in Hamlet Within Hamlet, there is an intricately interconnected subterfuge of deceit, much of which stems from the act of spying. Throughout the play the audience is left confused by the protagonist’s erratic behaviour and the conspiring of numerous other characters, mostly from Claudius’ command, against the title character. Despite the fact that it is Hamlet himself who introduces the theme of spying, intending for his “antic disposition” to serve as a method of shielding his true nature from the King, he also appears to suffer severe repercussions from the deception and uncertainty that is rife within the play. This results in Hamlet’s true mental state becoming a matter of intense debate for the audience. In one of the early ironies of the play, Hamlet’s antic disposition, though intended to alleviate suspicion of his actions, only serves to confuse the King and inspire his decision to use Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as spies against his nephew.
He is both sorry for Romeo after his unsuccessful attempts at a relationship with Rosaline and is worried for Romeo if he accepts the challenge from Tybalt, because Mercutio knows that Tybalt is the better swordsman. It is also learned that Mercutio thinks very highly of himself when he states, “Nay, I am the very pink of courtesy” (2.4.59). By stating this, he is implying that he has better manners and politeness than the people around him. During this scene, Romeo’s cousin and friend Benvolio is also further characterized. From the scene, it is shown that Benvolio is a caring friend and is considerate of Romeo’s feelings.
“As men reveal their weaknesses, they demonstrate their power.” Discuss. The male characters in a Midsummer Night’s Dream all seem to yearn for power but one may argue that any power is an artificial one that is only there because the character’s thrust it upon others, which often makes circumstances worse. This therefore, it may be argued, is their weakness: the fact true power does not come naturally to the characters. This is proven for mostly by Oberon and Puck, Shakespeare makes these two characters the “orchestrators” of the whole play, with the “juice” that they drop onto other’s eyes they make everyone fall in love. However, this does not always go to plan, largely through their ignorance at thinking “by the Athenian garments he hath on.” was an adequate description when the characters reside just outside Athens.
"To His Coy Mistress, is about a man, who wants to sleep with a young woman, but is scared that he does not have a lot of time left. Both the characters aims are the same, but their motivations are different. The Duke is informing the envoy about how he expects his wife to be by talking to him about his ex-wife. This is because he is trying to finalise the deal of marrying the Count's daughter, and wants to make a good impression, this slips throughout the poem, and he reveals his real self. However this contrasts with the speaker, because he is trying to persuade a woman to sleep with him.
Another possible interpretation of Orsino’s thoughts could be seen as him as not being consumed with love itself, but indulging the idea of it. Therefore, he does not necessarily truly love Olivia, but has heard about love and desires to participate in the feeling. This is an example of courtly love, where only by long devotion and much suffering could a man win his ideal woman, where such love was sexless and idealised. In reality, it usually meant that men like Orsino were in love with the idea of love, rather than love itself. Overall, it is made clear that love will be a main theme of ‘Twelfth Night’ as it presents itself within the