It becomes clear that Hamlet did truly love Ophelia, yet hid it because he was a coward. The “ White Lie” is not only depicted through Hamlet denying his love but also putting a front up for the selfish betterment of his life style. After his outrageous lecture on self worth that Hamlet gives Ophelia, she grows incredibly mad, which ultimately leads to her death. Although the intentions of his lecture were clearly to hurt Ophelia and gain power over her, once he realizes she is dead he feels the need to express his actual love for her. His change of attitude grows confusing as he professes his dear love after her awful death, “ I loved Ophelia.
“To be or not to be, that is the question; whether’ tis nobler in the mind to suffer...” (Shakespeare Act 3, Scene 1). This quotation proves Hamlet becomes inferior to others and the environment through his madness, causing him to express himself explicitly towards others. Hamlet’s madness not only causes his loved ones lives but it allows his “end” to come because he accepts every challenge from his opponent. Hamlet’s madness not only affects him but Ophelia, who is mentally torn apart by Hamlet. Ophelia was once flawless, but since her encounter with Hamlet she has fallen into the same madness and wants to kill herself.
“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain,” advice that would have served Polonius well. Both L. Frank Baum's Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Shakespeare’s Hamlet had had a common theme, lying and deception. Lies and deceit affect each central character of Shakespeare’s Hamlet as they develop on social, psychological and moral levels. Prince Hamlet, the protagonist, is morally opposed to deception and constantly craves truth. Hamlet's apparent psychological state as the play progresses changes from that of a scholar, to that of a madman, though contradictorily this change is in itself a deceptive act.
He then goes on to say “I loved you not” (III.I.129.) meaning that Ophelia’s beauty caused him to lie, and not be realistic. Although Hamlet did in fact love Ophelia, he’s attempting to argue that when he said he loved her, it was really her beauty that was cheating his honesty. In this case, appearance conquered reality. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, what “seems” isn’t always the same as being.
However, it was unfair of Lenoato to make Claudio believe he had to spend the rest of his life with a complete stranger. In a way, Leonato got his revenge on Claudio for shaming him and his daughter. In Much Ado About Nothing, the point that Shakespeare seems to be making is that deception is not necessarily evil, but can be used to create pleasurable outcomes. The tricks themselves do not hold any moral values. People use tricks to get want they want, therefore it is the quality of the individual waho uses trickery that determines the type of outcome.
It serves as the overall catalyst for the exile of Hamlet, the fencing match between him and Laertes, and the sudden string of deaths. It foreshadows what is to come later on in the play. The themes and allusions expressed in the exchange completely reflect the anger and intensity of Hamlet towards his mother. The critiques by Gregory Harrison support my case. Much to the surprise of his mother, Hamlet began to berate her for her actions involving Claudius following King Hamlet’s death.
Hamlet's tragic flaw is his indecisiveness to act on his thoughts. Hamlet tends to over-think and weigh the consequences of his actions rather than just act on them, this is shown through Hamlet's soliloquys. Hamlet is always questioning himself so he will make the best decision. No matter how admirable this is it slows him down from killing Claudius. Hamlet even says himself, “Thus conscience does make cowards of us all” (III.i.54).
In Shakespeare’s play Othello, Iago who is possessed by jealousy and evil necessity of destruction, including his own, has two main objectives: to plot and to deceive. He hates Othello because he believes the Moor made love to his wife and also he is jealous that Cassio was chosen to be Lieutenant instead of himself. Iago is everything about evil. He manipulates to get whatever he wants. In addition, he also claims for being honesty, even though he acts against this reputation.
In Shakespeare’s play, ‘King Lear’, we are shown an array of characters that are multi-dimensional and extremely complex. Shakespeare has the ability to reveal a human character with an exceptional use of language. The three characters that I believe have large roles and functions within the play are, understandably, King Lear himself, The Fool, and Kent. The Fool acts as Lear's conscience and trusted guide, yet he is also a critic of Lear, a truth teller. In effect this makes a true friend, however some believe it was the Fool's constant remarks that drove Lear to madness.
Shakespeare uses it as opening lines to introduce the idea of love being harmful and painful from the very beginning of the play, truly making it a theme throughout the play. It conveys to the audience that he doesn’t want to love her but can’t seem to help it, which in turn makes audience question if they would love if they had a choice in it. Shakespeare creates a sense of Pity for Orsino and his situation in the audience, with him almost physically hurting because of the strength of the emotional pain love is causing him to endure. As many people will have felt a similar way before – if not as intense a pain – from the very start of Twelfth Night we can empathise with the characters.