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Shakespeare's Use Of Deception In The Tragedy Of Hamlet

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Deception is an essential element in any tragedy. Its' affects on the lives of the characters could be destructive or benign. In William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark deceit proves to be the very foundation of the play. Shakespeare builds on this idea of deceit between the characters, from the very beginning. The deceit that is practiced is imposed on others as well as self inflicted ultimately leading to a tragic ending. In this play, the characters choose to be deceitful instead of being truthful when getting their way. The irony is that deception is used to find the truth by these characters. There are many examples of deceit in the play, most notably by Hamlet, Polnius and King Claudius.

Hamlet uses deception

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