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The Motif Of Lying In William Shakespeare's Plays

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William Shakespeare’s plays often have a motif of lying, for a variety of purposes, not necessarily with malicious intent. The binary of honesty and lying is addressed at length. Be it comedy or tragedy, there is usually an element of trickery and exposure of truth in the end, with the confusion caused by the lies being resolved. The presentation and reasoning that are behind the lies vary vastly, just like the characters telling them. Sometimes, they are used to drive the narrative, by manipulating the behavior of the characters. In-Shakespeare’s-early-comedies,-such-as-The-Comedy-of-Errors,-characters-are-deceived,-but-it-is-not-due-to-a-deliberate-attempt-by-any-individual.-The-comedic-element-results-largely-from-inside-information-that-the-audience,-but-not-the-characters,-is-privy-to.-Shakespeare-could-clearly-see-the-comedic-value-in-confusing-a-character,-and-he-used-it-to-full-effect.-In

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