Hamlet Betrayal Analysis

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To Betray or Not to Betray
Throughout human history, betrayal has been considered amongst the very worst offenses one could commit against another. Betrayal of another person is an despicable act of disloyalty and leads to broken trust. Betrayal, at its very core, is when one person in a relationship acts in such a way that favors their own interests at the expense of the other person. Betrayal sends a clear signal about how seldom the betrayer values their relationship with the betrayed. In modern society, cheating, lying, and self interest, are commonplace. One must do whatever it takes to get ahead, disregarding whomever they hurt along the way. In a world where many are reluctant to trust one another, it seems as if the only people one …show more content…

(I.ii.154-164)
Hamlet is in utter despair over his mother’s actions, stating in his first soliloquy that he wishes God had not made suicide a sin, and that the world was now “weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable” (I.ii.137). In Hamlet’s mind, the world he knows is spiraling out of control and he grapples to understand what is happening around him. Hamlet’s furious reaction to the betrayal displays his deep confusion and anger that persists throughout the remainder of the play and sets the stage for the acts to come. He feels as if his mother has not only betrayed him, but betrayed his dear father. After the initial betrayal by his mother, Hamlet discovers that Claudius has also betrayed him when he learns that it was Claudius who murdered his father. This revelation, as told to Hamlet by the ghost of King Hamlet, shocks and enrages him. The ghost sets Hamlet out on a quest to revenge his father’s “foul and most unnatural murder” (I.v.31). Hamlet agrees to carry out the ghost’s wishes, also agreeing to spare his mother from harm. From that point forward in the play, Hamlet feigns being mad in order to set up his revenge against Claudius, and decides to carry out numerous tests to make sure it was indeed Claudius who killed his own brother in order to be

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