Using the chosen texts, Twelfth Night and The Merchant of Venice, this essay will consider whether or not the dramatic effects of deception and disguise are significant in Shakespearean works. Deception and disguise show the difference between appearance and reality and often go hand in hand within many, if not all of Shakespeare’s plays. There are, for example, many instances of disguise leading to accidental deception, the use of disguise as a means to deceive in a form of self-preservation such as the tactics used within Twelfth Night and there are occasions when deception is used in a more malevolent fashion as shown in both Twelfth Night and The Merchant of Venice. Other characters are known to even deceive themselves, ultimately believing they are something they are not, as such deception and disguise is one of the most significant dramatic effects used in any Shakespearean play.
“No plot device is more constantly recurrent in Shakespearian drama than is disguise.” (P.V.Kreider). Throughout many of Shakespeare’s works deception is credited as among the most frequently visited plot devices. Even the actors themselves in the original performances of the plays donned a disguise in order to deceive the audience, being male dominated the actors had to
…show more content…
Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice is riddled with characters deceiving one another, the play holds much significance on one’s physical appearance and how the appearance of a character is a crucial component to the continuation of the plot. The first occurrence of deception is in fact Bassanio, friend to Antonio, is arguably the most significant character in The Merchant of Venice, as none of the plot would occur without him. Bassanio used his appearance to deceive not only the people of Venice but also Portia of Belmont and uses funds which are otherwise unavailable to him in an attempt to appear wealthy. For instance, when Bassanio
	The first example of deception we see is with the characters of Beatrice and Benedick. These two characters provide the humor throughout Shakespeare's comedy; their repartees and soliloquies tend to leave the reader smiling and anxious for more dialogue between them. Beatrice and Benedick have had a relationship prior to their battles of wit to which she alludes to in Act 2: "Marry, once before he won it for me with false dice; / Therefore your grace may well say I have lost it’ (2.1.265-7). We see that at one time in the past they had a relationship that somewhere went wrong. The deception of Beatrice and Benedick comes courtesy of Don Pedro in Act 2. In this scene, Don Pedro, out of pure amusement, asks Leonato, the governor of Messina, and Claudio, a lord attending on Don Pedro, for help to bring these two together: "If we can do this, Cupid is no / longer an archer; his glory shall be ours…" (2.1.363-4). In Act 2.3, Claudio, Pedro, and Leonato, see Benedick in the garden and decide that that is the right moment for them to try and trick Be...
Throughout the play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Hamlet learns the truth of his father’s recent death. He learns that his fathers death was no accident, and that his uncle, his fathers brother, is his father murder. As the play goes on Hamlet promises to avenge his father’s murderer, his uncle and newly crowned king, Claudius. Covered by this veil the characters give the appearance of being honest and sincere but on the other side of the veil they are polluted with dishonesty and tricky.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a play about deceit and honesty, because throughout the play, many characters use deceitful methods to uncover or hide truths about themselves or others to the point where the truth disappears in the lies.
Incomplete An exploration of Shakespeare’s presentation of trickery and deception in his play ‘Much Ado about Nothing.’ In William Shakespeare’s play ‘Much Ado about Nothing’, there are many instances of trickery and deception, which seem to surround the whole of the play. These instances are as follows: Don Pedro wooing hero for Claudio, Don Pedro wooing hero for himself, Claudio pretending to be Benedick to find out information from Don John and Borachio, Don John and Borachio both know that Claudio is not Benedick but trick Claudio into thinking that they believe that Claudio is in fact Benedick, Benedick pretending to be somebody else whilst talking to Beatrice, Beatrice pretending to believe that she is in fact talking to Benedick, Beatrice having romantic feelings for Benedick, Benedick having romantic feelings for Beatrice, Beatrice not having romantic feelings for Benedick, Benedick not having romantic feelings for Beatrice, Hero is unfaithful with Borachio, Hero is dead, and Antonio having another daughter.
Hamlet is Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy, which contains and portrays many themes in outstanding ways. Throughout this play, the title character, Hamlet, is obsessed with trapping a culprit and bringing him to justice. (Hamlet, 15) Sorting fact from fiction and appearance from reality is a major theme of the play. Appearance vs. Reality encircles throughout the play and remains constant. It’s about those characters that play their roles behind the veil of duplicity. Within the play, everything appears to be true and accurate, but in reality it’s vice-versa. (Hamlet- Appearance vs. Reality) In this play, Appearance vs. Reality is dealt with by many characters. The way Shakespeare used this theme in Hamlet is not only interesting, but quite astonishing in the way it affects the play in general, but the ending tremendously.
The outward itself is not exempt from this chaotic dynamic: it is subjected to manipulation by the inward. In the sixteenth century “there appears to be an increased self-consciousness about the fashioning of human identity as a manipulable, artful process” (Greenblatt 2). Shakespeare himself appeared to be aware of this and consciously dramatized the manipulation of the outward by the inward. In Hamlet, the outward is portrayed as a mask that conceals the undesirable inward: “smile and smile and be a villain” (Ham. 1.5.114); “with devotion’s visage and pious action we do sugar o’er the devil himself” (Ham. 3.1.52-4). Similarly, in I Henry IV the same precept is dramatized with the example of Henry IV tactfully “dressed” himself “in such humility” in order to win public support (3.2.51), as well as the incident where Hotspur accuses Henry IV of tricking his way up to the throne with his “seeming brow of justice” (4.3.89) that conceals underneath a traitor and usurper. However, a concept neglected in Hamlet, I Henry IV stresses how the outward can be misinterpreted—one of the reasons Worcester ignores the peace offer of Henry IV is that while his nephew will be excused on the ground of being young and hot-headed, he himself will forever be suspected, “interpretation will misquote [his] looks” (I Henry IV 5.2.14) as treacherous. To sum up, while both of the plays dramatize that
Throughout the play “Much Ado About Nothing” by William Shakespeare is about how trickery and deceit is used to persuade the minds of different characters of change the play outcome. These events eventually led to love and romance, which affected many characters. The first time trickery and deceit were encountered in this play was when Prince fooled Benedick and Beatrice into falling in love with each other. The second time deceit was used when Don John fooled Prince and Claudio into believing Hero was a whore. Lastly deceit was used when the friar came up with a plan to fool Claudio and the prince making them believe hero was dead.
The value of manipulation and misleading for personal gain has proven to be rewarding for multiple people throughout history. Geoffrey Chaucer and William Shakespeare, exemplify characters and atmospheres that posses these manipulating qualities through personal gain. Othello is a play w...
Finally, this compound of overwhelmingly convincing humanity and psychological contradiction is the greatest of Shakespeare’s legacies to the men of his own quality. No ‘part’ in the whole repertory of dramatic literature is so certain of success with almost any audience, and is yet open to such a remarkable variety of interpretation. There are as many Hamlets as there are actors who play him; and Bernhardt has proved that even a woman can score a success. (101)
Function of Disguise in Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is a play based around disguise in the form of deception and becoming someone different. In Twelfth Night, disguise takes many different shapes from physical disguise to mental disguise. Disguise is one of the main topics of the play and helps to create the plot. It brings in confusion and comedy as well as the darker and sadder side of the play which is disguised as fun and happiness. Disguise is evident from the very beginning of the play.
How Shakespeare Explores the Theme of Deception and Self-Deception in Twelfth Night Deception is the use of deceit that deceives everyone around you including yourself. It is the fact or state of being deceived. It can be a ruse or a trick in disguise, which deludes, giving a sense of indirection. It’s a misleading falsehood. One can deceive by running away from even their true self either physically or mentally.
Shakespeare’s use of disguise has left the audience in suspense. The audience is left waiting to
...disguise to add comic effect by encouraging humour of an audience via the ‘theories of laughter’. Comic effect is accurately demonstrated by Shakespeare’s incorporation of confusion, disorder and farce. However, it can be concluded that Shakespeare’s use of mistaken identity and disguise was for the purpose of more than just for comic effect, but to highlight the audience more serious topics and challenge social norms and values of the period. Ironically, it can be inferred that Shakespeare has masked his underlying purpose of mistaken identity and disguise with comedy.
The Merchant of Venice explores the theme of Appearance versus Reality. The theme is supported with many examples in the form of characters, events and objects.
The focus of this essay is Rosalind's preoccupation with the outward show of things. Whether this is a result of her cross-dressing, the reason for the same, or the Shakespeare's way of revealing his presence is not clear, but Rosalind's constant insistence on the truth of masks and on the other hand her readiness to doubt this same truth fascinates me.