The Theme of Appearance vs. Reality in William Shakespeare's Works Characters within one of William Shakespeare's greatest tragic plays,
Hamlet, appear to be true and honest but in reality are infested with
many falsehoods and deceptions. Characters such as Polonius, Claudius,
and Hamlet give an impression of a person who is sincere and genuine,
but behind their masks are plagued with lies and evil. As a result of
Shakespeare's ingenious character development, there is a dominant and
overwhelming theme that is concurrent throughout the play. The theme
of appearance versus reality engages the reader to overlook apparent
behavioural fallacies of the character to achieve a greater sense of
understanding of the decisions made by that character.
Polonius, the King's royal assistant, has a preoccupation with
appearance. He always wants to keep up the appearance of a loving and
caring person, which is evident through his love and care of his son,
Laertes. Polonius speaks to his son with advice that sounds sincere
but in reality it is rehearsed, hollow and without feeling (Author,
Page Number). Polonius gives his advice only to appear to be the
loving, caring father. For example, Polonius gives Laertes his
blessing to go away, only to have a spy follow him and keep an eye on
him. This shows his lack of trust for anyone; he gives the appearance
of a confident father who trusts his son to go off on his own but
actually lies about his trust for his son by sending a spy to watch
him. Furthermore, Polonius displays traits of hypocrisy and
insincerity. In his speech to Laertes i...
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...ing words that demeaned her existence.
More importantly, the comparison provides the reader with a clear,
focused picture of the two different personality types of Hamlet. On
one side, Hamlet is crude and full of deceptions, on the contrarily he
is also a loving and understanding person.
Through the characters in the play, the superficial theme, appearance
verses reality, is analyzed. Polonius, Claudius and Hamlet all appear
to be good and honest, but internally all contain lies and have hidden
intentions within them. The characters portray themselves as one
person on the outside and a different one on the inside, infesting
themselves with deception and falsehood. By continually wearing these
masks, the characters have created an environment of confusion and
disorder, ultimately resulting in a tragedy - their demise.
Timothy Findley and Shakespeare use the theme of appearance versus reality in their texts: The Wars and King Lear. Characters in the novel and the play: Robert, Goneril, and Regan, intentionally appear to be something they are not in order to achieve a goal. However, they differ in where it leads them by the end, as in King Lear the characters die, unlike in The Wars where Robert cannot escape his true self and goes back to follow his personal morality.
In the written text, Shakespeare emphasis's the hidden reality through the use of dramatic techniques of imagery and symbolism. There is a constant use of light and dark imagery which is used by the protagonist , MAC...
Throughout A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, there are multiple analyses that one can follow in order to reach a conclusion about the overall meaning of the play. These conclusions are reached through analyzing the play’s setting, characterization, and tone. However, when one watches the production A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Michael Hoffman, a completely different approach is taken on these aspects, leading to a vastly different analysis of the work. Though there are many similarities between the original written play A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare and the on-screen production of the aforementioned play which was directed by Michael Hoffman, there are differences in setting and
Schlegel, August Wilhelm. Criticism on Shakespeare s Tragedies . A Course of Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature. London: AMS Press, Inc., 1965.
Hazlitt, William. "Characters of Shakespeare's Plays: Hamlet." Essays in Criticism. Second ed. Ed. Cyrus Hoy. New York: Norton, 1992. 164-169.
In this speech, Shakespeare targeted his Elizabethan audience through allusions to the Great Chain of Being, which governed their society, with the intent of influencing the themes that his audience interpreted. Targeting the audience with that aspect of their lives had the effect of developing Hamlet’s underlying themes: the frailty of man, appearance versus reality, and the uncertainty of death.
Spurgeon, Caroline. “Shakespeare’s Imagery and What it Tells Us.” Shakespearean Tragedy. Ed. D. F. Bratchell. New York: Routledge, 1990.
William Shakespeare is widely known for his ability to take a sad story, illustrate it with words, and make it a tragedy. Usually human beings include certain discrepancies in their personalities that can at times find them in undesirable or difficult situations. However, those that are exemplified in Shakespeare’s tragedies include “character flaws” which are so destructive that they eventually cause their downfall. For example, Prince Hamlet, of Shakespeare’s tragedy play “Hamlet,” is seemingly horrified by what the ghost of his father clarifies concerning his death. Yet the actions executed by Hamlet following this revelation do not appear to coincide with the disgust he expresses immediately after the ghost alerts him of the true cause of his death. Thus, it is apparent that the instilled self doubt of Prince Hamlet is as the wand that Shakespeare uses to transform an otherwise sad story to an unfortunate tragedy.
Many would perceive madness and corruption to play the most influential role in Hamlet. However, it could be argued that the central theme in the tragedy is Shakespeare's presentation of actors and acting and the way it acts as a framework on which madness and corruption are built. Shakespeare manifests the theme of actors and acting in the disassembly of his characters, the façades that the individuals assume and the presentation of the `play within a play'. This intertwined pretence allows certain characters to manipulate the actions and thoughts of others. For this reason, it could be perceived that Shakespeare views the `Elsinorean' tragedy as one great puppet show, "I could see the puppets dallying".
In Hamlet, the value of truth incorporates the theme of appearance as opposed to reality and it links ...
Appearance vs. Reality in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. In Hamlet, one of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies, there is a prevailing theme that is concurrent throughout the play. Throughout the play, all the characters appear to be one thing on the outside. yet on the inside, they are completely different. The theme of Appearance versus reality is prominent in Hamlet because of the fact that the characters portray themselves differently from what they really are.
Before Laertes is about to go to France, Polonius talks to him and tells him all of his good advice. While Polonius tells Laertes all of his good advice, he says, “My blessing with thee'; (I.iii.61). This statement shows that Polonius really wants Laertes to be successful when he goes to France. Polonius says, “Beware of entrance to a quarrel';, (I.iii.69) because he wants him to be safe. Polonius wants Laertes to stay out of trouble, and to be friendly with everyone he meets. Another point Polonius wants to make is that it is better to listen than to talk. “Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice'; (I.iii.72). Polonius believes that it is better to listen too much than to talk too much, because sometimes people who talk too much get into trouble, and others don’t like them. Whereas, people who listen more than they talk rarely have others who don’t like them and they don’t get into much trouble. Another way Polonius tells Laertes to stay out of trouble is when he says, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be'; (I.iii.80). This is important because sometimes when things are borrowed, the lender will get mad that the borrower didn’t return when it was needed or the borrower ruined part of it. Even when it is an accident, it is still better to not borrow or lend anything from anyone just in case one person has a short temper. Polonius lastly and most importantly tells Laertes, “This above all to thine own self be true';. This is good advice because if people are not true to themselves, then they can’t really be true to anyone else. Polonius believes that Laertes should have enough self-respect to be true to himself.
the law he brought back for the sake of lust. Angelo is an immoral and
Throughout Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the theme of Appearance versus Reality stays constant. Many characters in the play appear to be honest and sincere but are really filled with deceit and mischievousness. Additionally, Hamlet the Prince of Demark displays many strong yet justified feelings and emotions. His despair, anger and melancholy are all emotions for this troubled character. In Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the word See operates in a unique way the shows both enhanced perception and insightful feeling across multiple characters.
William Shakespeare’s dramatic and poetic techniques and his use of hyperbole are used to describe the characters emotions and weaknesses. The use of dramatic irony is used to create personal conflict. This is done throughout the play to describe the characters concerns and their situations.