Characters’ Appearance Vs Reality in Hamlet

Introduction

In general, mankind tends to hide their emotions and moves to shield themselves or someone else to keep their discrete pursuits private. In the tragedy of Hamlet, almost all of the fundamental characters have lied to each other to shield themselves. The lies may appear true if one does not carefully examine and understand the thoughts and actions of Hamlet, Gertrude, Polonius, Claudius, and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern. The characters may seem to act one way in a scene and then change themselves in another scene. At the end of the tragedy, the intentions of each of the characters are publicized along with the final outcome of their actions: death.

Characters’ Appearance vs. Reality in Hamlet

The story revolves around Hamlet, where he is the perfect example of a person appearing to be different than what his actions prove him to be. This is done to mislead others about his true motives and intentions. “I will let you know why. So shall my anticipation prevent your discovery and your secrecy to the king and queen moult no feather. I have of late—but wherefore I know not—lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercises, and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory; this most excellent canopy, the air—look you, this brave o’erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire—why, it appears no other thing to me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapors (II. ii, 293-303)” (Shakespeare, 1603). This is a great example of Hamlet speaking directly about appearance and reality.

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern

The denotation of the primary sentence implies that Hamlet is testing the trustworthiness of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Hamlet likely already figured out that the King and Queen asked R&G to speak to Hamlet to discover what’s wrong with him. In the second sentence, Hamlet proves to R&G that he is crazy on purpose so the King and Queen won’t discover Hamlet's real reasons. Lastly, it seemed that R&G received the message about Hamlet, and this gave Hamlet time to think about what actions to take to get revenge. But Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are acting in a different way. R&G are pretending to be Hamlet’s longtime friends, but they are in this situation due to money and greed. They are not aware of the real issues, and they really don’t care much about Hamlet’s feelings. They are also confused about the situation and try to make the best of it, but in the end, Hamlet sends them off to die.

Gertrude

Hamlet's mother, Gertrude, appears in a way that is disgusting in reality. In Act I. ii, Claudius tries to calm Hamlet over his grief of his dead father, but Gertrude wants to keep Hamlet there for her own family reasons. After this happens, Hamlet rambles on saying, “within a month, Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears, Had left the flushing in her galled eyes, She married (I. ii, 153-156)” (Shakespeare, 1603). Hamlet is disgraced with the events after his father’s death.

After the death of Hamlet’s father, Gertrude portrayed herself as someone in mourning by shedding tears and acting as if she was in agony. After Claudius becomes king and they get married, Hamlet realized that his mother’s tears were deceptive since she quickly got remarried and showed no remorse over Hamlet senior. Hamlet probably thought that his mother should not have gotten married so fast to Claudius. This was a dishonorable thing to do to the old king. Hamlet likely believed that his mother was adulterous, and this may have caused him to hate women in general, including Ophelia. Because of this event, Hamlet became harsh on Ophelia, criticizing her wearing makeup because it hides one's true nature. His mother’s action changes Hamlet’s view about Ophelia. He thinks that Ophelia isn’t as pure as he thinks, and she may also be hiding something.

Claudius

Claudius himself is no different from the rest of the characters. He seems to be someone different than what his actions show him to be by the fact that he killed his brother, Hamlet. Claudius wanted the power and rulership to carry out his dream. In Act 4, Claudius is speaking to Gertrude and says “Whose whisper o’er the world’s diameter, as ranges as the cannon to his blank transports his poisoned shot, may miss our name and hit the woundless air. Oh come away! My soul is full of discord and dismay (IV. i., 41-45)” (Shakespeare, 1603).

While speaking with Gertrude, Claudius appears to be worried about Hamlet’s psychological health, not because Hamlet is acting crazy, but because Claudius is frightened that Hamlet may have read the truth about him while he was praying and from Hamlet’s performers that portrayed the events that happened almost exactly the way Claudius murdered his father. Claudius wanted to send Hamlet away to be executed, but Hamlet managed to make it back to Denmark, avoiding death. Literally speaking, the quote mentions how Claudius hates slander, and it can travel very far—all over the earth. He is probably also saying that he does not want a bad reputation for him and his nation over certain mishaps.

Polonius

Polonius is the King’s councilor and appears to be a good character at heart. He is Ophelia’s and Laertes’ father. As a father normally does, he gives his blessing to his son, “to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man. Farewell. My blessing season this in thee (I. iii. 1 78-81)” (Shakespeare, 1603). Here Polonius wishes his son the best.

Even though Polonius gave Laertes his blessing, he is afraid of what his son might do while he is away on his own, so he sends Reynaldo to spy on him. Polonius is also concerned about Ophelia and wants her to stop seeing Hamlet. Polonius uses Hamlet’s madness as a way to be agreeable with the king and be on his favorable side. Polonius misleads the King and his family into believing that he has good reasons and intentions. Polonius speaks thoughtfully and carefully to his superiors so he appears to be very knowledgeable.

Conclusion

The characters in this play don’t all appear to be who they really pretend to be. Hamlet appeared to be crazy for more than one reason, but mainly to prevent anyone from discovering his plot. Gertrude appears to be mournful for Hamlet senior’s death, but quickly forgets that she is in mourning when she marries Claudius, and Hamlet takes out his anger on Ophelia. Claudius also appears to be a nice and caring king for his subjects, but in Hamlet’s case, Claudius knows Hamlet is conspiring against him and is being cautious. Lastly, Polonius appears to be a caring father but tricks his family while trying to be on the king’s right side. So something is truly rotten in Denmark.

References

Shakespeare, W. (1603). Hamlet. In The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Retrieved from https://www.shakespeare-literature.com/Hamlet/