Lee Sims
One of the very prevalent themes throughout this play is that of betrayal, but it is particularly evident in Act II because of Ophelia's betraying Hamlet, by telling her father, and Hamlet's friends telling him what their purpose was, to spy on him. Shakespeare uses this betrayal to convey to the audience that betraying by means of deception never turns out the ideal way. In addition to betrayal, a theme that pervades throughout the story and is apparent in II.ii is deception. In Act II, deception is present everywhere, between the King and Queen, between Ophelia and Hamlet, between Hamlet and his friends, and between Hamlet and Polonious. Shakespeare uses this web of lies to portray to the audience what a truly awful mess deception creates; even if it is some simple lie, things get misconstrued and eventually explode, which I believe will come soon enough.
There are many symbols that allude to the theme of deception. For instance, night and day, and everything is not what it seems.
ReplyDeleteSam Slug agrees with you. There is constant deception throughout Act I and II, all surrounding the initial deception of the King. Hamlet is very aware of the existence of these lies, and I suspect that as the story continues he will act on this knowledge, especially with regard to Ophelia.
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