Term Papers on Appearance Vs Reality In Hamlet

Term Paper Title	Appearance Vs Reality In Hamlet
# of Words	863
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	3.45

Appearance Vs Reality in Hamlet

     One of the most famous and popular authors and script
writers is William Shakespeare.  Shakespeare has always been able
to create interesting characters and one of the reasons they are
so interesting might be that they are complex people with their
inner selves differing from their outer selves. Are the
characters in Hamlet the same on the inside as they appear to be
on the outside?  The characters in William Shakespeare's Hamlet
can be studied in a manner relating to appearance versus reality.
Some of these characters are Claudius, Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern, and Hamlet.
     One character who enables us to examine the theme of
appearance versus reality is Claudius, the new King of Denmark.
In Act One, Scene Two Claudius acts as though he really cares for
his brother and grieves over the elder Hamlet's death. This is
shown in his first speech addressed to his court, "and that it us
befitted/To bear our hearts in grief, and our whole kingdom/To be
contracted in one brow of woe" (Shakespeare I22-4).  It is
shown further on in the same speech when he says, "our late dear
brother's death" (Shakespeare I219).  However, this is not how
Claudius truly feels about his brothers death, for Claudius is
the one who murders elder Hamlet.  We see the proof of this in
Claudius' soliloquy when he appears to be praying; "O, my offence
is rank, it smells to heaven./It hath the primal eldest curse
upon't/A brother's murder" (Shakespeare III336-38).
     Another love which Claudius fakes is the love he has towards
his nephew and stepson, Hamlet.  In his first speech to his court
Claudius tells Hamlet not to leave for school but to remain in
Denmark; "It is most retrograde to our desire/And we do beseech
you, bend you to remain/Here in the cheer and comfort of our eye"
(Shakespeare I2114-117). However, later in the play Claudius
develops a plan to send Hamlet away from Denmark with the aid of
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern; "And he [Hamlet] to England shall
along with you [R & G]" (Shakespeare III34).  Claudius also
refers to himself as "Thy loving father, Hamlet" (Shakespeare
IV350) but when Hamlet is out of the room a few moments later
Claudius has a complete change of face in which he reveals his
plan to have Hamlet executed; "Our sovereign process, which
imports at full/By letters congruing to that effect/The present
death of Hamlet" (Shakespeare IV363-65).
     Even the love Claudius showed for Gertrude can be questioned
in its validity.  Claudius, near the beginning of the play,
appears to be happy about his marriage to Gertrude and in the
later scene of Claudius' soliloquy, he lists Gertrude as one of
the reasons he murdered his own brother.  We can assume by this
that Claudius did appear to love Gertrude, ...

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