Reality and Illusion in Shakespeares Hamlet - The Deception of Appeara

Appearance versus Reality in Hamlet      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hamlet is organized around various pairs of opposing forces. One of these forces is the difference between that what seems and that which actually is, in other words, appearance versus reality. What is, and what merely appears to be? We can discern two principal angles from which this question is approached in Hamlet. First, we have the angle of inward and outward emotions, and the profound distinction that is drawn between them. In other words, the tranquil face that we all show to the world is never the same as the turmoil of our souls. In Hamlet, Shakespeare explores this both explicitly, through the device of the play within the play, and implicitly, through the ways in which he uses the forms and conventions of theater to explore the aforementioned emotional dichotomy. There is also the dichotomy of knowledge that is essential to the Judeo-Christian religious tradition. God, in this tradition, is considered to be omniscient, and thus knows how all things actually are. Mere human beings, on the other hand, can only, as in Plato's allegory of the cave, know how things seem. They have only flawed knowledge. Over the course of Hamlet, we repeatedly perceive characters who focus on things that seem, as well as those who focus on what actually is. This dichotomy is fundamental to our understanding of the play.    Before launching into the body of this exposition, it is necessary that we define a few important terms. By "being", or that which "actually is", I mean those things that exist in the objective reality that might be perceived by some so-called omnipotent being. The flawed knowledge of non-omniscient humans - that which we see every day - is represented by the word "... ...for example, the death of Ophelia occurs offstage. Why? To shroud it in mystery. To keep that which seems - and that which the characters see - apart from the world of reality.    All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages.   Shakespeare, As You Like It, 2.7.139-143    Works Cited Berkeley, George. A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge. 1710. Ed. Kenneth Winkler. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1982. Berman, Allison. "We Only Find Ourselves." Hamlet reaction papers. Wynnewood: FCS, 2000. Lugo, Michael. "Thus Conscience Does Make Cowards of Us All." Hamlet reaction papers. Wynnewood: FCS, 2000. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. 1600? Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: Signet Classic, 1998.