Betrayal And Self-Betrayal In Shakespeare's Hamlet

Betrayal and Self-Betrayal in Shakespeare’s Hamlet

One on the many recurring themes in Shakespeare’s Hamlet is that of betrayal; in fact, it is less of a theme and more of a sociopathic vocation for many of the characters! If drawn as a schematic the betrayals are a veritable labyrinth of double-crossings, falsehood and moral dereliction that pervade the play almost from the opening act. Claudius initiates it all by betraying his brother and murdering him, Polonius betrays his daughters trust by using her as bait to sound out Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern betray Hamlet by reporting his actions to Claudius, Gertrude betrays Claudius in agreeing to plot with Hamlet against him and the list goes on! I found but a few of these betrayals complex and interesting enough to write about and I chose them for their
] who quotes scholars that believe Hamlet was confused by his own inability to act, and rants because he cannot act. Hamlet was not confused as the above speech clearly proves, he rants so that he CAN act. Hamlet was preparing himself; he makes a lucid decision to ‘deconstruct’ all that he is made of. Herein lays the very essence of the grand plan that Hamlet devises to betray his true nature, his ‘self’, and become that which was previously abhorrent to him in order to perform this pernicious mandate. He makes this ‘manic’ speech long after the vision is gone. He plunges forward with his diatribe, he presses onward in an amplified ‘blind hatred’; vilifying his mother, recalling his uncles crimes. Is this just grief? Are we to believe that the Prince of Denmark is so out of his wits that nothing he says should be considered in any way contrived and purposeful? I think