Hamlet #3

In this section of the play, the themes of deception and lying are brought to the forefront of the plot and become an essential part of understanding the characters. When Hamlet speaks to the ghost of his father, he is told by the apparition "the whole ear of Denmark/ Is by a forged process of my death/ Rankly abused" (I.v. ). The lies surrounding the circumstances of his death are presented as an attack on the state its self.  This description closely parallels the facts of the king's murder. He was killed by Claudius who he says, "in the porches of my ears did pour/ The leperous distilment" (I.v. ). Just as poison in his ear killed the king, lies in the ears of the state threaten Denmark. Hamlet himself imitates this method of destruction through deception by behaving with a strange and bizarre front concealing his vengeful intentions. This theme of deception continues into the next scene Polonius instructs Reynaldo in the arts of manipulation and deception.