Hamlet - Appearance Vs. Reality Essays (1676 words) -

Hamlet - Appearance Vs. Reality Hamlet - Appearance vs. Reality Hamlet, one of Shakespeare's greatest plays, where the young prince of Denmark must uncover the truth about his fathers death. Hamlet a play that tells the story of a young prince who's father recently died. Hamlets uncle Claudius marries his mother the queen and takes the throne. As the play is told Hamlet finds out his father was murdered by the recently crowned king. The theme that remains conezt throughout the play is appearance versus reality. Things within the play appear to be true and honest but in reality are infested with evil. Many of the characters within the play hide behind a mask of falseness. Four of the main haracters that hid behind this mask are Polonius, Rosencrantz (Guildenstern), the king Cluadius. From behind this mask they give the impression of a person who is sincere and genuine, in reality they are plagued with lies and evil. There appearance will make it very difficult for Hamlet to uncover the truth, the characters hide behind. Polonius the kings royal assiezt has a preoccupation with appearance. He always wants to keep up the appearance of loving and caring person. Polonius appears like a man who loves and cares about his son, Laertes. Polonius speaks to his son with advice that sounds sincere but in reality it is rehearsed, hollow and without feeling. Polonius gives his advice only to appear to be the loving caring father. The reality is he only speaks to appear sincere as a politician, to look good rather then actually be good: And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man. Farewell; my blessing season this in thee! Act 1 Polonius gives his son Laertes his blessing to go away, he sends a spy to follow him and keep an eye on him. This shows his lack of trust for anyone, he gives the appearance of a confident father who trusts his son to go off on his own. In reality he lies about his trust for his son by sending a spy to watch him. His advice he gives his son is rehearsed and only said to give the appearance of a loving father. Polonius further adds to the theme appearance verses reality by ordering Ophelia to stop seeing Hamlet. He lies to her telling her that Hamlet does not love her, he only lusts for her, in truth he does love her: Ay, springes to catch woodcocks. I do know, When the blood burns , how prodigal the soul Through the play Polonius hids behind his mask appearing to be honest loving parent. In reality Polonius lies, manipulates people and eavesdrops on peoples conversation. Polonius helps contribute to the theme appearance verses reality by showing how his appearance is not his true nature, behind the mask there lies someone totally different. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are two of Hamlets childhood friends who when asked by the king, try to find out what is troubling the young prince. Both help to contribute to the theme by showing there appearance of being Hamlets friends. The pair go to Hamlet pretending to be his friends when in truth they are only there because the king asked them to find the truth. There is some irony within the twins, they are asked by the king to find out the truth by hiding within a lie, by pretending to be his friend: A dream is but a shadow Act II. Hamlet knows there purpose for their visit is to dig into his soul to find the real reason for his actions as of late. As the play continues the twins are asked again by the king to go to Hamlet and try again to find the real reason for Hamlets behavior. Hamlet insults them at every chance knowing they are lying to him about there purpose of the visit: Tis as easy as lying; govern these ventages with you finger and thumb, give it breath with your mouth...Act III As the melodrama continues Hamlet goes with the twins to reclaim money that another

Fear and Horror in the Works of Poe Essays

Fear and Horror in the Works of Poe Essays Fear and Horror in the Works of Poe Essay Fear and Horror in the Works of Poe Essay â€Å"I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity†. This quote by Edgar Allan Poe portrays his true feelings, emotions, and his psychological state towards people and society because he could not handle the reality he was living in. Since there were so many deaths revolving around his life, he could not help but feel lonely and depressed all the time. Perhaps his tragic life enabled him to write stories such as â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† and â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado†. Through these stories, he was able to show the readers the violent and cruel actions a man can do just to satisfy their own desires. Poe established an atmosphere of fear and horror in both stories by using the setting, mood of the character and story, and the mental state of the characters. First of all, both stories make it easy for the characters to kill because of the setting. In the story â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart†, the readers do not know much about the old man, and his relationship with the narrator. However, it is clear that he dislikes the â€Å"Evil Eye† and wants to get rid of it. The setting of this story is just a room in the old man’s house, but Poe successfully creates a dark and scary mood by making the readers imagine what is happening. Moreover, killing the â€Å"Evil Eye† or the old man in a dark room on his bed made it effortless for the narrator to murder him. Thus, the setting in the story actually helped the narrator to kill the man with ease. On the other hand, in â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado†, the story takes place in a carnival in Venice where people should be enjoying their time by merry-making. Usually, people who seek revenge would kill someone in a silent or rainy night so that there would be no witnesses , but Montresor decided to do it when people less suspected it. Carnivals are places where you can celebrate your freedom, and for that reason, you can do whatever you want. However, it is ironic that Fortunato loses his freedom :

The death of Prophet Mohammed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The death of Prophet Mohammed - Essay Example It therefore follows that the holy book Al-Qur’an and the word of Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) are the two most authentic sources of information for a practicing Muslim (follower of Islam). It is for this reason that the personality of Holy Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) is held in high respect and esteem throughout the Muslim world. According to the most authentic of historical records, Muhammad (P.B.U.H) was born at Mecca in the year 570 A.D where he led his early life. His father Abdullah died a few weeks before his birth and his mother died when he was six years of age. ‘Abd al Muttalib’, who was his paternal grandfather, raised him until he was eight years of age, at which point he also passed away. Later on, he was raised by his uncle ‘Abu Talib’. Muhammad (P.B.U.H) spent his early life at the holy city of Mecca, and later on migrated to the city of Madina where he spent the rest of his life. The holy Qur’an was revealed over a period of twenty three years during which time Muhammad (P.B.U.H) continued his preaching activities and managed to convert a lot of Arabs to the religion of Islam. A number of wars took place during this time, and some time before his death, the holy city of Mecca was conquered. This was a turning point in the history of this region and almost all of the tribes of Arabs came under the influence of this newly growing religion. In the eleventh year after migration (al-Hijra), Muhammad (P.B.U.H) started to have health problems which presented as a headache and fever. For more than eleven days he led the prayers of Muslims under these conditions of illness. As his illness progressed, he shifted to his wife Ayesha’s room where he spent the remaining days of his life. A few days before his death, his fever got worse, for which he told his followers to pour water on him. When his fever got better, he spoke to his people and forbade them from worshipping