Throughout time, society has been vulnerable to betrayal, whether it's President Nixon with the Watergate scandal or LeBron James taking his talents to an overpowered team. When faced with betrayal, people often feel deceived by the ones closest to them. This is the case in William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, the main character Hamlet and his father both face deception and betrayal as they come to realize that the ones closest to them aren't who they claim to be. This realization is closely followed by a sense of revenge which is essentially the downfall of Hamlet and his kingdom. .
King Hamlet was a very strong leader of Denmark. The people loved him and had no problem with the way he dictated his country. "Was" as in past tense. King Hamlet was deceived by his own brother. While King Hamlet thought everything was good, his brother had something else in mind. King Claudius, Hamlets evil brother, craved power more than anything, which eventually lead to his decision to poison King Hamlet. While King Hamlet was in his rose garden, King Claudius slyly poured the poison in King Hamlet's ear. This is when King Hamlet realized his brother was a deceptive liar. Unfortunately, King Hamlet could only mourn over the disloyalty of his brother for a short amount of time, as his own death bed was awaiting him. After his death, the ghost of the king came in contact with Hamlet and explained: .
So the whole ear of Denmark .
Is by a forgèd process of my death .
Rankly abused. But know, thou noble youth, .
The serpent that did sting thy father's life .
Now wears his crown. (I.V.36-40) .
The ghost tells Hamlet how he was really slain. In the quote, the ghost refers to Claudius as a serpent due to his actions of betrayal. In order to gain more power, King Hamlets own brother poisoned the King to get rid of him and take over his country. In the process, Claudius also marries the King's wife, portraying another act of betrayal in the play as King Hamlet's wife married the next man in power with no thought about her slain ex-husband.
