Appearance vs. Reality, Hamlet

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the main theme of the play is appearance versus reality. The characters within the play appear to be sincere and honourable when in reality they are corrupt and immoral. Many of the characters within the play illustrate this concept. When looking at them from behind a mask they give the impression of a person who is genuine and honest, but in reality they are plagued with lies and despicable behaviour. Four of the main characters that attempt to deceive Hamlet by hiding behind this mask are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Polonius, and King Claudius. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are two of Hamlets childhood friends who are not as they appear. They are asked by the King and Gertrude to spy on Hamlet in order to find the reason behind Gertrude’s â€Å"too much changed son† (II. ii. 36). They give the appearance of being Hamlet’s friend, yet in reality, the pair only came to Elsinore because they were summoned. Surprised by his friends’ unexplained arrival, Hamlet questions what has brought them there. Rosencrantz lies when responding â€Å"To visit you my lord, no other occasion† (II. i. 266). Hamlet instantly sees through their lies and insists â€Å"you were sent for, and there / is a kind of confession in your looks†¦I know the good king and / queen have sent for you† (II. ii. 273-276). Knowing that his so-called friends are lying about the purpose of their visit, Hamlet discloses nothing to them. Having gotten no answers for the King, the two were asked to go to Hamlet once more an d continue to seek the real reason for Hamlet’s behaviour. Hamlet has little patience since being lied to and reveals to the pair that he is aware that they are spies and saying to them: [Y]ou would play upon me, you would seem to know my stops, you would pluck out the heart of my mystery, .. Call me what Instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me. † (III. iii. 343-350) Although appearing to be Hamlet’s friends, he quickly sees that in actuality, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are only trying to pry him for information. The King’s royal associate, Polonius, plays an important role in developing the theme. He’s constantly keeping up the facade of a concerned and caring individual. Polonius appears to be a good father, and honourable man. Upon learning that his son is going to France, he gives several pieces of advice to Laertes, in particular â€Å"This above all, to thine own self be true† (II. iii. 78). He gives advice in order to appear to be a caring father, when in fact he speaks in order to look good rather than to actually be good. Polonius then sends Reynaldo to bring Laertes money but instructs that â€Å"Before you visit him, to make inquire / Of his behaviour† (II. i. 4-5), and then advises him how to be sneaky about it. Throughout the play Polonius conspires with the King on ways to eavesdrop on Hamlet. When Hamlet is going to speak with his mother, Polonius suggests â€Å"Behind the arras I’ll convey myself / To hear the process† (III. iii. 28-29). Polonius acts as if his actions are for the king, when in fact it will benefit him greatly if the reason behind Hamlet’s strange behaviour is because of his love for Ophelia. Polonius also humiliates his daughter Ophelia by forcing her to read love letters from Hamlet aloud to the King and Gertrude. He tells Ophelia that it’s in her own best interest not to keep this secret. His words are those of a loving father, but his actions are quite different. Even though Polonius pretends to be moral and a loving parent, the reality is that he is a devious manipulator. Claudius, the current King of Denmark is the epitome of corruption and immorality although he presents himself to be the rightful king. King Claudius reveals his true maliciousness several times. Claudius only becomes King of Denmark after murdering his brother and marrying his sister-in-law Gertrude in an incestuous marriage. When speaking of his brothers’ death, he justifies the speedy marriage to Gertrude while appearing to have the kingdom’s best interest at heart when explaining â€Å"That we with wisest sorrow think on him / Together with remembrance of ourselves† (I. ii. 6-7). In actuality, Claudius acts out of greed to become king and out of lust for Gertrude. Claudius demeans Hamlet several times throughout the play. While Hamlet is grieving his father’s death, the heartless king requests â€Å"We pray you throw to earth / This unprevailing woe† (I. ii. 106-107), showing his deplorable behaviour by referring to Hamlet’s grief as useless. King Claudius shows his true maliciousness during his final act of manipulation. The king appeals to Laertes guilt and convinces him to kill Hamlet to avenge his father’s death by â€Å"A sword unbated, and in pass of practice / Requite him for your father† (IV. vii. 137-138). King Claudius’s selfish and despicable behaviour leads to the death of all those he had pretended to care for at one point or another: Gertrude, Hamlet, and Laertes. This final act of vengeance brings about the beginning of the end for the entire royal family. While proving that appearances can be deceiving, the characters help to develop the theme of appearance versus reality in the play. While Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Polonius, and King Claudius all appear to be virtuous and honest people, the reality is that they are continually scheming and plotting against Hamlet. Although appearing to be respectable, each of them is actually tainted by evil and corruption. Unfortunately, Hamlet finds out the hard way that each of them have their own hidden agendas, and corruption spreads like disease throughout the state of Denmark.

How the Federal Reserve System Functions Term Paper

How the Federal Reserve System Functions - Term Paper Example the Fed†) is so deeply interconnected with the entire political system, the inevitably byproducts of central banks are business cycles caused by politically-oriented monetary policies. Politicians use the Fed as a means of imposing fiscal policies that, although look good to constituents, ultimately worsen and damage the economy further (Bresiger, 2001). The following is an account of how the Fed is supposed to work, and the effects that the central banking system is supposed to have. An account of how it actually works is an entirely different matter. The Federal Reserve is, in fact, a tool under public control, overseen and manipulated by government to accomplish the goal of a healthy, vibrant economy. As said before, the question of function is deeply rooted in the question of structure, which is in turn related causally to the history of the Fed. The Fed began with â€Å"panics† in the early 20th century, wherein people raced to banks to withdraw deposits. A fragile banking system at that time was overwhelmed, forcing Congress to draft the Federal Reserve Act, which, has been modified through time to encompass broader and wider responsibilities. The Fed was forced to find the virtuous mean between the moral responsibility of the government and the private interests of banks, which gave rise to countless checks and balances imposed on the system by government influences (Meltzer, 2004). Congress, of course, ever since the first establishment of the Fed, has regulated the system. Based on that, the Fed is answerable to Congress and must work within the Congressional system. However, the Fed still retains a certain level of self-rule in order to carry out its responsibilitie s apart from the political process (Lapidos, 2008). The Fed is composed primarily of three parts: the Board of Governors, the regional Reserve banks, and the Federal Open Market Committee. The first, the Board of Governors, is the agency of the Federal government regulating banks,

The Rise of Mass Communications HW Research Paper

The Rise of Mass Communications HW - Research Paper Example With the technology that we have at our disposal now, one would expect that the start of the 20th century would have been technologically quite prosperous. But as far as mass communication media are concerned, the only mass communication medium available was newspapers (Unknown, 2000-2010). The telegram and telephone were also present at that time, which were very powerful supplements to newspapers by providing ways to send information across huge distances, instantly (Bellis, 2011). Still, newspapers were the only source of mass communication. So, the 20th century has seen the advent of many technological advances, and with them, there have been numerous revolutions in the ways through which businesses, governments and public figures have employed, and at times exploited, mass media for their agendas. Radio was the first of the communication media inventions in the 20th century, invented by Guglielmo Marconi in 1901. Radio, combined with telegraphy, was one of the most excessively u sed tools (Unknown, 2000-2010), specially at the time of war. It was extensively used as a tool of propaganda during WWI and WWII. Also, political leaders fighting for freedom from colonial rule used this as a tool of spreading their word and getting people united under the same banner, such as in the subcontinent. Radio has also been used extensively for advertisement and information broadcasting since the advent of Amplitude Modulation Radio and Frequency Modulation Radio. Television was the next major invention in the field of communication, and its global outreach opened up new paradigms of media usage. It has proven to be the push required to spread businesses across continents by providing them the platform to advertise to global markets and extend their reach e.g. global brands, like McDonalds (McDonald’s, 2010; Stanley, 2010), have relied heavily on television for going global. With reach comes the power to influence further, and that made television a more powerful p ropaganda tool. The notion of sitting in a person’s home, in front of them, and talking to them with words and actions, has been exploited time and again by public figures and political leaders to lure public into believing what they want them to believe. The false propaganda going on against Islam in recent times, showing it as a cruel and inhumane religion, has been at the heart of building animosity between people and gaining support for oppressive attacks against Muslims (Bleher, 2000). The 20th century has had many technological marvels, but nothing has been as miraculous as computer and internet. This finally provides a medium for not only transmitting your message like the television or newspapers, but also getting feedback on it instantly through dialogues, understanding different cultures and building as well as professing views. Free information access through internet means that companies strive and pay more and more to fill the computer screens of potential custom ers. But, the most powerful use of internet is e-business, which needs virtually no investment, and thus no chance of a monetary loss. Companies like Amazon and others have become global internet brands and almost every company pitches its products to millions of customers, everyday through websites (Newell and Budge, 2011). The bigger they are, the bigger they are; internet has been the source of most conspiracies and