What part does deception of one kind or another play in Hamlet?

Shakespeare's Hamlet is a complex play full of dishonesty and deception. In general, one must always be wary of the truth because quite often it is manipulated to serve the needs of any person who requires the truth to be on their side. The only way to discern the truth from the fabrication is by way of a deceptive act, because when an act of deception is committed, it exposes both itself and the truth to be two very different things.

Dishonesty is the key factor surrounding the deaths of many of the characters in Hamlet, the prime act of deception being that between Claudius and his nephew and also stepson Hamlet. Claudius murders his own brother; Hamlet’s father Old King Hamlet, by drizzling poison into his ear. The King’s death is announced to have been by snakebite, and Claudius then marries Queen Gertrude (Hamlet’s mother), and subsequently becomes the new King of Denmark. Claudius is deceiving Hamlet into believing that the King was killed by snakebite, and he is dec...