R‌‌‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‌‍‍‍‌‌‌‍esearch Paper on Hamlet: Page length: 8 pages Minimum of six different outside sources. (Avoid the internet; use library sources) M.L.A. parenthetical citations with Works Cited and Bibliography Note: Your main “source” will be the play itself. Outside sources (which should be from the library databases) should only compliment, reinforce your interpretation and discussion. Do not make one critic’s voice your primary focus. Deception: The first half of the play, up until “The Mousetrap” is a game of deception or self-deception During the first half of Hamlet (up until Act 3, Sc. 3,) the play is a game of masks. Apart from Horatio, everyone, including Hamlet himself, is playing a game. No wonder Hamlet distrusts appearances! Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Gildernstern, and so on, are all dissembling in some way or another to get to the bottom of Hamlet’s black mood. Hamlet, himself, hides behind an “antic disposition” (I v); meanwhile the ghost comes and goes either in actualit‌‌‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‌‍‍‍‌‌‌‍y or in Hamlet’s imagination. What is “real’? What/where is truth behind the mask of “reality”? And how tricky it is to be “honest” in such a world! To find the truth about Claudius, Hamlet will resort to the very art of mask-playing – the theatre! In the play within the play, Hamlet will catch “…the conscience of the king” (II ii). Write an essay discussing Hamlet’s, Ophelia’s, Rosencrantz and Gildernstern’s, and Gertrude’s game of deception. (In the case of Gertrude she is deluding/deceiving herself). Go on to show how Hamlet, who has put so much faith in his own intellect and ability to perceive the truth, must, through confronting these deceptions, come to terms with the limitations of his perception. And recognising his limitations is vital to the essential humbling process that will make a hero of him. In other words, you are showing first, what these deceptions are, and second, how Hamlet’s recognition and understand of deception are vital for his development. All of these deceptions‌‌‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‌‍‍‍‌‌‌‍ play a part in his journey from reason to faith