Trust is an issue that is often questioned. In the play "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare,
the character Hamlet trusts only a small amount of people. He often hides his real personality and
opinions from his friends and family. Hamlet, to get his point across, is often harsh and rude to
the people who he is familiar with. He questions the loyalty of his friends and family. In the play,
friends and family cannot be trusted. Through this essay, one will discover how Hamlet does not
trust those who are close to him by examining the betrayal of his family, how the characters use
underhanded methods to find information, and the betrayals Hamlet has committed.
Hamlet is unable to trust others due to the fact that his family and friends are willing to
betray him. When Hamlet’s mother remarries, he speaks of how he feels he has been betrayed
by his mother:
“’By what it fed on, and yet within a month –
Let me not think on’t; frailty, thy name is woman!
…
Would have mourn’d longer, - married with my uncle,
My father’s brother, but no more like my father
…
With such dexterity to incestuous sheets!
It is not, nor it cannot come to good;
But break my heart, for I must hold my tongue!’” (Shakespeare, pg 23 lines 145 – 159.)
Hamlet feels betrayed by his mom because of her marriage to his uncle, but he cannot voice his
opinion to her. Along with his feelings of betrayal, he felt angry of her quick decision to marry
again. He links her quick remarriage with her inability to control her sexual desires. Although all
these thoughts are running through his head, he is unable to converse his situation with anyone.
Hamlet puts on a front to fool the character, while he hides his dark secrets to himself. The lack of
trust is evident due to Hamlet’s inability to talk comfortably with anyone in the play. Claudius is a
person who Hamlet could never converse honestly with.
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Claudius has caused the most grief towards Hamlet. Claudius is the person responsible for the
death of Hamlet’s beloved father, who also is his own brother. The murder is a way of betrayal
because Hamlet did not know nor would he approve of the death. He has told the many lies to
Hamlet, thus deeming his untrustworthy. As well Claudius has made countless attempts to kill
Hamlet, who is his blood-related nephew. Despite the fact that both Claudius and Hamlet are
blood relatives, one still desires to kill the other. The betrayal of Hamlet’s family is one way how
friends and family cannot be trusted, the immoral ways of finding information will further elaborate
on this topic.
Throughout the play, the act of spying is evident to find information from others. The
character, Polonius, often spies on Hamlet. Polonius asks many times for others to find
information from Hamlet:
“’My lord, he’s going to his mother’s closet:
Behind the arras I’ll convey myself,
To hear the process: I’ll warrant she’ll tax him home:
And, as you said, and wisely was is said,
‘Tis meet that some more audience than a mother,
Since nature makes them partial, should o’erhear
The speech of vantage’” (Shakespeare, pg 141 lines 27- 33.)
Polonius, throughout the play, never confronted Hamlet face-to-face. He always convinced others
to talk Hamlet while he watched from the sidelines. Polonius pressured both his daughter,
Ophelia and the Queen, Gertrude, to talk to Hamlet and gather information. He never was able to
talk to Hamlet in an honest way. “Honest” meaning without barriers, Polonius was never able to
converse with Hamlet without hidden intentions. Hamlet also never had the chance to let down
his defenses in front of Polonius, and everyone. Hamlet continuously hid his real self to fool those
who were watching him from afar. To Hamlet, everyone had ulterior motives that deem them
untrustworthy. Claudius, the King and Hamlet’s uncle, also uses inappropriate tactics to find
information. Claudius uses those close to Hamlet to find information as well as to hurt him.
Although Hamlet is not able to trust others because of the betrayals from others, there is
also a possibility that he is unable to accept others because of his own mind. Hamlet is not an
innocent person, he does commit sins.
“’I’ll have these players
Play something like the murder of my father
Before mine uncle, I’ll observe his looks,
…
If he do blench,
I know my course.”’ (Shakespeare, pg 101 lines 596 – 600.)
Hamlet’s family is unable to be honest to him due to the fact that he himself cannot be honest.
People are wary of trusting him because of his dysfunctional personality. Many characters in the
play have been fooled by him countless times. No one was able to see if Hamlet was really crazy
or if he was acting. To Hamlet, acting is effortless which is why he is such a dangerous person
who should not be trusted. Hamlet is the type of person who is not able to speak to others freely,
which creates a barrier between him and society. Because Hamlet is blocking himself from
society, no one can have the chance to understand him. Hamlet has kept many secrets to
himself, as well as the fact that he sent his two friends to their death. He has betrayed them by
sending them to be executed:
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Hamlet sends both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their death. Hamlet has betrayed them by
causing this situation by giving the letters with false information. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
never did anything wrong, even if they tried to gather information from Hamlet, they were
following the consent of the King. What is most surprising is that both Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern are Hamlet’s friends, yet he felt no remorse sending them away. Hamlet has the
inability to trust his friends and family because he knows how evil people can be, he knows how
bad they can become because he does the same things: tell lies, manipulate others, and spy on
others. Everything his friends and family did to lose his trust he did to others in the same way.
In conclusion, friends and family cannot be trusted in the play. The many betrayals of
friends and family prove that even if one has known each other for years, it does not mean that
they are close. The means of finding information such as spying shows that there is a lack of trust
because people are not able to talk to each other face-to-face to find the honest truth. Hamlet,
Claudius, and many others found information or proof by watching each other’s actions, and
reactions. Therefore, in the play “Hamlet”, family and friends cannot be trusted.