Betrayal and Mistrust in Hamlet
...s collapsing around him. His uncle killed Hamlet's father and his mother could be partially responsible for his death. This harsh mistrust and betrayal has left Hamlet suspicious of his own mother. He is simultaneously angry at his mother, and jealous of her attention to Claudius. He berates her with sharp edged comments, "you are the queen, your brother's wife and -would it were not so- you are my mother"(act 3, sc. 4). A child can feel unloved and angry when a parent lies to him. When Polonius asked Ophelia to stop seeing Hamlet, he felt betrayed by Polonius and by Ophelia. Ophelia conspired with her father, the King, and the Queen to find out if Hamlet was crazy. When Hamlet found out about this betrayal, he became angry and violent. All those around him could not be trusted. In a relationship, trust is very important. When someone breaks this trust, it is very hard to ever get it back. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern appear, at least initially, to be his closest friends. They are schoolmates at Wittenburg, and Hamlet greets them both amicably, remarking, " My excellent good friends! How dost thou,....." Queen Gertrude affirms the status of their relationship when she says, "And sure I am two men there is not living to whom he more adheres." Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are very loyal to the new King. Unlike Hamlet, they initially have no reason not to trust Claudius. But they become unwitting and unknowing pawns for both factions. Their relationship...