Hamlet- Deception

In class right now we are reading the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. As the play begins Hamlet falls into depression because of the death of his beloved father, the king, and because his mother remarried his uncle very quickly. Within a few scenes Hamlet is introduced to his father’s ghost, who tells him that he did not die by accident but that he was in fact murdered by his uncle for the crown. While he is speaking with his father’s ghost Hamlet swears that he will seek revenge on his uncle, he also tells Horatio that he may act a little funny for a bit. So far in this play deception and spying seem to be the main themes. We see it everywhere and in almost every character. For example when Laertes is leaving to go finish school his father lectures him on a bunch of stuff and it seems as if he really cares about the wellbeing of Laertes, but in fact he only cares about the reputation of himself. Polonius also sends a servant, Reynaldo, to go spy on Laertes while he is away. The deception and spying doesn’t stop their either. The family relationship between Polonius and Laertes parallels directly with Hamlets family relationship. Hamlets Uncle Claudius is constantly lying to Hamlet about what happened to his father and also wishes to keep an eye on Hamlet, not for the good of Hamlet but so that he can make sure Hamlet is not up to anything bad. When Hamlet seems to be acting weird and sad after his father’s death, Claudius sends two of Hamlets good friends to spy on him and figure out what is wrong with him and report what they find back to him. Although it seems that Hamlet and Laertes are the victims of all the deception this is actually quite the opposite. Hamlet, being the smartest and most clever person in the room at all times, has every fooled about what he is up to and why he is doing it. By simply running into Ophelia’s room and giving a quick act of desperation he has Polonius thinking that he is crazy because of his love for Ophelia. He also seems to know everyone’s plan as they come up with it. In Act II it seems as if he over hears Claudius and his mother talking to his friends to spy on him and a few minutes later simply walks out reading a book and they have no idea. Watching Hamlet fool everyone seems to be very interesting and he doesn’t seem to have any trouble with it. I am wondering what kind of conflicts he will run into when he is always one step ahead of the game. I also wonder if the relationship between Laertes and Hamlet will have a significant meaning considering they parallel to each other very well yet we have not seen how Laertes acts or how he will play a role in Hamlets conflict.