Tag Archives: Appearance

Hamlet Appearance vs. Reality Podcasts

Here’s some podcasts based on work we did in class recently. Every pair had to produce one paragraph on different aspects of the theme of appearance versus reality. Obviously your language would need to be more formal in an essay but this should help you understand the theme. Deception is just the ‘false appearance’ part of the equation so the wording of the question would be different but your answer would be very similar (insert the word ‘deception’ instead of ‘false appearances’ each time you use it).

After I’d finished them a student (hi Laura H!) gave me a really good essay on this theme with a completely different structure and it occured to me that you need to be aware of that – you need to know that there are lots of different ways of approaching the same answer, all equally valid. The important thing is that you stay focused on answering the question and support the points you make with relevant quotations. For example, you could focus on the fact that Hamlet’s ‘madness’ causes us to constantly question whether he is putting on a false appearance, or whether circumstances have, in reality, driven him mad! Or you could include a paragraph at the end on the only character who appears to be loyal & good and who actually is in reality – Horatio. You don’t need to discuss why Horatio is hot for Hamlet (thanks Chloe!) but you can if you wish…

IF FOR SOME REASON THE AUDIO ISN’T APPEARING BELOW ON YOUR COMPUTER CLICK HERE INSTEAD:
http://soundcloud.com/evelynoconnor/sets/hamlet-appearance-vs-reality

[soundcloud url=http://soundcloud.com/evelynoconnor/sets/hamlet-appearance-vs-reality]