Ears and Hearing
Ears and hearing as needed to discover the truth in such a corrupt and dangerous world; also as vehicles for murder and for distortion of the truth. Laertes to Ophelia: "If with to credent ear you list his songs (...) Fear it, Ophelia" (1.3.33-37). Laertes brings up the point that Ophelia should not always believe what she hears from Hamlet about his love for hear. This reinforces the idea that hearing, although characters have a tendency to take what they hear for truth, can in reality often be a source of deception and lies.
Polonius to Laertes: "Give every man they ear, but few thy voice" (1.3.74). Polonius stresses the importance of hearing as a means of gathering information and learning, which is also very ironic as he is incredibly talkative and sees himself as much wiser than others around him.
Hamlet is the only character who can hear the ghost. This is another example of the issue of whether hearing is always a source of truth, or whether what the characters believe that they hear is even real.
Polonius: "I'll loose my daughter to him (...) Be you and I behind an arras then" (2.2.176-177). Polonius's plan for him and the king to hide and listen to what Hamlet says to Ophelia is an excellent example of how the motifs of ears/hearing and spying are often used in conjunction in the play. In addition, Polonius and the King will once again trust what they hear to bring them the truth. I also just realized that the one time a character uses a different sense (sight) to obtain truth it actually works: Hamlet watching Claudius at the play. However, when characters use hearing, they often come to the wrong conclusion.
What’s more is when Claudius pours the poison into Old King Hamlet’s ear - this symbolizes the corrosive effect of Claudius’ dishonesty on the health of Denmark. The ghost declares that the story that he was killed by a snake is a lie, he indicates that the “whole ear of Denmark” is “Rankly abused” (I.v.36-38). This exemplifies Claudius’ manipulation of language to persuade and distort the truth.
Polonius to Laertes: "Give every man they ear, but few thy voice" (1.3.74). Polonius stresses the importance of hearing as a means of gathering information and learning, which is also very ironic as he is incredibly talkative and sees himself as much wiser than others around him.
Hamlet is the only character who can hear the ghost. This is another example of the issue of whether hearing is always a source of truth, or whether what the characters believe that they hear is even real.
Polonius: "I'll loose my daughter to him (...) Be you and I behind an arras then" (2.2.176-177). Polonius's plan for him and the king to hide and listen to what Hamlet says to Ophelia is an excellent example of how the motifs of ears/hearing and spying are often used in conjunction in the play. In addition, Polonius and the King will once again trust what they hear to bring them the truth. I also just realized that the one time a character uses a different sense (sight) to obtain truth it actually works: Hamlet watching Claudius at the play. However, when characters use hearing, they often come to the wrong conclusion.
What’s more is when Claudius pours the poison into Old King Hamlet’s ear - this symbolizes the corrosive effect of Claudius’ dishonesty on the health of Denmark. The ghost declares that the story that he was killed by a snake is a lie, he indicates that the “whole ear of Denmark” is “Rankly abused” (I.v.36-38). This exemplifies Claudius’ manipulation of language to persuade and distort the truth.