When someone says the words “consequences of deception,” you probably think of something bad, right? Because the word “consequence” means something bad, right? Wrong. The definition for the word consequence is “A result or effect of an action or condition” meaning good or bad. So, when I say the words “Consequences of deception,” I could be talking about something good or bad. If you’ve ever heard of Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet,” then you know it ends in a tragedy. Hamlet is an example of a bad consequence. In the play, the characters use deception as a bad thing and end up paying for it in the end.  Now, if you’ve ever seen Shakespeare’s “As you like it,” you know it’s quite the opposite of Hamlet. In this play, the characters use deception but it ends up becoming a good thing and they also pay for it in the end, but in a good way. Let me tell you what I mean.

In the play “Hamlet,” Claudius, the new king, killed his brother, the old king, by poisoning him in the ear. After killing the old king, Claudius marries his brother’s wife and takes over the kingdom. Later in the story, the old king comes back as a ghost and tells Hamlet (the old king's son) to basically “avenge his death” from what Claudius did to him. Hamlet then acts like he’s going crazy so he can try to find out if Claudius really killed his father. Towards the middle of the play, Hamlet finds Claudius praying to God about killing the old king. That is when Hamlet figures out that Claudius killed his father. The deception is, after Cclaudius killed his brother, he kept it to himself hoping no one would find out. The consequence is, he has to live with that guilt for the rest of his life, that is until till Hamlet finds out and kills him in the end.

Another form of “Consequences of Deception” in “Hamlet” is Polonius. In the play, Hamlet and Polonius daughter Ophelia, are in love. Polonius doesn’t like that they are in love because he thinks that Hamlet is going crazy even though Hamlet is just trying to figure out if Claudius really killed his father. Anyway, Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude and Polonius try to figure out why Hamlet is going crazy all of the sudden. When Gertrude tries to talk to Hamlet alone, Polonius hides behind the tapestry on the wall and listens in. When Polonius moves, Hamlet looks over and thinks that its is Claudius. So, Hamlet reaches for his sword and stabs Polonius through the tapestry. The deception is Polonius hiding behind the tapestry with the consequence being that Hamlet stabs him and kills him. There are many more examples of the consequences of deception, but now it’s time to move on to the good side of consequences.   

“As you like it” is probably one of my favorites from Shakespeare. It has the romance, the action, and the drama that I love. In the play, there are two princesses, Rosalind and Celia. Rosalind’s father, the old duke, got kicked out of the kingdom by his younger brother. Celia’s father, who is the younger brother, now becomes the new Duke. The new Duke then gets jealous that Rosalind is still getting attention from the village, so he decides to kick her out just like her father (As You like it film 22:27). Celia refuses to let Rosalind go without her, so both of the girls run away to the woods (25:26). Rosalind disguises herself as a man and Celia disguises herself as a poor maid so that the new Duke doesn’t catch them (29:11). Before all of this happened though, the play starts off with one of the main characters, Orlando (3:07). Orlando's older brother Oliver does not want to take care of Orlando after their father died (4:07). Oliver even tries to kill Orlando at one point. Adam, who is Orlando’s friend, tells Orlando that Oliver is going to burn his house. He tells Orlando to run away to the woods (33:11). You’re probably wondering what the deception and what the consequences are. I’m getting to that, but you just have to be patient. Anyway, Rosalind and Celia meet Orlando at a wrestling match (the same one where Oliver tried to kill Orlando by having the Dukes wrestler snap Orlando's neck) and try to talk Orlando out of fighting the wrestler because of the size comparison between Orlando and the wrestler (13:32). Orlando doesn’t listen to them and in the end, Orlando wins the match! Rosalind congratulates Orlando by giving him one of her prized possessions (18:35). At that moment, Orlando realizes that he kind of likes Rosalind. Now, to finally get to the deception, remember when Rosalind and Celia dressed as different people? Well, they actually run into Orlando in woods. But of course, Orlando thinks they are just ordinary people in woods, but Rosalind knows exactly who he is (56:23). Rosalind tells Orlando that she can help him with “prepare” for when he sees Rosalind next (by this time, Orlando is already in love with Rosalind). During this process of helping Orlando, Rosalind falls in love with him. At the end of the play, Rosalind and Orlando finally get married (1:32:03).

The deception in this play is Rosalind dressing up as a guy and deceiving Orlando into thinking she is a guy and is trying to help him out. In the end though, it works to BOTH of their advantages. They end up marrying the loves of their lives, each other.

So, as you can see “consequences of deception” isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes, deception can be used as a good thing and the outcome (consequence) also turns out to be good.

Works Cited

SparkNotes, SparkNotes, www.sparknotes.com/nofear/shakespeare/hamlet/.

Program, Described and Captioned Media. “AS YOU LIKE IT (1936) - Full Movie - Captioned.” YouTube, YouTube, 4 Aug. 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFChichBoPI.