Hamlet, a tragic play by William Shakespeare, is a treasured of literature. Hamlet is full of

suspense and very interesting. Many characters such as Hamlet, Claudius, Ophelia, Polonius, and

Rosencratz and Guildenstern use masks. These characters often have appearances that differ from

reality.

Hamlet is the main character of the play and he uses many masks. The play begins with him

moping around and wearing black. This is one case where his appearance matches the reality that

he is still grieving his father's death. After seeing Hamlet's father's ghost, Hamlet gives the

impression that he will think of nothing else but getting revenge. Hamlet says, "The time is out

joint; O cursed spite, /That ever I was born to set it right!" (1.5.190-191) Hamlet begins to

procrastinate and the revenge gets pushes from his first priority. The appearance that Hamlet

gives that he is going to get revenge right away changes into a lie. Hamlet puts on a mask that he

has gone crazy. He fools almost everyone. Hamlet even convinces Ophelia that he never loved

her and that he has gone mad. In reality, Hamlet admits that he truly did love after Ophelia

drowns.

I loved Ophelia; forty thousand brothers

Could not, with all their quantity of love,

Make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her? (5.1.263-265)

Hamlet is spied on many times in the play. These spy missions for Claudius have the appearances

of chance meetings or friendly visits. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are sent by the King to spy

on Hamlet. Hamlet is set up to meet Ophelia so Claudius and Polonius can spy on him. Some

actors come to town and plan to put on a play for the King and Queen and their friends. Hamlet

sees this as the perfect chance for him to watch Claudius to see if his guilt for King Hamlet's

murder is genuine. After seeing the reaction Hamlet desired, Hamlet decided to go through with

his plans to get revenge by killing the king. So, this play, which had the appearance of being

some innocent amusement, turned into the reality of being a spy mission for Hamlet. After this

play, Hamlet observes Claudius kneeling over which gives him the appearance of praying. He

sees this as his chance to get revenge but does not because he wants to kill Claudius while sinning,

so that Claudius will not go to heaven like King Hamlet. In reality, Claudius felt he could not ask

for forgiveness because he was still reaping the rewards of murdering the King. Claudius was not

praying and Hamlet had missed his chance to get his revenge.

Claudius is the current King of Denmark during this play and he makes a lot of impressions

that differ from the truth. Claudius becomes King of Denmark after killing his brother and late

king and marrying his brother's widow, Gertrude. Claudius appears as a good, honest King but in

reality, he is a murderer. The king puts on the appearances in order to get what he wants.

Claudius is good at manipulating the people around him. He did what he had to do to win over

Gertrude's hand in marriage and to take the throne before Hamlet returned from school in

Wittenberg. Claudius also manipulates Laertes into convincing him that Claudius should be the

one to help him get revenge. Claudius is full of guilt but appears that nothing is bothering him.

Claudius saved his own life by exhibiting the impression of praying. Claudius tells Hamlet that he

is to prepare himself to go to England. Claudius does not tell Hamlet the true reason of why he is

being sent to England. Claudius does not mention that he is sending him to England because he

wants Hamlet to be executed there instead of in Denmark due to the fact that the queen and the

people love Hamlet. Claudius just uses the excuse that he is going to send Hamlet because of his

madness.

Polonius is highly concerned about appearances. Polonius says he is wise and tries to give

that appearance, but in truth he is not all that wise. Polonius says that, "Brevity is the soul of

wit." (2.2.90) This is ironic because even though he just said that wise men are brief, Polonius

rambles on and on. Polonius thinks he is wise but Hamlet plays him for a fool. Polonius

interrupts Hamlet's reading by asking him if he knows who he is. Hamlet replies, "Excellent well;

you are a fishmonger." (2.2.172) Hamlet took this chance to insult Polonius by calling him a

"fishmonger". A "fishmonger" is a fish seller but it also a term used to describe a pimp.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are two friends of Hamlet. They are asked by the King to spy

on Hamlet. They quickly agree to spy for the king without a second thought. At first glance,

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern may appear as good friends of Hamlet, but really they could not be

true friends if they agreed so easily to spy on their friend, Hamlet. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

make their spying appear like a friendly visit when really it was just a spying mission. Hamlet

quickly finds them out and Hamlet tells them nothing. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern lie to the

king about the fact that Hamlet found them out and said little. They try to appear smart in front

of Hamlet and the king but the truth is that they are not that smart.

Ophelia is that daughter of Polonius and she is very obedient to her father which forces her to

put on masks. Ophelia agrees to help her father and the king spy in Hamlet. The reader does not

know if Ophelia wants to really do this or not. Ophelia would agree to whatever her father asks

her to do. Ophelia had a relationship with Hamlet, which Polonius did not agree with and forbid

her to see Hamlet. Ophelia was forced to give the appearance that she no longer had any feelings

towards Hamlet even if she still had feelings for him.

There is a lot of Masks in the Shakespearean play, Hamlet, where different characters gave off

appearances that differentiated from reality. Whether it was Hamlet's madness, his love for

Ophelia, or Claudius setting up traps to spy on Hamlet, these are all examples of appearances that

differed from the truth. Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern visit Hamlet under false pretenses

in order to help the king spy on Hamlet. Even false appearances occur when they not planned,

like when Hamlet assumed Claudius was praying when kneeling on his knees.