Identity In Hamlet

Between the Lines

Appearance matters. What people express towards others, ultimately, results in a variety of reactions. In the play The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare, every major character shows the audience their real personalities through Polonius’s words, “This above all: to thine own self be true” (1.3.79). If someone becomes true to himself, he will be true to others. However, these characters have facades where they put on a different personality to hide their true feelings, as well as to deceive others. In the end, these false personalities lead to their demise.

Intense rage alters Hamlet’s frame of mind after he realizes that his uncle, Claudius, attributes to King Hamlet’s death. The situation quickly

ignites Hamlet’s desire for rage, “with wings as swift as...the thoughts of love/may sweep to my revenge” (1.5.35-37). Infuriated by this news and the fact that his mother remarries quickly, Hamlet plans to put on a fake veil of madness, a facade that stands out during the play. Hamlet begins to act mad because he wants to go unnoticed, while plotting a way to find out if Claudius indeed murdered his father. Furthermore, Hamlet displays his false madness to confuse Claudius and anyone else who becomes part of his scheme. Firstly, Hamlet plays out his antics with Ophelia. She reports to her father, Polonius, that Hamlet enters her bedroom “with a look so piteous in purport/as if he had been loosed out of hell” (2.1.92-93). Hamlet acts crazy when he arrives in her bedroom with an unkempt appearance: “his doublet unbraced/no hat upon his head, his stockings fouled/ungartered, and down-gyvèd to his ankle” (2.1.88-90).

Polonius starts to question Hamlet’s sanity and soon enough, Hamlet begins to display this behavior more often and towards more people. Hamlet’s odd demeanor affects Polonius, when he later taunts Polonius by giving vague answers to his questions. For example, when Polonius asks Hamlet about what he reads, Hamlet responds saying “words, words, words” (2.2.210). Hamlet finds other ways to taunt him, such as calling him an old fishmonger, as well as indirectly insulting Ophelia by saying “your daughter may conceive, friend, look to ‘t” (2.2.202-203), meaning Ophelia, his daughter, could be pregnant. Besides Hamlet, other characters possess obvious facades. Claudius also exhibits a fake appearance towards his court and even Hamlet. Near the beginning of the play, Claudius addresses the court, saying how he marries his sister-in-law and how he feels sorrowful for “[his] dear brother’s death” (1.2.1). Claudius presents a facade when he reveals that he holds responsibility for King Hamlet’s death. Nevertheless, Claudius acts innocent and covers up his crime. Hamlet discovers Claudius’s guiltiness after watching the play; Claudius prays and asks for forgiveness for murdering his

brother. However, Claudius ends up seeing his own prayers as meaningless because his “words fly up, [his] thoughts remain below” (3.4.102). Claudius actually feels no remorse at all, showing that his facade stays intact. Aside from that, Claudius brings in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, old schoolmates of Hamlet, to spy on Hamlet and report their findings. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern also have noticeable facades, beginning as spies under Claudius’s command, already willing to obey his orders, “to lay [their] service freely at [his] feet/to be commanded” (2.2.33-34), regardless of their friendship with Hamlet.
In addition to simple characteristics, facades either show or hide one’s feelings, including those towards others.

Hamlet’s apparent antics with Ophelia prove that their relationship begins to fall apart and become unhealthy. Hamlet mistreats Ophelia when she attempts to return the gifts he has given her, and he responds in a harsh manner, asking about her chastity and beauty, saying “that if [she] be honest and fair, [her] honesty/should admit no discourse to [her] beauty” (3.1.117-118). Hamlet continues to belittle her, calling her two-faced and admitting that he “did love [her] once” (3.1.125), his feelings for her now absent. Hamlet’s facade becomes personal through this. The entire exchange shows how Hamlet prioritizes his revenge, over his love because he eventually figures out that Polonius and Claudius spy on him. Hamlet soon speculates Ophelia’s association in their plan and decides to put on a facade for her too. Claudius’s facade also affects his relationship with Gertrude and Hamlet. After his speech to the court, Claudius approaches Hamlet in a way that appears as if he cares about him, even addressing him as “my cousin Hamlet and my son” (1.2.66), despite being aware of Hamlet’s sensitive and depressive state because of his father’s death. Moreover, Claudius expresses his deceitful love when he admits to Laertes that he won’t put Hamlet on trial because he mentions how much he loves Gertrude, and that she “is so conjunctive to my life and soul/that, as the

star moves not but in his sphere/I could not but buy her” (4.7.16-18). Claudius says he cherishes Gertrude, and since Gertrude loves her son Hamlet, he has to love him too. Therefore, Claudius does not truly love Hamlet and only acts in this manner since Gertrude appreciates him. A relationship that actually does not involve a facade exists between Hamlet and Horatio. Horatio serves as Hamlet’s loyal and trustworthy best friend, not displaying a false visage. His understanding nature and devotion towards Hamlet stays steady. Hamlet does not seem to hide anything from Horatio or directly express his antic disposition to him, so they both trust each other well. Hamlet puts his trust in Horatio when he asks him to observe Claudius and his “occulted guilt” (3.2.85), to check on his connection with King Hamlet’s death. Horatio shows his loyalty when he obeys Hamlet; Hamlet stops him from drinking the rest of the poison in order for him to tell his story and let Fortinbras know that “he has my dying voice” (5.2.393), meaning Hamlet already knows his downfall and he puts his responsibilities in another person.
Lastly, having a false appearance can end in negative consequences. Those involved in having facades and spy throughout the Danish court, conclusively die. In spite of the characters consequently dying because of facades, the message teaches the importance of being genuine, and keeping a true visage around others. This explains why Horatio lives at the end of the play, considering that he stays trustworthy and retains his personality. Another reason could also relate to physical appearances and aspects; even though he studies as a scholar, Horatio does not take part of the royal court. The play portrays the lesson to not judge others based on social class or on physical appearance “for apparel oft proclaims the man” (1.38.78), implying that clothes depict a person’s overall temperament. The inevitable situation still occurs in society centuries later because people naturally judge by physical appearance.
People should consider how they express themselves because they might end up having a fake appearance, fooling and manipulating others. Possessing a righteous and truthful personality ends up as more benefiting because being a complete phony proves nothing about one’s self. Hamlet, Claudius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern all show an aspect of phoniness; Hamlet and Claudius express their facades as a part of their plans against each other, while Rosencrantz and Guildenstern act fake in order to impress others. Reading between the lines, past facades, helps with being aware of the display of a false countenance. Hamlet fails to see through Claudius’s facade when he catches him praying for forgiveness, leading to Hamlet missing a major opportunity to fulfill his task and murder Claudius.