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Appearance versus reality is one of the central themes of Shakespeare's play, Hamlet. The characters frequently put on guises which conceal their true intentions. For example, Claudius, in reality a murderer and usurper, plays the roles of grieving brother and rightful king and the adulterous Gertrude plays the role of a virtuous queen, when she is, in her son's view, a truly insidious woman. Even Hamlet himself assumes the role of a madman in his attempt to establish the reality of his uncle's guilt. This essay will examine this theme throughout the play, focusing on these examples.
In Act 1 Scene 2, the anxious Gertrude asks her son why he is taking the death of his father so personally:
Seems, madam? Nay, it is. I know not 'seems'.
'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother,
Nor customary suits of solemn black,
Nor windy suspiration of forc'd breath,
No, nor the fruitful river in the eye
(I.ii.87)
Here the prince may be implying that his mother's grief, unlike......

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Approximate Word Count: 1343
Approximate Pages: 6 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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