, cruel, suspicious person who cares for little but those who either are close to him, or have wronged him. Hamlet kills innocent people such as Rosencratz, Guildenstern and Polonius, with no thought at all to the possible repercussions that murder could have. Eventually, Hamlet blames Polonius’s death on his own madness, saying to Laertes, “If Hamlet from himself be ta’en away,/ And when he’s not himself does wrong Laertes,/ Then Hamlet does it not; Hamlet denies it./ Who does it then? His madness.”(V, ii, 235-238) The fact that Hamlet can differentiate between his madness, his mask, and himself shows that he does not care about the damage he causes. His actions toward Ophelia are appalling, his attacks basically unexplained. After she kills herself, Hamlet finds her grave site and says, “I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers/ could not (with their quantity of love)/ Make up my sum.”(V, i, 270-273) If Hamlet loved Ophelia so, then he would not have treated her so badly. His madness was a mask , no matter how thin, that covered up his resentment of Ophelia, and women in general. He treats his mother horribly, threatening her, and forcing her to submit to his will. This absolute cruelty is not madness, it is Hamlet himself. His madness is a simple cover to mask this real doings and feelings. This mask is often used by people who are trying to escape blame. It gives them another place to lay the fault and an excuse for all their problems.The characters in Hamlet use masks. These serve to provide their inner-selves with protection, and also to enable them to receive something that they want to get. These same masks are used in today’s society. From the women wanting a perfect world, to Claudius seeking to convince everyone of his kindness, to Hamlet and his mad masking of his inner spite and indecisiveness. Each type of mask can easily be found in modern day life. The th...
