woman in the play, has a much stranger mask. She refuses to see or believe the truth that Hamlet shows her, the truth that Claudius murdered her husband for the kingdom. She is also convinced of Hamlets madness, but what he says does not affect her much at all. Even at her death she does not realize of see the truth of Claudius^Т betrayal. Her mask is one that puts herself into her world. As long as she lives her life unaffected, she is happy, and she will not let anything shatter her fantasy.But the most complicated, and one of the best examples of a mask is Hamlet himself. The line between Hamlet^Тs mask and his reality is very fine and difficult to understand. His mask, or as it would seem to be, is his madness. Hamlet certainly acts the part well, for even if his madness is real, it is still a mask to cover his real self and his real plans. In his mad delusions he hurts countless people with his verbal attacks. He ruins his standing and the standing of others as well. Either way his madness can be looked upon, it still acts as a mask of his real self, an undecided, cruel, suspicious person who care 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.After killing Polonius, Hamlet encounters Laertes, Polonius^Т son. Laertes, knowing that Hamlet was responsible for Polonius^Т death, attacks Hamlet. Hamlet cannot understand why; he literally does not realize that Laertes might be enraged with anger. Later Hamlet blames Polonius^Т death on his own madness, saying to Horatio, ^УIf Hamlet from himself be ta^Тen away,/ And when he^Тs not himself does wrong Laertes,/ Then Hamlet does it not; Hamlet denies it./ Who does it then? His madness.^Ф The fact that Hamlet can differentiate between his madness, his mask, a...
