Hamlet by Shakespeare

The Masks We Wear Hamlet, one of Shakespeare's best-known plays, tells the tale of a young Danish prince who must uncover the truth about his father's death. Hamlet's uncle Claudius, the King's brother, does the honourable deed and takes control of good King Hamlet's throne and also his queen, Gertrude, after the two are married. As the play unfolds, Hamlet finds out his father was murdered by the recently crowned king. The theme that remains …

…appearance of something else as well. In order to rectify the sins of the four, Hamlet must "put an antic disposition on" (I, v, ll. 172). Hamlet use pretense to get a truth (uncover the masks of his enemies) seems to make him no better than the rest. Shakespeare is obviously against not being your true self because all of these characters who put on certain "masks" to hide their true selves die in the end.