Theme Of Clothing In Hamlet

Throughout the play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, imagery through clothing is used frequently in conjunction to an underlying theme of the play, “is” versus “seems”. First, Queen Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, requests for Hamlet, the play’s protagonist, to remove his mourning clothes because the dark clothes depict mourning despite the Queens best attempt to convince the general public that her family seems comforted from her late husband’s death. Second, Polonius, Claudius’s advisor, explains to Laertes, Polonius’s son, the importance of fancy garments because in his mind what a person wears on the outside is the imperative part of a person despite what the truth about the given person may be. Last the ghost, Hamlet senior, refers to the
First, Gertrude insists Hamlet forgoes his mourning clothes since the dark clothes epitomize a broken Hamlet while Gertrude desperately wants the nation to conclude that Hamlet seems comforted and has accepted the death of his father. Second, Polonius discloses to Laertes that the garments one wears is the essential part of a human being and not the morals a person may have. Last, the crown Claudius wears presents the way Claudius tries to be viewed by the country, despite the reality behind his surge of power. The imagery through clothing that Shakespeare uses in Hamlet plays a crucial role in the apparent theme of “is” versus “seems.” Although clothes is an offshoot of a person what one wears cannot and does not represent a personality one has or a feeling one might experience. The clothes in the play, act as a shield that covers the real truth about a person. Shakespeare uses imagery of regular clothes in order to relay the message that although a person may dress in a certain way everything is not always how it