Hamlet's MaskWhen people wear a mask or costume, it is usually because they are trying to hide or portray a certain feeling to onlookers. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Hamlet adopts an "antique disposition" as a strategy to get closer to Claudius. Hamlet says this to his friends saying (I, iv, 170-173) "How strangely or strangely I behave (as I may hereafter think of putting an ancient disposition), that you, at such times, seeing me, never, with the weapons thus encumbered, or this nod of the head, or uttering some doubtful phrase, "Hamlet's strategy is successful at first to the extent that he is able to deceive Ophilia, Gertrude, Polonius and Claudius , but as the play unfolds Polonius and Claudius begin to understand that there is logic behind his madness and his actions. Towards the end, Hamlet's strategy becomes a tragic mistake when he begins to act solely based on emotion instead of logic. In doing so, he makes the mistake of killing Polonius instead of Claudius. Claudius then realizes that he would have died instead of Polonius if he had been there. This frightens Claudius and forces him to try to get rid of Hamlet by any means possible. This explains the old saying "You can fool some people some of the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time." » The reason Hamlet adopted his mischievous character is because he wants to deceive Claudius into believing that he is a fanatic and that he poses no threat to him physically or to his lawlessness. The reason is that Claudius secretly killed old Hamlet, who was king, to get the prize for himself. Hamlet, after conversing with the ghost of his deceased father, learns that Claudius killed his father and swears revenge on Claudius. By Hamlet putting o...... middle of paper ...... we cry " Claudius was not fooled for very long but at first he was sorry and tried to help his former nephew now son to s 'get rid of his madness. In conclusion, Hamlet's plan did exactly what it was supposed to allow him to do. Hamlet very well shows the natural reaction to stressful situations by which he acts out of emotion and not logic. Hamlet would have been an exceptional king because of his logical thinking, but a short-lived king because of his inability to act accordingly Works cited and consulted: Bloom, Harold Modern Critical Interpretations Of Hamlet New York, NY: Chelsea House. Publishers, 1986. Charney, Maurice All of Shakespeare. Columbia University Press. William, Prince of Denmark, ed.., 1974.