In Shakespeare's tragedy, Hamlet, there are many themes that appear throughout the play. During the sequence of events in the play we see that there are many obvious themes and many underlying themes. One of these themes that can be seen throughout the play is the way characters appear as one thing, and really are different in their actions at different times. Characters wear a sort of mask to keep them and their feelings inside. We see this with the way that Hamlet hides behind his madness and the way that Claudius puts forth a somewhat kind image when really he is cold and self-serving. Analyzing all the characters we see that this mask of deception theme is