Throughout several of William Shakespeare’s plays, he has a character or characters that dissemble, which according to the Oxford English Dictionary is defined as “to alter or disguise the semblance of (one’s character, a feeling, design, or action) so as to conceal, or deceive as to, its real nature: to give false or feigned semblance to; to cloak or disguise by feigned appearance.” By dissembling or disguising, it allows one to be someone they are not and do things they don’t normally do. In plays such as Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, and The Merchant of Venice are just some of Shakespeare’s works in which he utilizes the concept of disguise. Shakespeare uses disguise of behavior and dress in his plays Hamlet and The Merchant of Venice. In Hamlet, Hamlet himself feigns madness in order to seek the truth of …show more content…
However, that is what Hamlet wanted in order to keep others from finding out what he is truly trying to do and Hamlet is aware of what he is doing too. Particularly, when Hamlet says to Guildenstern, “I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw.” (2.2.402-403). This means that Hamlet is only mad at certain moments, which is illustrated throughout the play. For example, when Hamlet is alone or with Horatio, he he stops his disguise of madness, but when he is around King Claudius, Polonius, Guildenstern, and Rosencrantz he feigns madness. In the article “The Sanity of Hamlet” by Tanney L. Davis writes, “To his [Hamlet’s] friends, when he wishes to be agreeable, his hair-splitting is pleasant banter: to the others, when he chooses to be reserved, it appears as a barrier behind which he hides his thoughts and motives” (631). Hamlet is aware of those around him and is careful of what he says and does. He picks he words carefully when he converses with others, such as King Claudius and