Theme Analysis

 

Appearances Vs. Reality

 

“Before my god, I might not this believe without the sensible and true avouch of mine own eyes.”  This was the simple statement Horatio made after seeing the Ghost of King Hamlet.  Why are we so hesitant to believe something until we see it?  And then, if we do se something, is it merely deceiving us?  We must distinguish the difference between appearance and reality.

            Throughout all of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Young Hamlet has a problem doing this.  When the ghost of his father speaks to him, does he actually exist, or is he merely a figment of Hamlet’s imagination?   At this point in the play, we are taunted with this redundant question: Appearance Vs. Reality?  We then notice that Hamlet was not the only one to see the ghost, so we may conclude that the apparition really did exist.

            Later on in the play, Hamlet sees the ghost in his mother’s bedroom, yet Hamlet’s mother does not see the ghost.  Does this mean that this time the ghost wasn’t really there?  Maybe it just means that the ghost may only be seen by the pure of heart.  Great thinkers have analyzed this for ages, and that familiar question arises yet again: appearance or reality?

There is no solid answer.  Like life itself, this play is open for interpretation, yet one thing is for sure: Shakespeare creates a mind puzzling inquiry: do the things we see actually exist?  Must something be visible in order to exist?  Is the ghost of the late King Hamlet actually there?  Is it appearance, or is it reality?