It is once stated,"The world is governed more by appearances than realities,so that it is fully as necessary to seem to know something as to know it." In other words,much of what goes on in the world is due to what people think rather than what actually is; therefore,the only thing one must do is present himself in the way he wants others to believe he truly is.The play Hamlet by William Shakespeare makes several references to how things appear versus the truth.Through Shakespeare's in depth development of the theme of appearance vs.reality,nearly everything in the tragedy must be questioned at some point due to the uncertainty of appearances.