Hamlet

Beyond obviously mourning his father's death, what does Hamlet's all-black clothing symbolize about him as a person? Refer to Act I, sc. ii. 

A seemingly simple question, there is a psychological dimension to this question that reveals fascinating details about Hamlet, and seems worthy of discussion. What we find out about Hamlet (and others) through their clothing choices tells us a lot about them as people.

In a very Shakespearean sense, black bile was representative of melancholy. Hamlet, here, is the picture of the brooding, melancholy prince whose every moment is spent soliloquizing or lamenting. Indeed, the black bile of melancholy was best illustrated through his character.

Shakespeare symbolizes Hamlet's downcast nature and his melancholy by placing black all around him; in this case, it is represented through the clothing choice. Even before Shakespeare, and ever after, writers use the color black to represent a number of different ideas: grief, evil, death, depravity, and of course, melancholy.

In Shakespeare's world, however, the black we see here is best interpreted as the character's state of mind and emotion. Other works by The Bard use this device similarly.