Hamlet sane or insane

             Is Hamlet sane or insane that is the question. There are many sections in the play, which portray him as being insane, such as when he hears of his father's death. On the other hand Shakespeare illustrates Hamlet as a sane person whenever he is with a non-guilty party. Hamlet is clearly sane though because he acknowledges that he is putting on an act whenever he is acting crazy, he never acts crazy in front of his close friends and Bernardo and Marcellus also saw the ghost of his father. Hamlet is depicted as insane in many scenes during the play. One instance in act one, Hamlet appears to act mad when he hears of his father's murder. At that time he speaks "wild and whirling words." He also behaves very erratically throughout the play, especially when he is around his love, Ophelia. On one hand he professes to be the only one who truly loves her, during the fight. However when Ophelia returns his letters and gifts he tells her that he never loved her and that she should "get thy self to a nunnery." This is just one example of how his mood changes abruptly throughout the play. One small example of his insanity is when he is in his mother's bedroom only he can see the ghost of Old Hamlet. However in the beginning of the play everyone can see the ghost including Horatio, Bernardo, and Marcellus. He is also has many violent outbursts towards his mother. One dialogue where Hamlet admits that he is mad is when he talks to Laertes before the duel. "Give me your pardon, sir. I have done you wrong; But pardon't as you are a gentleman. This presence knows, And you must needs have heard, how I am punished with a sore distraction. What I have done that might your nature, honor, and exception roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness. Was't Hamlet wronged Laertes? Never Hamlet. And when he's not himself does wrong Laertes, then Hamlet does it not; Hamlet denies it. Who does it, then? His madness.