When reading Hamlet, many question, is Hamlet really mad? Has the act of pretending to be mad taken over him? Perhaps he knows exactly what he is doing, and is in fact doing a wonderful job of fooling everyone. Still, no one quite knows. Only if Shakespeare were here to inform us of his purpose in making Hamlet seem really mad, yet not telling us if he is or not. Many readers have spent a great deal of time pondering this matter; it's interesting though .
that no one seems to have gotten anywhere. I believe Hamlet is not mad, I am in no doubt that he has full control over his mind, although sometimes he takes it too far without thinking ahead of the consequences. .
In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Hamlet is a character who has had many misfortunes. His father has recently died, and his mother was all too ready to marry her dead husbands brother. Hamlet is quite upset about this, jealous, no one really knows, but indeed emotionally hurt. During all this pain and suffering, Hamlet sees his dead fathers ghost. Hamlet soon learns that his father was killed by his uncle, the new king. Hamlet decides he will pretend to be insane, "To put an antic disposition on." (Hamlet, pg. 75) as a means to investigate and learn the truth. He tells his friend Horatio of this, and makes him promise never to tell a soul why he is acting with such weird behavior. It begins when Polonius forbids Ophelia to see Hamlet. Hamlet is on to this, so the next time he meets her he dresses as if something is terribly wrong with him. His clothes are a mess, and he acts in a way that she finds disturbing. Of course Ophelia runs off and tells Polonius, who believes the cause of his madness is rejected love. "Mad for thy love." (Hamlet, pg. 87). I believe Hamlet planted this on purpose. He knew Ophelia would tell her father, which in turn would cause Polonius to tell the king. Hamlet's plan to be mad is working. .
Hamlet continues over the time to make others believe he is mad.
