Hamlet is just deliberately acting mad to agitate and confuse King Claudius, Ophelia, Queen Gertrude, Rosencratz, Guildenstern, and many others. Act 1 scene 5, Line 170-175 displays Hamlet informing his good friend Horatio, that in the near future he will find it appropriate to act mad, while briefly recalling the events with the ghost of his “father”. His admitted intention to act strange was noticed and demonstrated as a trick of antic disposition. Hamlet saw this as a way to gain access to interpret the time following the moment.
In act 2 scene 2, lines 627-632, Hamlet is convinced that the ghost of his “father” may really be the devil, trying to …show more content…
persuade and manipulate him into murdering king/uncle Claudius. During this moment, Hamlet wonders if being depressed about his father’s death has left him vulnerable to go mad. These and other events display Hamlet being slowly but not fully corrupted by his own madness. Act 2 scene 2, lines 205-508, Polonius believes Hamlet has gone completely insane and that he is already far gone, because of his love for Ophelia is out of this world and not only impossible, but he just won’t let it happen, being he is her father. Is Hamlet in too deep already or will he salvage and make it out?
“I am essentially am not in madness, but mad in craft”, act 3 scene 4, lines 187-188. In these lines, Hamlet informs Horatio during the setup of the play, that he is mad, but acting the part intentionally in order to attain his purpose. Shakespeare uses madness throughout Hamlet to display the fact that he has brought it to attention and captured reader’s eyes instantly. This displays the broadness and much of his knowledge and greatness of his dramatic skill. Even though King Claudius find out about Hamlet being mad, he never truly believes and not quite convinced.
Claudius goes on to believe that Hamlet is not mad, just experiencing pain and sorrow and wants to take it out on someone.
The king uses this as a ploy to try and send Hamlet back to England so he doesn’t eventually have to give up his crown and what he now has as king. There was no need to believe that Hamlet’s madness was not real. To understand the madness in Hamlet, the reader will have to inspect that throughout this play, there are many other signs of madness other than just Hamlet’s. If Hamlet were thought to be really and truly mad, would his character have shown more stages, feeling, effects, and events in
madness?