Is Hamlet Truly Mad?

Is Hamlet Truly Mad? In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the ghost of Hamlet’s father reveals to him that he has been murdered by his brother Claudius, the man who also married Hamlet’s mother after he died. After finding out that Claudius killed his father, Hamlet makes it his mission to avenge his father by killing Claudius. Many believe that Hamlet went mad after seeing the ghost and planning his revenge, but really it was just part of the process that came with his revenge on Claudius. At the beginning of the play, Hamlet warns his friends that he will go insane since it is only appropriate for him to act that way now that he knows that Claudius murdered his father.
For instance, after being introduced to the ghost and receiving the news that Claudius
murdered his father, Hamlet asserts “As I perchance hereafter shall think meet to put antic disposition on” (1.5, 191-192). This quote manifests that Hamlet will only be pretending to be mad in order for his plan to avenge his father to be successful. He plans to eventually avenge his father by putting on a facade of madness that will be deceiving to Claudius in order to bring out his guilt. Overall, this proves that Hamlet is not really mad. The only reason that he seems to be is because he is pretending in order to be sure that Claudius really did kill his father. He does not now if the ghost is actually telling him the truth, Hamlet does not want to just kill Claudius without having evidence that Claudius is actually the murderer, he wants to wait for a sign that proves to him that the ghost was telling him the truth. Ultimately, Hamlet plans to go mad in order to see if Claudius shows a sign that proves he is guilty. Second, the only reason that others might say that Hamlet is mad is because they are too blind to see that Hamlet is not the one who is at fault for the way others perceive him. For instance, during a conversation with his mother Hamlet states “Mother for love of grace, lay not that flattering unction to your soul that not your trespass but my madness speaks” (3.4, 165- 167). What this quote manifests is that Hamlet wishes that his mother would stop flattering herself by believing that Hamlet is mad. He wants her to know that it is was her who messed everything up the moment that she decided she was going to marry Claudius. Hamlet knows that his mother is blinding herself by not seeing that her marriage to Claudius is the real problem. His mother has been viewing Hamlet as the problem and calls him mad, however everything that Hamlet is going through is because his mother married Claudius, the man who murdered his mother. Overall, we see that Hamlet’s mother automatically assumes that Hamlet is mad when she is the one who has done wrong not Hamlet. Many might argue that Hamlet did go mad as they see him go insane in the play.
For instance when Hamlet sees the ghost while he is with his mother, he states “This is very coinage of your brain. This bodiless creation ecstasy is very cunning” (3.4, 157-159). The manifestation made in this quote is that only Hamlet sees a ghost while his mother who is also in the scene does not see the ghost. Hamlet can be easily seen as mad by others who do not see the ghost since it is absurd to believe that ghosts actually exist. Although Hamlet believing that he sees a ghost can easily make him seem like he’s going mad, we know that he is not mad because other characters in the play have seen the ghost as well. For instance, when telling Hamlet about the ghost, Horatio states “Two nights together had these gentlemen Marcellus and Bernardo on their watch, in the dead waste and middle of the night, Been thus encountered: a figure like your father” (1.2, 206-209). Because other people have also seen the ghost, we can see that others are only convinced that Hamlet is mad but really, he isn’t he’s only acting mad because he knows that it is essential for him to be to get a reaction from Claudius. It is necessary for Hamlet to act mad to bring about Claudius’s guilt since it will allow him to have control in studying Claudius’s guilt. He knows that his madness will spark a reaction of guilt from Claudius. Gertrude only thinks he’s mad in this scene because he’s already pretended to be mad
which he isn’t in this scene because we know that the ghost is in fact real. It is because Gertrude is not worthy enough as her heart is not true that she can not see the ghost but not because Hamlet is mad. Moreover, Hamlet’s madness is all just an act and it has convinced people that he’s actually mad when he isn’t and others having seen the ghost too illustrates this. Hamlet only feigned his madness because it came with the plan of taking revenge on Claudius for murdering his father. In the play we see that Hamlet admits that he will act mad, that he is not mad but that others are too blind to see it, and we see that Hamlet was not the only one who saw the ghost which proves that he is not mad when Gertrude tells him that he is seeing things. Hamlet truly was not mad, he was just furious at Claudius for killing his father and ultimately betraying Hamlet and his family, we should not believe that he was mad because he only put on a facade that made him seem mad to others but really he was mentally sane.