Hamlet; How Far Do You Believe He Is Mad

�Alas he’s mad’ (3:4:108) How far do you agree with the statement that Hamlet is mad?

I disagree with the statement that Hamlet is mad due to all the evidence throughout the play in which I believe Shakespeare uses hidden phrases and hints to suggest Hamlet is only pretending to be mad. I believe that by the way Shakespeare exaggerates the extent of Ophelia’s madness, so the audience may compare this to Macbeth to realise that he is not actually mad. For instance when she speaks, she talks in rhymes “no no, he is dead” it shows how big the difference between Hamlet and Ophelia is. A nursery rhyme shows that Ophelia’s intelligence is quite low, as these rhymes are aimed at young children. Hamlet uses vocabulary such as “it will discourse most deliquescent music” It also leads me to believe that Hamlet is not mad, but so lost in all his feeling that this leads to him in acting irrationally, in which any human being of the similar situation.

The fact that Hamlet only appears to be mad to certain characters also persuades the idea that Hamlet is being cunning into believing the other certain characters that he is mad, so he can continue with his plans undisturbed, and people will think he is unaware of what he is doing. Like the quote "actions although strange, do not appear to stem from madness." Which Claudius says, and as this is one of the characters Hamlet is trying to fool its seems that Shakespeare is trying to make it obvious to the audience that he is not mad.

In the play it shows there is always more to Hamlet than the other characters in the play can see, most readers notice that not everything about hamlet is described. Hamlet tells people there is more to him than they think. One of the people he tells is his mother. When he speaks, he sounds as if there’s something important he’s not saying, maybe something even he is not aware of. Therefore when it may appear that hamlet is acting mad, this could just be due to the fact that he is masking he true ideas, or maybe even he is not aware of his actions, yet still manages clever wit.

If hamlet was mad then most of the play would be pointless, for surely Hamlet would not be able to create performances, or jump to conclusions in because two perspectives which a thought of both angles is needed if he is mad. For instance he tells his mother he is “mad in craft” this could mean there is a reason to his suggested madness. This could mean he is using madness as a cover allowing him to follow his ideas of revenging his father unnoticed to the other characters.

If you were to compare Ophelia’s madness to Hamlet you would see that he is not mad. If Shakespeare had intended the audience to believe that Hamlet was mad, then wouldn’t he be familiar to Ophelia, or at least similar.

Before the events of what happened with the death of his father, Hamlet was a student at the University of Wittenberg. The play starts after the event of his fathers death and mothers marriage. This is because Shakespeare only wanted to show Hamlet when he had proposed the idea of his fake madness. It also gives him time to get more use to the role, in which it was so well portrayed. The fact that Hamlet has started a university education show that he must be intelligent and aware of his surroundings and other peoples feelings, something in which Ophelia is not, and may not in any way be similar. Also when Hamlet is in the chamber with his mother and mentions the ghost of his dead father, it is not documented in the script.

In many of Shakespeare’s plays he has creatures such as witches, so if there had been a ghost of his dead father, then it would have given Hamlets view. Due to this it leads me to believe that the ghost is non existent, but an excuse for Hamlet to trick his mother and other characters into believing he is mad. Notice that when he is with characters such as Horracio or in the grave yard he acts completely normally, and it is not possible to switch madness on and off.

Hamlet also considers different reasons on why he should delay Claudius� murder. After all that has happened to Hamlet and him still being able to show self restraint also shows off how he is still in control of his mind and body. For instance he realises when Claudius is praying that he