Hamlet, one of literature's most analyzed tragic heroes, on the surface can be perceived as an insane person with no motives. But doing some investigation the conclusion that Hamlet is a sane man just acting insane can be made. Any average person going through the passing of their father would go into some sort of depression or frantic state of mind. Along with this though Hamlet is expected to deal with the fact that his uncle murdered his father and is now marrying his widowed mom. Everyone with a brain would go into a frenzy and start acting insane in this circumstance; Hamlet will use this to his advantage. Understanding what Hamlet is experiencing lets us conclude that Hamlet is not insane just an intelligent and cunning person on a quest, …show more content…
An insane person could never be so devious and clever with his actions. When the ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius has killed his father he proceeds to tell his friends, “How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself (As I perchance hereafter shall think meet To put an antic disposition on)” (Shakespeare, I.V.171). In this quote Hamlet is telling his friends that he will act insane in order to get what he wants. An insane person will never think to go around telling people that he will feign madness to get what he wants. . . but a rather very deceptive and clever person. Faking insanity is just one of the things that make Hamlet so smart. Another example of his true intellect is the planning of a play that reenacts the same circumstance of his father’s death to see how his uncle reacts. “As he is very potent with such spirits, abuses me to damn me. I’ll have grounds more relative than this. The play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king” (II.II.24). The quote explains how he wants to “catch the conscience of the king” by examining how his uncle responds to this scenario. Hamlet is not an insane person but just a sane person acting