Why Is Hamlet's Madness Real

In Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet, there are a series of events that causes Hamlet to act abnormally. He has to deal with his father’s death, mother’s remarriage, and his lover Ophelia. However, it is often argued whether Hamlet’s madness is real or fake. Throughout the tragedy, he is over-exaggerating his madness for his plan of revenge. Hamlet is sane because he only acts mad in front of certain people, he told his friends of his plan of revenge, and the fact that many people continuously doubted his insanity. Hamlet only acted insane in front of the king and his chairmen. In other times, he acted completely normal. This is because to get revenge for the death of his father, he needs to buy time distracting King Claudius so that he can kill him. He admits to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that he is “but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw. (II.ii.376-377) Hamlet explains to them that he is only mad when he needs to be, but when the time is right, he can pull it together and be sane. Not only is he faking his madness but he also tells people that it isn’t real. When Hamlet’s father died, he met a Ghost that told him to get revenge for what happened to his father. Hamlet decides to kill Claudius because he knows that Claudius killed his dad. He needs to find proof that he did commit

His father was murdered, his mother remarried quickly after his death, and he also had to deal with his forbidden love with Ophelia. Polonius admits that Hamlet “knew me not at first; he said I was a fishmonger: he is far gone, far gone: …” (II.ii.8). He says that Hamlet really is going insane. Although, later Polonius questions Hamlet’s true insanity. “Though this be madness, yet there is method / in’t.” (II.ii.216-217) He begins to think about it and realizes that it could be madness but there is some kind of a pattern involved in