Hamlet: Was Hamlet Insane

Part I of Essay
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the question of whether Hamlet is insane or just pretending to be insane is a central dilemma. The readers of the play as well as critics who look at the different aspects have to consider both sides. One way that this can be examined is seeing Ha ....

Part II of Essay
.... on an act. Another big factor that suggests that Hamlet is only pretending is that he only manifests his “madness” around certain characters. These characters would be Polonius, Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. His “madness” doesn’t come out around Horatio, Bernardo, Francisco, the players or the gravediggers. At one point Claudius himself admits that Hamlet’s “actions although strange, do not appear to stem from madness” (internet, Hamlet, pg. 1-2). Polonius also admits that Hamlet’s actions and works have a “m ....