The character Hamlet in Shakespeare’s Hamlet may be considered eccentric at least, insane or deranged at worst. While Hamlet is assuredly a man of ineffable wit and infallible intent, his mental foundation is made of sand; he is “very foolish, impractical, extravagant; senseless,” as Webster’s dictionary defines “Insane.” While Hamlet never loses his ability to reason, his “antic disposition” causes him to become foolishly extravagant, to which no purpose is served. His show of insanity is far too convincing. Every important character in the play mentions at some time that he is mad, and indeed, Shakespeare provides an oft-overlooked symbol to this effect, saying his antic disposition is not quite as “antic” as he intended.

The first character to notice Hamlet’s insanity is Polonius, Ophelia’s father, who accosts Claudius and Gertrude, saying their “noble son is mad.” (89) Polonius first suspects this when he intercepts a love letter intended for Ophelia, and contemplates why such a highborn individual such as he would take an interest in one so lowly as Ophelia. Presently, Polonius concludes that Hamlet is mad with love and anguish over his father’s death; anon he concludes Hamlet is well along the path into love-madness—“And he, repelled (a short tale to make), fell into a sadness, then into a fast, thence to a watch, thence to a weakness, thence to lightness, and, by this declension, into the madness wherein now he raves, and all we mourn for.” (91) In dialogue with Hamlet, Polonius observes that Hamlet converses with “a happiness that often madness hits on, which reason could not so prosperously be delivered of.” (97) In seeing Hamlet speak so irrationally happy to him, Polonius concludes that Hamlet may be insane with love for his daughter, and indeed, Ophelia concurs.

Ophelia must be one of the most mistreated individuals in the play. The man who loves her treats her as a slanderous whore, no better than a prostitute, after sending her a note saying “doubt thou the stars are fire, doubt that the sun doth move, doubt truth to be a liar, but never doubt I love.” (89) These words sound as those of an amorous lover, but at their next meeting, Hamlet cross-stances and speaks with coldness and derision, “Get thee to a nunnery (meaning a brothel), farewell.” When Polonius questions her on this subject, whether Hamlet was mad for her love, she replies, “I truly do fear it.” (79) No matter the circumstance, Hamlet’s mistreatment of Ophelia defies reason, even for the sake of his disposition, and thus can be considered foolish or extravagant and senseless.

Claudius and Gertrude are in accordance in their view on Hamlet’s sanity. He has none. Not a whit. To verify this, they send Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to speak with Hamlet, and find out decisively whether or not he is insane, and if so, to discern the cause. The two infiltrators confer with Hamlet, but “with a crafty madness, (Hamlet) keeps aloof,” (123) and they are unable to scrye his motives. The queen ultimately finds the conclusive evidence, for when Hamlet slays Polonius, Gertrude cries, “alas, he’s mad… (177) mad as the sea and wind when both contend which is mightier.” (189) His own mother finds him insane, and who knows him better than she?

The answer to the above question is, of course, Shakespeare himself. The appearance of a ghost is a strong reason to question a man’s sanity, but that issue aside, we must assume that Shakespeare intended the ghost to serve a purpose. When the ghost first appears, others are able to apprehend the ghost’s presence, although Hamlet is the only one to hear it speak. This is Shakespeare telling the audience something that no other character knows, providing insight. Hamlet bases ALL of his actions in the play upon something that may or may not have existed, and his actions are therefore not governed by reason. Shakespeare cements his message, and Hamlet’s complete downfall into raving lunacy later in the play, when the ghost appears to him a second time, when he is talking with Gertrude. Then, only he is able to see this ghost. How many times have we heard of mass murderers being guided by voices only they may hear? This is Hamlet’s hidden voice, and the fact that Shakespeare allowed no one else to view this apparition provides the idea that Hamlet’s “antic disposition” has carried him past his rigid controls on his sanity and finally driven him over the edge. How many people, upon being committed to asylums have pleaded, “I’m not insane, I’m not!” Most of these will not admit to, or even recognize, their own insanity. Many people will argue that Hamlet merely put on a show of being mad, just as he reported, but Shakespeare would not have said something in the play so blatantly obvious, and not in a soliloquy, that it should not be questioned. Hamlet indeed declined into madness.

Hamlet’s act was becoming altogether too real. In his rare moments of lucidity with Horatio, he acted normally, but his dialogue after was altogether too symbolic and ostentatious for a man of practical wit. In Macbeth, Shakespeare uses an apparition to symbolize Macbeth’s descent into madness after which Macbeth’s character was unsure and undergoing trial. The same is it here, with Hamlet. A murder is a heavy thing, and Hamlet bears its burden as a tremendous weight upon his mind. While he deals with it somewhat logically, he is incapable of acting normally when surrounded by those the secret he carries affects, and as a result, he must become insane to handle the pressure. He hid his grief and rage behind his happily insane disposition until the day he died.

It would appear that Shakespeare intended Ophelia’s madness to mirror Hamlet’s in many respects. Ophelia’s father was taken from her by someone she was close to, and she was suicidal in her lunacy. This is one more crucial link Shakespeare is attempting to convey, “To be, or not to be, that is the question,” quoth Hamlet, and indeed, Ophelia, in her ramblings hinted upon her own demise.

In short, Hamlet is insane for the following reasons: 1) All the other characters see him so. 2) He is impractical and foolish. 3) Shakespeare intended us to see his madness as a gradual progression. Many lunatics have lucid moments, and please note, Hamlet acts insane far more than he appears calm and collected- he is unpredictable, unstable. In all fairness, if Shakespeare intended the character, Hamlet, to be insane, who are we to question?