Hamlet - Mad or Mad or Revenge?

The term insanity means a mental disorder, whether it is temporary or permanent, that is used to describe a person when they don't know the difference between right or wrong. They don't consider the nature of their actions due to the mental defect. In William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, Shakespeare leads his readers to believe that the main character, Hamlet, might be insane. There are many clues that suggest Hamlet is mad, but in fact he is completely sane.

Throughout the play Hamlet makes wise decisions to prove he is not insane. He knows exactly what his plans and actions leading are leading up to. He just delays to act due to his indecisiveness. An example of this is in Act III, section III, line 73, Hamlet says:

“Now might I do it pat, now 'a is a-praying, and now I'll do it-and so ‘a goes to heaven, and so am I revenged that would be scanned. A villain kills my father, and for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send to heaven. Why, this is hire and salary, not revenge.”

He says here that he has his chance to kill his father's murder but, he is praying. By killing him while he's praying his soul goes to heaven and this wouldn't be revenge. This is not a thought of an insane person. A madman would have completed the murder at this opportune moment. In Act III, scene I, line 55, “To be or not to be...” Hamlet displays his indecisiveness by thinking about suicide because of the situation he is in. He would rather be dead than live with the thought of his father's death going unavenged. He is afraid to seek revenge because he spoke with an apparition in the form of his father and doesn't know what to do. Thus conscience takes a major part in the thought and action of murder. This is why he waits so long to commit the murder. An insane person wouldn’t wait. He would be more apt to act on instict.

Hamlet's madness only exists when he is in the presence of certain characters. When Hamlet is around Polonius, Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, and Gildenstern, he behaves irrationally. For example in Act II, section II, Polonius asks Hamlet,” Do you know me, my Lord?” Hamlet replies,” Excellent well, you are a fishmonger”. Hamlet pretends not to know who Polonius is, even though he is Ophelia's father. When Hamlet is around Horatio, Bernardo, Fransisco, the players, and the gravediggers, he behaves rationally. In Act I, section V, lines 165-180, Hamlet says “How strange or odd some'er shall