Was Hamlet Really Crazy Essay

There is much controversy in the Shakespearean play Hamlet. It is whether or not Hamlet was really crazy, or if he was just acting, like he said he was at the beginning of the play. However, despite what others say, Hamlet was just acting. He was not crazy, his actions were calculated and precise. This essay is going to prove that point. The first point is that Hamlet himself said that he was going to be acting crazily, “Here as never before, never, so help you mercy, how strange or odd soe’er I bear myself – as I perchance hereafter shall think meet to put on an antic of disposition on” (I, v, 170-173). In this quote, Hamlet is telling Horatio not to act surprised if he sees Hamlet act crazy, and not to let on that he knows anything …show more content…
It was actually a brilliant plan, and as you can see in the play, he got all of the information that he needed. The next point is that Hamlet was only crazy in front of certain people. “Let her not walk i' th' sun. Conception is a blessing, but, as your daughter may conceive—Friend, look to ’t” (II, ii, 176-177). In this quote Hamlet is talking to the father of the girl he likes, Ophelia, and telling him not to let her be on her own, for she could get pregnant. However in the quote, “There is a play tonight before the king. One scene of it comes near the circumstance which I have told thee of my father’s death. I prithee, when thou seest that act afoot, even with the very comment of thy soul. Observe mine uncle” (III, ii, 70-75), Hamlet set up a play mimicking his own father’s death. Now he is asking Horatio to watch Claudius to see if he picks up on any guilt that the king might show. This was a calculated move because Hamlet is emotional about his father’s death, so he had a second person make sure. So he was only acting crazy when he wanted people to view him as crazy. Some people say that he was crazy because he killed several people. First, he stabbed Polonius when he found out that he was spying