Hamlet #5

Scenes 1 and 2 of Act 3 serve as an emphasis for the true question at hand: is Hamlet truly crazy or is he a mastermind as an actor? Judging from Hamlet’s interactions with Ophelia both during Claudius’ attempt to spy on Hamlet and during the play itself, one would assume Hamlet to be truly insane. His cruelty towards Ophelia, women, and marriage may exhibit his frustrations, but they certainly do not eradicate any feelings of madness within Hamlet. At one point, while discussing the implications of honesty and goodness within women, Hamlet remarks that he “never did love [Ophelia] once”, and claims that Ophelia’s “wantonness” and “ignorance…hath made [Hamlet] mad”. In a very articulate manner, Hamlet expresses his discontent with Ophelia to promote the unsatisfactory predispositions he has towards society as a whole. This in turn seems to augment Hamlet’s true insanity. His continued bitterness towards Ophelia and lewd, obscene behavior during the play further propel this perspective. However, just as Hamlet describes himself as knowing “a hack from a handsaw” in the previous act, his ability to immediately change his behavior when speaking with Horatio indicates his dexterity in transitioning between wild, eccentric behavior and calm rationality. Where Hamlet’s seemingly never-ending fit of complete madness encompasses much of these two scenes, his amazing levelheadedness is clear and present with Horatio: “Give me that man / That is not passion’s slave, and I will wear him / In my heart’s core, ay, in my heart of heart / As I do thee”. Shakespeare juxtaposes Hamlet’s initial interaction with Ophelia with his down to earth and joyous personality towards Horatio. As the audience is being led into an upcoming emotional scene between Hamlet and his mother, this very juxtaposition can be viewed as an emphasis for Hamlet’s apparent madness. Knowing that the end result of this play is full of tragedy may be used as a focal lens for interpreting Hamlet’s duplicitous personality; it is only a matter of time before Hamlet’s emotions and insanity catch up with in when in the face of his family.