There is ample evidence in the play that Hamlet deliberately feigned fits of madness in order to confuse and disconcert the king and his servants. His stated intention to act “strangely or bizarrely” and “put on a mischievous character” is not the only indication. This last sentence, the interpretation of which is doubtful, must be taken in context and in relation to his other remarks on the same question. To his old friend Guildenstern, he suggests that "his uncle-father and aunt-mother are deceived" and that he is only "crazy from the north-northwest." (II. ii. 360.) But this allusion seems to mean nothing to the bored ears of his old school friend. His only comment is given later when he declares that Hamlet's is "artful folly." Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay When you and Horatio finish the arrangements of the play, and just before the courtyard entrance, Hamlet says, “I must stay inactive ". This is obviously a declaration of his intention to be "insane", as Schmidt explained the word. Then, to his mother, in the closet scene, he clearly references the belief of some about the court that he is crazy and assures her that he is intentionally playing the role of madness in order to achieve his goal : Hamlet's madness was truly crazy. He saw much to be gained, and to this end he did many things which the characters in the drama must interpret as madness. His stated intention was to get them out of the way. To understand madness as real is to make the play a tragedy of madness which could make no sense to very sensible Englishmen as Shakespeare wrote. There is dramatic value in the play which traces the causes of his madness and the influences which restore him. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Lear's madness had its roots in his morals and spiritual flaws and the remedy was his moral regeneration. But we cannot attribute such dramatic value to Hamlet's madness. Shakespeare never makes his dramas expositions of human experience in any form, but they are all studies of the spiritual life of man. His dramas are always elaborate attempts to give meaning to life, not to show either its mystery or its madness. If Hamlet were considered truly mad, then his entrances and exits could convey no meaning to sane people except the lesson to avoid madness. But there's no need for drama to teach that.