Is Hamlet Crazy

Even from as early on as his first appearance, Hamlet is painted as visually separate from his society. Dressed in mourning black and with a cloudy disposition while the others around him cheerfully celebrate the marriage of his mother and uncle, Hamlet is already palpably at odds with the world. Hamlet’s first speaking line, “[Aside.] A little more than kin, and less than kind” (I. ii. 63), portray him as an outsider to the royal court, the stage direction of “aside” suggesting that his opinions have no place in Elsinore. Further along in the scene, when Hamlet launches into his first soliloquy, he describes his hatred toward his new father-uncle and the frustration he feels toward his mother for marrying Claudius, who is like a “satyr”

Throughout the play he is many things - murderer, madman, philosopher - but who he really is is never quite clear. Is he truly mad, or is it an act he puts on? Does he love Ophelia, or is he telling the truth when he says he “loved [her] not” (III. i. 121)? Do his positive qualities make up for his numerous faults, and is he actually a hero? Although one of the most oft-quoted lines of Hamlet is “to thine own self be true” (I.iii. 84), the play’s characters are duplicitous and deceptive, and Hamlet himself is no exception. Hamlet’s actions confuse the characters around him, the audience, and himself. There is a fundamental disconnect between what Hamlet thinks and what he does; he is in constant tumult and contradiction with himself. He wants to be a perfect avenger who can swiftly bring his uncle to justice, but that idea is marred by his tendency toward deep introspection and hesitation, and consequently, we see him flounder around ineffectually until the final act. Unlike Claudius, Laertes, Fortinbras, and Polonius, who are strong-willed and believe in their own actions, Hamlet is defined by his lack of confidence in himself, and this quality starkly contrasts him with the other characters, highlighting the sense that he is out of place within his own