Was Hamlet Mad Or Did He Really Love Ophelia?

Like most readers of Hamlet, I finished reading the play with more questions than answers. Was Hamlet mad or was he simply pretending to be so? Did he actually love Ophelia? Were the deaths just? Were the deaths worth it? Similarly, the play explores its own questions as well: the justness (or lack thereof) in revenge, the uncertainty of life, and the meaning of life. To be sure, Hamlet wrestles with some of life's most difficult questions. Set in medieval Denmark, the story revolves around Hamlet, whose father has recently died and whose mother has remarried, to none other than his uncle, who apparently killed Hamlet's father. The story follows Hamlet's quest to avenge his father’s death, his relationships with a girl named Ophelia as well as several friends, and Hamlet's

However, his complicated personality and emotions draw the audience into the play. For example, Hamlet confounds the audience by apparently loving Ophelia but then he says vile things to her and treats her horrendously. At first glance, Hamlet simply seems mad, but a close student of Hamlet will realize that Hamlet is simply taking out his anger towards his mother on women in general. Since Hamlet sees his mother’s quick remarriage after his father’s death as a betrayal, Hamlet holds deep anger towards his mother. Some may even argue that Hamlet is less angry at the murder of his father and more angry at his mother’s quick remarriage. Hamlet’s bitterness towards his mother’s marriage shows as he talks to his friend Horatio: “Thrift, thrift, Horatio! the funeral baked meats / Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables” (Shakespeare.) This bitterness shows through as he proclaims that he finds all women weak: “Frailty, thy name is woman!” This is just one example of the complicated emotions that the characters of the play Hamlet feel. By using complex characters. Shakespeare adds a deep level of interest and entertainment to this