There is much evidence in the play that Hamlet deliberately feigned bouts of madness to confuse and dismay the king and his attendants. His stated intention to behave in a "strange or bizarre" manner and to "assume a strange attitude" is not the only indication. This last sentence, of dubious interpretation, should be taken in its context and in connection with his other observations regarding the same issue. To his old friend Guildenstern he lets it be known that "his uncle-father and his aunt-mother have deceived themselves" and that he is only "crazy from the north-north-west". (II. ii. 360.) But the warning seems to mean nothing to the dull ears of his old schoolmate. His only comment comes later, when he warns that Hamlet's is "a cunning madness." Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay After completing the arrangements for the play with Horatio, and just before entering the court, Hamlet says "I must be idle." This evidently is a statement of his intention to be "foolish," as Schmidt explained the word. Then to the mother in the wardrobe scene he clearly refers to the belief of some at court that he is mad and assures her that he is intentionally playing the part of madness to achieve his goal: There is no need therefore to doubt that The madness of Hamlet was truly mad. He saw much to be gained from this and to that end did many things which the people in the play must interpret as madness. His stated intention was to throw them off the road. To understand the madness as real is to make the play a madhouse tragedy that could have no meaning to very sane Englishmen as Shakespeare wrote. There is a dramatic value in the work that traces the causes of his madness and the influences that heal him. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Lear's madness had its roots in his moral and spiritual flaws and the cure was his moral regeneration. But such a dramatic value cannot be attributed to Hamlet's madness. Shakespeare never makes his plays expositions of human experience wisely or unwisely, but they are all studies of the spiritual life of man. His plays are always elaborate attempts to give meaning to life, not attempts to show its mystery or madness. If Hamlet were considered truly mad, then his entrances and exits would have no meaning for sane people, except the lesson to avoid madness. But you don't need drama to teach it.