Both Don Quixote and Hamlet are exceptional examples of madness used to drive a narrative. Their madness speaks to all of us through a multitude of different mediums. Showing us that there is a reason behind their madness, despite what first impressions give us. Asking important questions we all deal with, from what it means to be crazy, the place of justice, and the value of hope. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay What is reasonable is subjective, to how you think. It is when you act in a way that the majority does not understand that you are considered crazy. However, the guiding ideals of these two “madmen” are certainly not what most people would say are strange or even abnormal, but it is how they go about achieving them that baffles others. Hamlet wants justice for his father's murder and his mother's betrayal. While Don Quixote strives to punish all the evil deeds done and to protect the innocent. It's not that strange, right? There is little debate about the madness of Don Quixote as it is rightly stated "...and so, through little sleep and much reading, his brain was so dried up, that at last he came to lose his reason." (pg.25) While there is some debate about Hamlet's sanity because Hamlet states after speaking to his father's ghost that, "...For I, perhaps, will henceforth think it best to put a antiquated disposition,..." (page 953) Some argue that this statement proves that he was not truly mad. This would ignore the warning Horatio gives to Hamlet before Hamlet follows the ghost, “…What could deprive your sovereignty of reason and drag you into madness?” (pg.951) and was right all along, Hamlet fell into madness after following the ghost. Also in both stories someone recognizes that there is a reason in their madness. In Hamlet, when trying to discover the cause of Hamlet's madness, Polonia examines Hamlet's interaction with Polonia's daughter, Ophelia. In which he admits that "Though this is madness, yet there is no method." (pg.956) Don Quixote after causing the lions to lose in a city, Don Diego de Miranda ends up admitting that everything in Don Quixote's explanation for his actions was measured on "The Scales of Reason". While both books question what it means to be mad, Don Quixote had a great explanation and a question that all people could ponder when it comes to what we believe to be madness. “When life itself seems crazy, who knows where the madness lies? Maybe being too practical is madness. Giving up on dreams could be madness. Too much sanity can be madness, and the craziest thing is to see life as it is and not as it should be!” Ironically, it is when Don Quixote returns to "sanity" that he is seen close to death. Under the mask of madness both heroes explore themes of justice. The first time in Hamlet we are shown that Hamlet values ​​justice is when he meets a ghost who claims to be his recently murdered father. While Hamlet believes the ghost's claim that his uncle had killed his father, Hamlet refuses to act without definitive proof, in case he is wrong. Then Hamlet claims to act like a fool to make his uncle lower his guard around him. Hoping his uncle will let it slip that he actually killed his father. Even when Hamlet has enough evidence to convince himself of his uncle's guilt, he still seems hesitant to avenge his father, still worried that he has overlooked something. Hamlet, through his.”