will pretend to be mad This disguise gives him freedom to speak and act without suspicion He will be able to investigate whether Claudius is the murderer Hamlet s madness therefore is a tool a mask to hide his revenge plan His Behavior with Polonius and Others Hamlet s madness seems real to others because he acts differently with each person With Polonius he behaves foolishly He speaks in riddles and teases him with double meanings With Rosencrantz and Guildenstern he acts both friendly and suspicious He tests whether they are sent by the king When he meets Ophelia he behaves cruelly telling her Get thee to a nunnery This shocks her deeply But Hamlet s purpose is to make everyone believe that he has lost his mind Through these scenes Shakespeare makes the audience understand that Hamlet s madness is partly real and partly acted He is deeply sad and angry but he uses madness as a cover for his revenge Mixture of Real and Feigned Madness Although Hamlet pretends to be mad his deep sadness and emotional pain sometimes make his behavior truly unstable His father s death his mother s quick marriage and his loneliness all make him mentally broken When he kills Polonius by mistake we can see that his emotions have become uncontrollable Yet even in these moments his words show intelligence and awareness He tells his mother I am essentially not in madness But mad in craft This line makes it clear that Hamlet knows exactly what he is doing His madness has limits it is used only when needed to achieve his aim Thus Shakespeare creates a complex kind of madness not complete insanity but a mix of cleverness and emotional suffering Madness as a Weapon Against Claudius Hamlet s false madness confuses Claudius The king is afraid because he cannot tell whether Hamlet is truly mad or secretly dangerous Claudius says Madness in great ones must not unwatched go This fear shows that Hamlet s plan is working The disguise of madness helps him study Claudius s behavior and find the right moment to act It also protects him from being openly attacked by the king at first So Hamlet s madness becomes both a shield and a weapon In fine there was surely a method in Hamlet s madness It was not the madness of a weak mind but the clever disguise of a wounded soul Hamlet pretended to be mad to protect himself and to uncover the truth about his father s murder However his real sorrow and anger made the act partly real