Hamlet�s Madness:
The problem of madness is perhaps the most maddening problem in Hamlet. Some critics are of the view that Hamlet is sane throughout but feigns insanity. Others hold the opinion that Hamlet�s madness is less than madness and more than feigned. Before the play begins Hamlet is clearly a sensitive and idealistic young man. He is a scholar, a philosopher, and a poet too, who conceives the finest thoughts and exhibits great intellectual quality. We get a vivid picture of Hamlet as he was in the words of Ophelia: �The courtier�s, soldier�s, scholar�s, eye, tongue, sword/Th� expectancy and rose of the fair state/The glass of fashion, and the mould of form/Th� observed of all observes� This shows that Hamlet was once a master of his own self and had full command over his mind and sense. But as the play proceeds we can find the traces of madness in him. After his mother�s hasty marriage and the Ghost�s revelation, Hamlet�s �noble and most sovereign reason� is all �out of tune and harsh� ....