ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Hamlet’s most mad-seeming outburst, against Ophelia, may be explained by the fact that Claudius and Polonius are spying on the conversation: if Hamlet suspects that he’s being spied on, he may be acting more deranged than he really is for the benefit of his listeners.

Detailed explanation-2: -As befits a scene full of anger and dark thoughts, Act IV, scene v brings a repetition of the motif of insanity, this time through the character of Ophelia, who has truly been driven mad by the death of her father.

Detailed explanation-3: -The YES, HE WAS MAD side: Hamlet appears to act mad when he hears of his father’s murder. At the time he speaks “wild and whirling words” that appear senseless to Horatio and Marcellus [Act I, Scene v, lines 127-134].

Detailed explanation-4: -There is much evidence in the play that Hamlet deliberately feigned fits of madness in order to confuse and disconcert the king and his attendants. His avowed intention to act “strange or odd” and to “put an antic disposition on” 1 (I. v. 170, 172) is not the only indication.