Mad HamletFalse and real: the difference in the representation of madness There is a very controversial topic regarding Shakespeare's Hamlet. Many who read Hamlet argue that Prince Hamlet was mad and that his actions were driven by his bad feelings and weak emotions. If William Shakespeare had been there to answer the question "Was Hamlet mad?", he would most likely have answered that Hamlet, the product of his imagination and creativity, was portrayed in such a light as to create this controversy on purpose. However, Hamlet is perfectly sane, truly guided by his emotions and feelings, which are, in fact, very healthy. Hamlet was not mad, and this can be demonstrated by the true madness of the one he loved, or, at least, seemed to love: Ophelia, whose madness, especially in her last hours, is unmistakably evident. The real reason why the audience is easily convinced that Hamlet was sane while Ophelia was mad is simple: it is the brilliantly skillful way in which Shakespeare portrays them that makes it clear, if not obvious, who the madman really is. .Hamlet, the young prince, strong and full of vengeance, is constantly called mad. Most of the characters in the play Hamlet, with the exception of Hamlet's good friend Horatio and a few others, believe that Hamlet has "lost his balls". Yet, there is no real evidence to convince the audience of this: there are no facts, nothing other than the characters' opinion of him. Hamlet commits some acts that seem irrational and inexplicable to the play's antagonists, however, to the audience, all of these acts are perfectly explainable and rational. This is because the audience knows the situation Hamlet finds himself in, having had his father murdered and his mother married... middle of paper ...... being under the unmistakable impression that his sanity has followed his father into his grave. Ophelia was a pawn, nothing more, who was used by those who supposedly loved her for their own purposes. She was used by her father to drive Hamlet to madness, as he thought. Hamlet used it to convince Polonius and others that he was mad. Ophelia ultimately loses both of these men, which drives her to madness, perhaps because the two greatest "influences" in her life are gone. This is how Shakespeare uses madness to show the differences between Ophelia and Hamlet. He brilliantly and skillfully showed true madness and falsehood. Hamlet had a very brilliant plan to avenge his father, which certainly worked, although, surely, Hamlet had not planned so many deaths. The careful and skillful plotting of this play truly expresses Shakespeare's genius!