Hamlet's madness

There are three equally possible interpretations of Hamlet's behaviour. Firstly, it can be argued that Hamlet pretends to be maf in order to follow the ghost's instructions to avenge his death. By doing this he would appear to be a harmless madman. The second option is that Hamlet initially pretended to be mad but could not cope with the situation and the task in hand so much so that he actually goes mad towards the …

…think and fully comprehend the news about his father's death. However as Hamlet's character deteriorates through the play, I was able to gain the impression that Hamlet's mind was becoming more and more disrupted by the responsibility placed on his shoulders by the ghost and the result of his killing of Polonius and Ophelia's death. Therefore, a loss of control and a failure to overcome a powerful emotion, failure and discust, resulted in his madness.