Was Hamlet Insane?

Was Hamlet Mad? "I am but mad north-northwest: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw" (Foakes 213). This is a classic example of the "wild and whirling words" (I.v.134) with which Hamlet hopes to persuade people to believe that he is mad. These words, however, prove that beneath his "antic disposition," Hamlet is very sane indeed. Beneath his strange choice of imagery involving points of the compass, the weather, and …

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