Essay Database

Hamlet by William Shakespeare is full of themes. One of these themes is appearance vs. reality within the play. This is shown by the argument between Hamlet's sanity and insanity. There are two different ways to look at Shakespeare's meaning. One way critics determine Hamlet's state of mind is sanity. Hamlet acts like he's crazy, but he really isn't. He only acts that way because it's his way of dealing with his problems. His mother …

…realizes this all along and uses it to his advantage. This is one of the deepest themes in the whole novel. Is Hamlet crazy, or really smart enough to make everyone else think he is? Whether or not it will definitely be solved is still a question. It seems that if critics after hundreds of years of arguing can't come up with a decision, then there will be arguing for hundreds of years to come.