for Ophelia. His hypothesis, which he believes deeply and tries to convince the king and the queen of, is that Hamlet is insane without Ophelia. In fact, Polonius is the one who ordered his daughter to break off any relationship that she might have with Hamlet, believing that would drive Hamlet to frustration, anger, and eventually cause him to loose his wit. Polonius's idea coincided well with the common at the time idea that frustrated love causes melancholy, which is, in itself, fairly close to madness. Shakespeare expresses this idea in many of his works, an example being the frustrated Romeo in Romeo and Juliet. Another instance where this occurs is when the king has a good reason to convince others of Hamlet's insanity: he suspects that Hamlet knows something about the murder of his father, and if Hamlet were to spread this around, people would believe him. However, if everyone was convinced of Hamlet's madness, no one would believe him. This, the king expresses in his speech to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Act 3, Scene 3, lines 1 and 2: "I like him not, nor stands it safe with usTo let his madness range ."The only act in the play that Hamlet performs that can be called irrational is when he is in the queen's chambers, having just killed Polonius. "Alas, he's mad!," says the queen in Act 3, Scene 4, line 105, seeing Hamlet talking to something that isn't even there.However, Hamlet's rational, sane acts by far outweigh the things that he has said and done that make him look as if he's crazy. There are some plots that he has devised that a madman would never be able to figure out. How would a madman that is planning to assassinate the king ever comprehend that if he kills the king while the king is praying, the king will go to heaven? How would a madman ever have the sense to wait for the right moment? Not only is Hamlet perfectly sane, but his insanity scheme is ingenious.Ophelia, on the other hand, performs certain...
