ntually see through his behavior. Claudius is constantly on his guard because of his guilty conscience and he therefore recognizes that Hamlet is faking. The king is suspicious of Hamlet from the very beginning. The reason Claudius is so reluctant to believe that Ophelia's rejection has caused Hamlet's lunacy is that he doesn't believe in his madness at all. Hamlet staged the play to learn the truth about Claudius. This would be the final piece to a puzzle Hamlet was piecing together. When Claudius realizes through the play-within-the-play that Hamlet knows the truth about his father's death, he immediately sends him away to England. He does this because now “[Hamlet’s] endeavor to kill Claudius is now justified” (The Hamlet Paradigm , by John S. Mamoun).In the scene in his mother's bedroom, Hamlet tells Gertrude that his insanity is assumed: "[I]t is not madness / I have utter'd: bring me to the test, / And I the matter will Pg. 4reword, which madness / Would gambol from" (III.iv.142-5), but even without his confirmation, the queen has seen through his act. While Hamlet is reprimanding her, she is so upset that she describes his words as "daggers" (III.iv.96) and claims, " Thou hast cleft my heart in twain" (III.iv.157). The words of a madman could not have penetrated her soul to such an extent. The queen takes every word Hamlet says seriously, proving she respects him and believes his mind to be sound. Furthermore, she believes Hamlet's confession of sanity immediately. She does not question him at all but instead promises to keep it her secret. "I have no life to breathe / What though hast said to me" (III.iv.199-200). Even Polonius can see that Hamlet has not completely lost touch with the world. Although he frequently misses the meanings of Hamlet's remarks and insults, he does recognize that they make some sense. After a confusing conversation with Hamlet he remarks, "Though this be madness, yet there is method i...
