n't" (II.ii.207). When his theory of rejected love proves wrong, he becomes very suspicious of Hamlet's behavior and offers to test it by hiding behind the "arras" in Gertrude's bedroom so that he can listen in on Hamlet's private conversation with his mother. Polonius's suspicions about the legitimacy of Hamlet's madness lead to his death when Hamlet stabs the "arras" in the mistaken belief that the eavesdropper is Claudius. Hamlet's soliloquies, his confidences to Horatio, and his elaborate plans are by far the most convincing proof of his sanity. Throughout the play, Hamlet's soliloquies reveal his inner thoughts which are completely rational. In one such speech, Hamlet criticizes himself for not having yet Pg. 5taken action to avenge his father's murder: "O what a rogue and peasant slave am I / . . . the son of the dear murder'd, / Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, / Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words" (II. ii. 560, 595-7). Hamlet calls himself a "dull and muddy-mettled rascal" (II.ii.578), a villain and a coward, but when he realizes that his anger doesn't achieve anything practical other than the unpacking of his heart, he stops. These are not the thoughts of a madman; his emotions are real and his thoughts are those of a rational man. Even when he contemplates suicide in the "to be or not to be" soliloquy, his reasons himself out of it through a very sane consideration of the dangers of an unknown afterlife: "And thus the native hue of resolution / Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought" (III.i. 84-5). A further important proof of his sanity is how patiently he devises plans to prepare for his revenge. As he explains to Horatio, his "antic disposition" is a device to test his enemies. His mounting of the play-within-the-play is another well-laid plan to trap Claudius into admitting guilt: "The play's the thing / Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king" (II.ii.616-17) and even when the play bring...
