nius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern all try to deceive Hamlet into revealing why he is distraught, and no one knows what is truth and what is a lie. The world has not grown honest, as Rosencrantz claims, but dishonest, and no one who lives in it can keep his honesty pure from the corrupting air.Hamlet seems to be the character that uses the majority of such puns and phrases in the play. These phrases, which have double meaning, could represent the inner turmoil, which seems to be tearing Hamlet apart. By seeing a definite double meaning to many phrases in the play, we are able to easily see that all is not as it should be. Hamlet’s personality is thrown into chaos. He is in mourning the death of his father, and then his mother marries his uncle. He is enraged at her, and on top of all of this he sees the ghost of his father commanding him to avenge his wrongful murder. Yet, amongst all this turmoil, I believe that Hamlet was only playing the part of being crazy. He speaks in riddles and plays on words in order to create a certain suspicion about his sanity. This abnormal activity gives him the ability to sneak a few insults by without having to directly confront his enemies. It seems to be quite a bit worse if the person who was insulted isn’t exactly sure whether or not they were just insulted. Hamlet is able to interject these insults without even the other character noticing, which is the art of insult.It is this unpredictability of action, these sporadic bouts of insanity and sanity, and the inner turmoil brewing within Hamlet, that keeps the audience’s interest. Nobody is really sure whether or not Hamlet was insane. Many have theories and beliefs, but Shakespeare never came out and said he definitely is or definitely is not sane… he only hints. There are valid arguments on either side, for Hamlet Himself said "I am mad but north-northwest"; that is he is only mad about one thing in particular.The wordplay in...
