ittle or no morality at this time. He is no longer thinking of his own soul, but the future of someone else. For this reason, he refuses to kill the king when he is at his prayers, and by a refinement in malice, which is in truth only an excuse for his own want of resolution, defers his revenge to a more fatal opportunity, when he shall be engaged in some act ‘that has no relish of salvation in it(Hazlit 17). In time, Hamlet developed another problem. His excessive thinking and paranoia caused him to gradually become mad. His excessive thinking may have originally occurred because of his intelligence. As Lidz says, "He is not the type of Renaissance hero whose life can be guided by the need for vengeance or power. He has been schooled in contemplation. If he is to act, as he has sworn to the ghost he will, he must become impetuous" (Lidz 66). Hamlet was faced with continuous plans against other characters. Hamlet's thoughts may have possibly been one of the reasons for his madness. Hamlet first realizes his madness following the meeting with the ghost. According to Blackmore, As soon as he had recovered from the terrible and overpowering agitation of mind and feelings with which the ghostly revelation had afflicted him, he realized that he himself had changed, and that he could no longer comport himself as before at the court of Claudius (Blackmore56). Since Hamlet's madness controls his thoughts, Hamlet is often suspicious. Hamlet questions everyone and everything. He questions the reality of the ghost. He questions Ophelia, Gertrude, Claudius, and Polonius. Hamlet becomes suspicious of both Ophelia and her father, Polonius. He questions the presence of her father, but she denies it. However, Polonius is present. Hamlet now acts in a mad manor. This may be his true mad self, or it may be an act in order to deceive Polonius. When a man gives at different times a different reason for his conduct, it is safe to infer that, whether...
