ough he appears to have lost touch with reality, he kips reminding us that he is not at all “far gone, far gone” (Guth, Hamlet, p. 819, 2.2.190) as Polonius claims, but, in fact, Hamlet can control himself and the situation very well. Although Hamlet manages to convince Ophelia, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern of his insanity, other characters in the play such as Claudius, Gertrude, and even Polonius do not believe in his madness. Claudius is constantly “on his guard” (Internet), because of his guilty conscience and he therefore recognizes that Hamlet is faking. Theking is suspicious of Hamlet from very beginning. He denies Hamlet permission to return to university, so that he can keep an eye on him. When Hamlet starts acting strangely, Claudius becomes more suspicious and sends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on him. Their tasks are to discover why Hamlet is pretending to be mad: “And can you, by no drift of conference, Get from him why he puts on his confusion, Grating so harshly allhis days of quiet With turbulent and dangerous lunacy?” (Guth, Hamlet, p.829, 3.1.1-4). Claudius doesn’t believe that Ophelia’s rejection has caused Hamlet`s lunacy, because he does not believe in his madness at all. Even if Claudius has any doubts of Hamlet`s sanity, he gets rid of it in “The main action, which reaches its apogee in the play within plays.” (Schucking, hamlet, p.3) When Claudius realizes that Hamlet knows the truth about his father’s death, he immediately sends him away to England. The final and prevailing evidence demonstrating Claudius` knowledge of Hamlet`s sanity is the fact that he, filling threatened by Hamlet, orders the king of England to kill him. “For like the Sidorowicz-7hectic in my blood he rages, And thou must cure me: till I know `tis d...
