Why is Hamlet's madness important to the play?

Hamlet's "madness" is a tool that is used both by Shakespeare and various characters in the play. Hamlet uses an act of madness to try and discern the events leading to his father's death, and to lull his main target, Claudius, into a false sense of security. A sort of "this guy is crazy, he can't possibly pose a threat" mentality. read more

Hamlet's "madness" is a tool that is used both by Shakespeare and various characters in the play. Hamlet uses an act of madness to try and discern the events leading to his father's death, and to lull his main target, Claudius, into a false sense of security. read more

In fact, there's no real evidence in the play that Hamlet ever actually suffers from any madness at all. It's not that the play won't bear that reading - it will, and many actors have played the part like that. read more

Well firstly, we know that his original plan at the beginning of the play was to "pretend" to be mentally insane and present this as such to others such as Claudius. read more