Was Prince Hamlet insane or was he only pretending to be insane? This is a question that has caused much debate among scholars studying William Shakespeare's Hamlet. However, there is plenty of strong evidence that proves Hamlet's sanity, making for a much deeper and darker tragedy.

After speaking with his father's ghost, Hamlet tells his best friend, Horatio, that he is going to act as if he is crazy so that he will get away with murdering King Claudius. He says, "Here, as before, never, so help you mercy, / How strange or odd some'er I bear myself... / That you, at such times seeing me, never shall, / with arms encumbered thus, or this headshake, / or by pronouncing of some doubtful phrase" (1.5.189-195). Hamlet himself actually reveals his plan to act crazy, leaving little doubt that he was simply acting crazy for the rest of the play. Hamlet also has...