He is a loyal subject, he has a true sense of right and wrong, and at heart is a good person. These points are proven in several passages of the play. He is called “valiant”, “sweet and gentle”, and his mother begs him to return to his former self. We know the seeing of the ghost is not a reason to call him insane. This is because; he is not the first to see it. Also he sees the ghost while in the presence of others. Now he is the only one to hear it speak, or so we think. Horatio may have heard it by his statement “O day and night, but this is wondrous strange”. Also by the fact that during the swearing on the sword, the ghost remarks “Swear by his sword” and no mention of whether or not the others heard it or not. Others perceive hamlet as “mad” according to his actions. Actions such as his deteriorating appearance (…with his doublet all unbraced…), his indecision (“To be, or not to be…”), and confusion. When all the while Hamlet is just trying to cope with all that has transpired. The death of his father, the all too soon remarriage of his mother to his uncle. All of these events shook Hamlet's faith in the way of things ("…'tis an unweeded garden that grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature..."). I do believe I would act much the same. As the events unfold we see Hamlet growing more and more crafty in the way he deals with these problems. He tasks the players to enact a play which has the same qualities / events in how Claudius killed Hamlet’s father. Hamlet then instructs Horatio to watch the kings’ reaction to the play. This shows a cunning, sly and sane mind. The ability to set a trap does not prove sanity but, for the reasoning of it does. Hamlets “mad” actions can be explained away. His boarding of the pirate ship alone, since he knows he is on his way to England to die, what has he to lose? His seemi...
