Hamlet Fever Chart Presentation

As you know, he learns that Claudius is most likely the one that killed his father, so he sets out a plan to avenge him, as he says

“As I perchance hereafter shall think meet/To put an antic disposition on”

-here’s where his plan to “fake” his insanity begins.

For example, Polonius says “Mad for thy love?” – Polonius

-In actuality, it’s the death of his father, his mother’s marriage, and the burden of having to avenge his father that is causing him to be insane

-Claudius is not fooled, however, given his belief that love is not the reason for Hamlet’s madness: “More than his father’s death, that thus hath put him/So much from the understanding of himself,

–Hamlet’s actual insanity levels also rise, as if his fake character and real character are morphing into one. Similar to a Jekyll & Hyde persona.********

Hamlet also begins to go into denial about actually seeing his father, even though the guards saw him as well. He states “The spirit that I have seen/May be the devil: and the devil hath power/To assume a pleasing shape;”-this could be a coping mechanism for him avoiding having to kill Claudius