considered mad? What is madness? In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, madness is shown to be a moldable, moving form. The characters in Hamlet have all gone mad -- or are appearing to be. Hamlet pretends to be mad while Ophelia, Hamlet’s lover, has fallen to true madness -- all the while all the other characters are mad, turning mad, or surrounded by the facade of madness that Hamlet takes on. Due to the cruel murder of Old Hamlet by King Claudius, Hamlet is driven