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Madness in literature is very common and is generally when the characters are going insane and crazy. These characters are typically filled with rage or are tired of what is going on in their life. As seen in Hamlet the main character Hamlet is angered by his father's murder and has gone crazy plotting his revenge and he lets his frustration get the best of him. Along with this madness is also seen with Ophelia when she is completely crazy and delusional after the murder of her father where she thinks she has no purpose and is extremely not right mentally. This motif of Madness is used by Shakespeare in many of his plays. Along with Hamlet, it is seen in Romeo and Juliet when the two of them kill each other in their own madness as they both go insane thinking the other is dead and killing themselves. Then madness is also seen in Julius Caesar where Caesar is killed form his closest advisors and friends as they were delusional and fed up with the power Caesar had. Madness is seen commonly in literature and throughout many of Shakespeare's plays along with Hamlet.

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Shakespeare demonstrated the Late Middle Age notion of madness being caused by sin in his writing. During the time of creating this play, Christian beliefs were taken very seriously considering that daily life was based upon religion. A mad individual was determined frequently by the sins that they had committed, and pre-marital sex was extremely frowned upon in the Christian church. Ophelia is a prime example of committing this certain crime within Hamlet. She is pushed into insanity by love, and it is suggested that her relationship with Hamlet caused her madness to intensify. She speaks to the king and says, "Let in the maid that out a maid/ Never departed more" (Act IV, Scene V, Line 54-55). Although Shakespeare does not directly reveal that Hamlet and Ophelia have had a sexual relationship, Ophelia insanely, and intensely sings about how "someone" is unmarried and no longer a virgin.

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http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=9&sid=4a4e7f26-04b1-4b95-86b8-a332112dd7f5%40sessionmgr4007&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=5989246&db=f5h
"Narratives of Madness, as Told from Within" by Gail Hornstein, reveals the struggles someone dealing with inner madness may experience. The psychology behind dealing with madness/mental illness displays how it takes a toll on the beholder as they go through life scarred and unstable. Hornstein justifies this when he writes, "just as Olympic athletes define the boundaries of human physical ability -- how high it is possible to jump, how fast 200 meters can be run -- so do mental patients show us how much terror or suspicion it is possible to feel before collapsing under the weight or committing suicide."
- This can help readers understand why Hamlet may have had thoughts of suicide. He was going mad due to the horrors he had previously experienced within his family life. These ideas that run through his head allow us to think that Hamlet considers committing suicide as a final resort.

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One theme the motif of madness connects to is the inability to take action. It seems to the reader that Hamlet's apparent madness stems directly from the death of his father. More specifically from the fact that there is nothing he can do to avenge him. Hamlet is stuck knowing that his uncle murdered his father and he is not only unable to tell anyone but he is unable to get revenge. These circumstances are what cause hamlet to act crazy or "mad". Hamlet is also unable to give his mother the punishment he feels she deserves. He not only vowed to his father he wouldn't hurt her but no one else shares his disdain toward her marriage. Overall Hamlet's inability to take action against those he feels have wronged him has a direct correlation to the motif of madness that is mainly portrayed through Hamlet.

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A dramatic element that connects to the motif of madness is how at times Hamlet appears to be an unreliable narrator. In the text, Hamlet explains to his friends that he is just going to pretend to be insane. However, throughout the play, Hamlet has interactions with the ghost of his father and he seems to be the only one able to see and hear him. This ability to converse with King Hamlet's ghost causes the reader to question Hamlet's reliability. It questions that if he is talking and see a ghost while no one else does, is his madness truly fakes, or has he gone off the deep end.

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A symbol the connects to the motif of madness is the ghost of King Hamlet (a.k.a ghost daddy). The ghost of King Hamlet is not only the original cause of Hamlet's madness but also a physical representation of it. Hamlet first began to act mad when he met the ghost and learned that his uncle Claudius murdered his father. Furthermore, the ghost of King Hamlet physically represents Hamlet's madness because the ghost is described to be something that only Hamlet can hear. This causes the readers to questions Hamlet's sanity.

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Madness:
1: the quality or state of being mad: such as

a: a state of severe mental illness —not used technically

b: behavior or thinking that is very foolish or dangerous: extreme folly idea that is pure/sheer madness

c: ECSTASY, ENTHUSIASM

d: intense anger: RAGE

2: any of several ailments of animals marked by frenzied behavior
Madness is seen when a person or thing goes insane and does things that are out of the norm and are not logical for that type of person or thing to do. Sometimes this is when a person or thing has a severe mental illness or just has an extreme amount of stress or emotions they get delusional and go crazy. Madness also comes when a person is extremely angered and are full of rage.

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Hamlet: "I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw." (Act II, Scene II, Line 402-403). Hamlet is warning his friends that he is going to act mad but ensuring them that he isn't actually going insane. This is significant of the fact that Hamlet believes that seeing and talking to his father's dead ghost and using what he has been told to take revenge on his uncle is normal. This belief that seeing and talking ghosts is normal, leads the reader to believe that Hamlet may actually be going mad despite the fact that he says he's not.

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Gertrude: "To whom do you speak this?".
Hamlet: "Do you see nothing there ... nor did you nothing hear" (Act III, Scene IV, Line 149-152).
This interaction represents Hamlet's madness by expressing how Hamlet is the only person able to see and hear his father's ghost. This revelation for the readers causes them to question Hamlet's sanity and wonder if he is still acting crazy as he said he was going to or if he is truly giving in to madness.

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Ophelia: "By Gis and by Saint Charity/Alack, and fie, for shame!/Young men will do ’t, if they come to ’t./By Cock, they are to blame./Quoth she, “Before you tumbled me,/You promised me to wed.” (Act V, Scene IV, Line 62-68).
In this scene, Ophelia is the one who is portraying madness. After learning that Hamlet killed her father Ophelia begins to unhinge, and in her madness, she rants and raves about a man who stole the virtue of an innocent girl. Ophelia's madness while stemming from her father's death also can represent her relationship with Hamlet. While it was never clear if Hamlet and Ophelia had a sexual relationship, Hamlet's anger toward women is taken out on Ophelia, which in a way he also steals her innocence by demanding her and basically calling her a slut.