Hamlet's Ancient Attitude In William Shakespeare's famous tragedy, Hamlet, the main character of the story is majestically elaborate, as well as being quite complex. There are endless volumes written about this character because Shakespeare leaves no definitive evidence of many of his character traits. Yet, regarding Hamlet's bizarre nature, meaning his obviously absurd temper or his madness, Shakespeare leaves many reasons to believe that it is fake, in the sense that it is simply a ploy to help Hamlet realize his plans for revenge. It is fake, in the sense that it is falsified, simply put on as a facade. This is denoted in various aspects of his old-fashioned nature. Hamlet's old-fashioned disposition is self-imposed, in the sense that he himself decides to appear "mad", willingly taking on the old-fashioned disposition because he thinks it will satisfy him. It's methodical because there is a system. He is able to turn it on and off when he has reason to; other characters in the play notice this and Hamlet himself states this. Finally, Hamlet's madness is also intelligent because it allows him to express himself and his thoughts clearly, and through witty comments that show his awareness of reality when he mocks other characters to their faces without them realizing it . Therefore, Hamlet's bizarre nature is not true madness; rather it is fake because it is self-imposed, methodical and intelligent. Hamlet's old-fashioned disposition is self-imposed, meaning he chooses to impose this disposition on himself. He willingly shows himself crazy to get everything he wants. This comes out in the situation after Hamlet sees his father's ghost and is with Horatio and Marcellus. He, on this occasion, warns them that "he deems it appropriate to put a joke... in the middle of the paper... and turn it off at will, this being a means to an end. This too, shows that the madness is fake because the true madness lacks method Finally, the cunning of his madness shows that it is fake because he expresses his true opinions through madness, while also being able to willingly mock others, a characteristic that clearly makes his madness fake main character is mad through all this evidence he leaves. Yet there are many other aspects of Shakespeare's Hamlet to analyze and discuss, but which you will not find here because they are elsewhere, in infinitely large libraries , William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Inc., 1958.2, 1935.