Madness

Obviously madness plays a very large part in Shakespeare's play Hamlet, however the madness that pervades throughout both the play and the characters isn't all the same.  First we have the guards, the men who see the ghost first.  Since ghosts are more a figment of the imagination than an actual thing, this is the first place we see madness.  This scene is  very important for setting the stage for the rest of the play.  This scene introduces the madness that will be seen throughout the play.  The next place we see madness is when Hamlet talks to the ghost.  Again we have a character essentially talking to himself.  This scene sets the stage for Hamlet's future madness, although Hamlet decides that he will pretend to be mad, there is a certain level of real madness that Hamlet experiences.  Hamlet's madness, like Ophelia's stems not from a biological predisposition, but rather from grief.  The loss of his father and the quick remarriage by his mother causes Hamlet much grief.  Instead of using typical outlets for that grief Hamlet begins to hallucinate, he convinces himself that in order to avenge his father he must pretend to be crazy, he must bring hardship to his life and to the lives of those around him.  Furthermore, his craziness leads him to place blame, while the blame isn't baseless, it's not entirely proved either.  Hamlet's craziness leads to anger, frustration, and the need for revenge.  The typical trio for men.  On the other side of the spectrum we have Ophelia's madness.  Her madness stems from grief as well.  However, instead of looking to avenge her father, her craziness results in suicide.  Ophelia and Hamlet's craziness both stem from grief and their end result, whether intentional or unintentional, brings pain to those around them.  

I believe that Shakespeare used his character's craziness to provide insight into both their character's minds as well as gender differences that are seen in everything.  The fact that he had the two lovers Ophelia and Hamlet go mad shows the two sides of craziness, the violent and conniving side, as well as the depressed and suicidal side.  I believe Shakespeare's overall theme was grief, but the way that he chose to represent his theme was through madness.  Hamlet, was a way for Shakespeare to explore grief to it's fullest extent.