'At the end of Act I, Hamlet says that he intends to assume an "antic disposition", yet there is evidence in Act II to suggest that his mental disturbance is genuine' Discuss this statement with reference to Act II, explaining whether you believe that Hamlet's madness is real or feigned. Throughout Act II the audience gathers from sources other than Hamlet that he is "mad". After his declaration in Act I that he will "put …showed first 75 words of 1934 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1934 total…nor Hamlet's own when he is talking to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The only point at which we can entirely trust Hamlet's word is his soliloquy yet he does not mention his madness, possibly intentional on the part of Shakespeare to keep us guessing. So although there is little evidence, one can assume by looking at Hamlet's recent trauma, strange behaviour and bad dreams that he is mentally disturbed as this point but not truly mad.