Hamlet has a clear set of morals above those of the society around him. Hamlet's differences in the moral standards of his society are exemplified by the events that follow his father's death. The apparent state of immorality within the royal household, as shown by Cladius' drunkenness and Laertes' anxiety to return to the fleshpots of Paris, is a small glimpse of the world as a whole (Wadsworth).

To succeed in his effort to remain sane, Hamlet must subdue that element of society which is part of his own personality and which is reflected in Horatio. The shock of his father's death, followed by his being

Finally, there is the strongest proof of all that Hamlet was mad: he admits it himself. As E.E. Stoll has pointed out "The Elizabethan audience was even less familiar with the jargon of psychoanalysis than is the modern audience. As he so claims whenever the action takes a turn that requires the least psychological knowledge Shakespeare is careful to have a commenter who explains the situation." This is present in what Hamlet says to Laertes in Act V "Roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness."

That Hamlet is a young courtier, lover, prince, soldier, hunter, spy, scholar, challenger, challenged, prophet, man of desire, corrupt man, diseased man, scourge, and self-scourge, that he is all these at once and at the same time is schizophrenic (Aldus). This is because a schizophrenic has so many personalities that if they are all called upon at once; the schizophrenic seems to be mad.

Hamlet's breaking point in mental stability occurs in Act III when he goes on a rampage. His resistance to temptation is bought at a terrible price, it is cause of the temporary insanity, which afflicts him in Act III when he needlessly kills Ophelia's father. This event is the one of the lowest points in Hamlet's sanity and occurs at time when Hamlet is under the severest emotional stress (Aichinger).

Clearly Hamlet's actions in Act III are inconsistent with his previously established good moral code. Hamlet's temporary insanity is brought about by the conflict between his moral strength and the lack of moral strength in the society around him. Through out the play his fellows see Hamlet as someone he is not and there impression of him is lower than is deserved. Ironically in Shakespeare's Hamlet the nice guy does finish last, after being stripped of his morals and his mind, he is then stripped of his life and, perhaps, even his soul.

Hamlet's ability to define their wickedness should imply th

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