merely an act. Discerning when he appeared to be faking madness from when he appeared to be truly mad proves to be difficult. There were few, if any, parts of the play which suggest that he was faking it or not, but overall it seemed that in the presence of his mother, he seemed to be truly mad. In dealing with Guildenstern, Rosencrantz or Polonius, it could be said that an element of jest was added to his madness, which could be taken as faking it. In his conversations with Ophelia, Hamlet proved confused with his feelings and maybe crazy with love. Everyone in the court attributed his actions to lovesickness.
             Hamlet never really feigned love for Ophelia throughout the play. Although he denied it, he truly loved her as when he stated, "I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers/ Could not/ Make up my sum./" (5.1.271-273) Despite the fact that he denied his love for her, he never believed it and it seemed that was not the purpose of his message when he said it. He said, "Get thee to a/ Nunnery. Go, farewell. Or if though wilt needs marry,/ Marry a fool, for wise men know well enough what/ Monsters you make of them." (3.1.137-141) Before this speech, Hamlet stated that he loved Ophelia once, then went on to say he never loved her. With an untrained eye, these words appear to be no more than lovesick tones spoken in spite. Ophelia revealed to Hamlet that she shared dissimilar feelings for him. Dealing with the pain Hamlet seemingly fou
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