One of the things that makes a playwright a great playwright, is their ability to make characters who are three-dimensional. Characters who have only one trait to them become dull, and boring over time. William Shakespeare; however, was a master of characterization. In the play, Hamlet, William Shakespeare gives Prince Hamlet a three-dimensional character by portraying him as, among many other things, a clever, and, at times, a violent and crazy man.
             Throughout the play, Hamlet shows great wit and cleverness. During the first acts of the play, Hamlet fools everyone into thinking his father's death has caused Hamlet to go mad. When Hamlet says:
             HAMLET: ... How strange or odd some'er I bear myself
             (As I perchance hereafter shall think meet
             To put an antic disposition on)....
             he tells his friends to not to mention anything if he should suddenly act strangely. This shows Hamlet's cleverness because Hamlet uses this 'madness' as a ploy to not arouse suspicion of his strange behavior while he carries out his plans of revenge. Hamlet's plan shows another example of his cleverness.
             HAMLET: ... I'll have these players
             Play something like the murder of my father
             Before mine uncle. I'll observe his looks;
             Hamlet hoped to prove to himself what the ghost had said, by watching Claudius' reaction to the reenactment of his father's murder. This was a clever move because when the King walked out on the play, Hamlet knew unmistakably that Claudius was the killer of his father. Also, during the entire play, Hamlet throws out many quick-witted verses. One example was when Hamlet said:
             HAMLET: I'll be your foil, Laertes. In mine ignorance
             Your skill shall, like I' th' darkest night,
             ...