Not so often people go mad to take revenge but; however, one such notable character, Hamlet, uses such 'antic disposition' to fool his opponents. Hamlet's "antic disposition" can easily be understood, through examples of Hamlet's unpredictable attitude changes, slaughter of innocents, and interactions with the ghost of his father, to be only the "tip of the iceberg" concerning his unstable mental state. Hamlet does fake his madness; although, 'there is method in it'.
             For a man thought to be feigning madness, Prince Hamlet seems to have very little control of his emotions. In fact, Hamlet admits this to Horatio, his confidant, when he says, "Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting That would not let me sleep" (5.2.4-5). This lack of restraint leads to Hamlet's unpredictable mood swings throughout the play. Hamlet's relationship with Ophelia easily generates such dramatic alterations in the prince's attitude. For example, when Hamlet first suspects Ophelia acts only as the pawn for Polonius' plans, he reacts injudiciously, acrimoniously denying that he ever loved her. "You should not have believed me, for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock, but we shall relish of it. I loved you not" (3.1.117-19). This massive reversal in antic disposition is later contrasted by another reversal when Hamlet leaps into Ophelia's open grave at her funeral to dispute Laertes and claim, "I loved Ophelia, forty thousand brothers Could not with all their quantity of love Make up my sum" (5.1.252-54). These sudden mood changes also appear in Hamlet's relationship with his mother. He seemed to believe in his mother's purity and goodness, but eventually Hamlet seems to hold a great amount of disapproval for Gertrude, especially when he mocks her words, and then snidely says: "You are the queen, your husband's brother's wife, And would it were not so, you are my mother" (3.4.15-16). Such mood swings as these definitely prove, i...