Hamlet is feigning ignorance and wondering why the king is so upset by a fake play.It shows that the plan worked, but also illustrates Hamlet's deceptive intensions and manner.

When Hamlet uses the proverbial expression "I know a hawk from a handsaw," he indicates that he remains mostly in control of his faculties and that he can still distinguish between like and unlike things.

Hamlet never says why he might act strange, but pretended madness was a widely-used plot device in the revenge tragedy of Shakespeare's time. In those plays, the revenger acted crazy so that his …

So is Hamlet’s madness throughout the play an act, a lie, or is he really crazy? While his madness may at times appear to be a ruse, and Hamlet tells us it is, many believe it to be so convincing that he did …

Following the discovery of his father’s murder, Hamlet himself tells Horatio (and the audience) that he will feign an ‘antic disposition’ i.e. act mad. In the following scenes he behaves and speaks in a …

After speaking with the ghost of his father, who urges him to seek revenge against Claudius, Hamlet informs Horatio and Marcellus of his plan to "put an antic disposition on." This tactic is...

After the Ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius has murdered his father, Hamlet begins to plan his next steps. Here, he warns his friends that he will put on an "antic disposition"—i.e., pretend to be a madman.

Hamlet's own actions do not follow rational or moral thought and, to an Elizabethan audience, might appear as mad. Hamlet expresses no remorse for his accidental killing of Polonius, or for …

In Act I Scene 5, true to the conventions of Revenge Tragedy, Hamlet warns his friends that he may pretend he is mad, put on an antic disposition (I.5.172), to help him carry out the Ghost's instructions …

At the end of Act One, Hamlet warns his companions that he may put on “an antic disposition” (a show of madness) and commands them to say nothing of the Ghost’s visit.