“He is far, far away” (2.2.8). The play Hamlet written by William Shakespeare is the story of young Hamlet whose father was killed by his uncle, Claudius, then his uncle took the throne and married Hamlet's mother, Gertrude, which ultimately made Hamlet melancholy or “crazy”. In the essay “Madness and Melancholy in Hamlet” written by Kate Flint, she explores the idea of ​​madness and melancholy in the Elizabethan era with reference to Hamlet's actions. She states that Hamlet is neither mad nor melancholic but exhibits the symptoms of each. Flint states that to categorize Hamlet as mad or melancholic, the characters would have to be seen as real people, which they cannot be. It shows that Hamlet's madness is just an excuse to expose the truth and teach the audience a lesson. The essay argues that Hamlet's strange behavior was neither madness nor melancholy because these are human emotions but were a means of breaking down the barrier between the player and the audience. Kate Flint argues that Hamlet's "antique disposition" is neither madness nor melancholy. because these are human characteristics and Hamlet is a character in a play. She says “we can’t put a character from a play or a novel on a couch and ask them probing questions; they have no past” (Flint 64). She says that characters cannot be given life outside of what is written on paper. All we know about Hamlet is that his father is dead and he knows that his uncle murdered him, obviously making him depressed and angry but not melancholic. She also states that to know whether someone is mad or melancholy, one must know what a "real person is in which a societal norm must be recognized which contrasts madness and melancholy..." middle of paper ...... is a fictional character This is also true because categorizing a person as "crazy" or melancholy, there must be a defined societal norm, but that norm is different for everyone, this which makes this classification almost impossible. Hamlet's madness also acts as a buffer for speaking the truth so bluntly that it seems impossible to agree on his language. is capable of deciding whether he is sane or not. Ultimately, Shakespeare uses Hamlet's "madness" to share the truth that humans categorize each other to assert their own sanity against someone different. Works Cited Flint, Kate. “Madness and melancholy in Hamlet”. Critical Essays on Hamlet, WilliamShakespeare. Ed. Linda Cookson and Brian Loughrey. Harlow: Longman, 1988. Print.P.61-9.Shakespeare, William, Marilyn Eisenstat and Ken Roy. Hamlet. Toronto: Harcourt Canada, 1988. Print.