yes
He decides to "put an antic disposition on" and to swear his friends to secrecy.
When Hamlet decides to put on an "antic disposition" he is suggesting that he should act like a madman. In Shakespeare's time antic meant disturbingly or even threateningly bizarre or irrational. By acting crazy, Hamlet hopes to confuse the king and make him uneasy.
"I shall put an antic disposition on." He's going to pretend to be crazy.
This is one of the most debated questions about Hamlet and one to which no definitive answer can be given. There are three possible answers: 1. Hamlet was really mad. 2. Hamlet was just putting it on. Evidence for this are his lines to his friends that he is going to "put an antic disposition on". He also says clearly to his mother that "it is not madness that I speak". He behaves very strangely when he is with Polonius but once he is gone, his behaviour changes and he sneers, "These tedious old fools." 3. Both. He was putting it on but he was unstable. Actors have played him all three ways successfully.
Hamlet delays his desicions because he is simply an indescisive person. Hamlet is trying to choose between his education, what he knows, and the warlike royal traditions, the evil aspects of avenging his father. He is obviously depressed and doesnt like the idea of murdering King Claudius, because as a Christian, murder is morally wrong. He wants to make sure Claudius is the right man to be punished and the preparations for the play within the play are even more delayed because of hamlets Antic disposition.
He decides to "put an antic disposition on" and to swear his friends to secrecy.
When Hamlet decides to put on an "antic disposition" he is suggesting that he should act like a madman. In Shakespeare's time antic meant disturbingly or even threateningly bizarre or irrational. By acting crazy, Hamlet hopes to confuse the king and make him uneasy.
"I shall put an antic disposition on." He's going to pretend to be crazy.
Hamlet starts acting mad in Act 1, after he has seen the ghost of his father. He says, "I'll put an antic disposition on."
To spy on him. First of all he wants to spy on him when interacting with Ophelia, and when this fails to support his theory, he wants to spy on him while interacting with Gertrude.
Horatio, Marcellus and Bernardo have heard him say that he "will put an antic disposition on", but neither they nor can any member of the audience be absolutely sure how much of Hamlet's insanity is put on and how much is real. The question forms one of the eternal debates about this play.
This is one of the most debated questions about Hamlet and one to which no definitive answer can be given. There are three possible answers: 1. Hamlet was really mad. 2. Hamlet was just putting it on. Evidence for this are his lines to his friends that he is going to "put an antic disposition on". He also says clearly to his mother that "it is not madness that I speak". He behaves very strangely when he is with Polonius but once he is gone, his behaviour changes and he sneers, "These tedious old fools." 3. Both. He was putting it on but he was unstable. Actors have played him all three ways successfully.
Hamlet has begun his campaign of putting on an antic disposition, bursting in on Ophelia in her private room half-undressed, and generally worrying his parents and everyone in Denmark.
* distorted and unnatural in shape or size; abnormal and hideous; "tales of grotesque serpents eight fathoms long that churned the seas"; "twisted ... * art characterized by an incongruous mixture of parts of humans and animals interwoven with plants * antic: ludicrously odd; "Hamlet's assumed antic disposition"; "fantastic Halloween costumes"; "a grotesque reflection in the mirror"
It was in his source. An essential part of the Hamlet story is that Hamlet feigns madness to keep his profile low while he plots the downfall of his uncle. Thus we hear that Hamlet will "put an antic disposition on" immediately after seeing the ghost. In the sources, Hamlet's assumed lunacy convinces his uncle that he is not a danger, so that he doesn't do Hamlet in. In Shakespeare's story, Claudius is not so easily fooled, and he does try to do Hamlet in, but it is his political sense and his love for Gertrude which keep him from doing it in an obvious way. Hamlet gets lucky and wriggles out of Claudius's trap. There is the additional element of lunacy in poor Ophelia. Her insanity is genuine, but unfortunately nobody believes that she drowned because she was insane, causing her to be buried without Christian rites. It is an irony that Hamlet's fake madness takes so many people in, yet Ophelia's real madness does not.
Hamlet delays his desicions because he is simply an indescisive person. Hamlet is trying to choose between his education, what he knows, and the warlike royal traditions, the evil aspects of avenging his father. He is obviously depressed and doesnt like the idea of murdering King Claudius, because as a Christian, murder is morally wrong. He wants to make sure Claudius is the right man to be punished and the preparations for the play within the play are even more delayed because of hamlets Antic disposition.
Antonio de la Cruz