In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, one of the most obvious and important themes is the theme of madness. The theme appears throughout the play, primarily through the actions and thoughts of Hamlet, Ophelia, and Laertes. Insanity is defined as the quality or state of mental illness or derangement (being crazy). Madness is central to the play's conflicts and problems and is conveyed through Shakespeare's elaborate use of manipulation and parallels between Hamlet, Ophelia, and Laertes to contribute to Hamlet's tragic character. All examples of madness begin and end with death. Hamlet's madness, or feigned madness, begins with the death of old Hamlet and the vision of his ghost, and Ophelia's madness begins with the death of her father Polonius. Laertes is another example of a character in the play who demonstrates the theme of madness. Laertes' madness is also triggered by death. His madness becomes sudden and extreme with the idea of ​​revenge for the deaths of his father, Polonius, and his sister, Ophelia. Laertes becomes mad with vengeance because of all the lies and exaggerations that Claudius feeds him. Ultimately, their many forms of madness get the better of them and result in their own death, whether by another or their own hand. An example Hamlet's madness is the way he mocks Polonius. He would not normally do this because Polonius is older than him and so he would normally treat him with some respect, which he does not do after the sighting of old Hamlet's ghost. The Ghost tells Hamlet of his murder, and to test the truth of what he is told, Hamlet adopts "an ancient disposition." Hamlet manages to convince Polonius that he is inconsiderate towards others, knowing that upon seeing this strange change in the middle of paper......the reader will notice the parallels between them and the differences from others. . He also does it so that we can see the contribution he has on the characters. Each individual's madness is unrealistic in itself, but the idea that death, grievance, and revenge can drive someone to do things that seem crazy or make them do things out of their depth. nature. Overall, we see that the theme of madness has a significant impact on the conflicts and overall development of the play as well as the characters themselves and is successfully conveyed. Shakespeare developed a theme that tied together the many important emotions and ideas to make the play what it is. He used Ophelia's grief and love, Hamlet's wit and ruminative nature to convey a theme that could be related more to a single character and tie all the conflicts and complications to a single cause..