William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark narrates the poetic destruction of the royal court of Elsinore that Prince Hamlet's quest to avenge his father's murder inevitably effects. Throughout Shakespeare's work, the courtiers believe Hamlet to be mad as the result of various events such as the murder of his father, King Hamlet; the marriage of his mother, Gertrude, to his uncle, Claudius; or from the communication ban placed between him and his lover by her father, Polonius. However, Hamlet realizes this opinion held by the members of Elsinore's court, and begins his tragic descent through a clandestine application of pragmatism. Hamlet exploits the courtiers' beliefs to manipulate those on his quest for vengeance, but there remain certain nuances to Hamlet's character that indicate an underlying sense of sanity.

An apparition that is the ghost of Hamlet's father appears to him one night, and discloses the...