The NO, HE WAS SANE side: Hamlet tells Horatio that he is going to "feign madness," and that if Horatio notices any strange behaviour from Hamlet, it is because he is putting on an act. [Act i, Scene v, lines 166-180] Hamlet's madness only manifests itself when he is in the presence of certain characters. When Hamlet is around Polonius, Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, he behaves irrationally. When Hamlet is around Horatio, Bernardo, Francisco, The Players and the Gravediggers, he behaves rationally. Claudius confesses that Hamlet's "actions although strange, do not appear to stem from madness." [Act III, Scene i, lines 165-167] P