In Shakespeare's Hamlet, there are two characters who display qualities of madness. Specifically, Hamlet and Ophelia, although they both seem mad at times, their downfall (or supposed downfall) is very different. Ophelia's madness seems complete while Hamlet's is questionable throughout the play. Hamlet's madness comes and goes; Ophelia's is not. Ophelia doesn't tell anyone that she's "crazy"; on the other hand, Hamlet shows everyone his madness. Hamlet turns his madness on and off depending on the company he keeps. Ophelia, on the other hand, cannot bear the loss of Hamlet's love, the absence of her brother, and the death of her father. It's all too much for her and she snaps. Hamlet and Ophelia's position in society, along with the actions of all adults, caused Hamlet and Ophelia's death and madness. Hamlet's madness, real or feigned, is manifested through his actions towards other main characters who threaten his revenge against Claudius. As proof of his weakened state, Hamlet says, “Oh, that this too solid flesh would melt / That and resolve to dew! / O that the Eternal had not set / his canon against self-killing! Oh God! Oh God! / How tired, stale, flat and useless, / all the uses of this world seem to me!” (1.2.129–158). From the beginning Hamlet reacts to his father's death and his parents' marriage. Hamlet records clear suicidal and/or mental (emotional) depression. Hamlet's madness begins inconspicuously, with the apparent ruin of his parents' marriage and the death of his father, it continues throughout the story with sorrow. The character of Hamlet is described through the medical terms of the time as suffering from too much "black bile". ” in……middle of the sheet……69. History of the theatre. Network. November 29, 2011. .Agnello, Susan. “Applauding Shakespeare's Ophelia in the Eighteenth Century: Sexual Desire, Politics, and the Good Woman.” Women as places of culture: the role of women in cultural formation from the Renaissance to the twentieth century. Ed. Susan Shifrin. Aldershot, English: Ashgate, 2002. 105-23. Lidz, Theodore. “Hamlet's precarious emotional balance”. Hamlet's Enemy: Madness and Myth in Hamlet (1975): 60-67. Rpt. in Shakespearean criticism. Ed. Dana Ramel Barnes. vol. 35. Detroit: Gale Research, 1997. Literature Resource Center. Network. November 29, 2011. Shaaber, MA. "Polonius as fishmonger." JSTOR. Np, 1971. Web. 16 Dec 2011. .Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Ed. Jeff Dolven 1604. Reprint. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2007. Page no. Press.