Polonius' Observations on Hamlet's Madness The obedient Ophelia followed her father's injunctions and rejected Hamlet's letters and denied him access to her. Polonius is certain that these refusals drove Hamlet mad. His only action is to inform the king and queen and let them decide what the next move will be. In the long discussion with the king and queen Polonius explains the situation: Polonius: Your noble son is mad. I call him crazy; in fact, to define true madness, what is it other than being nothing other than mad? One of the most analyzed plays in existence today is the tragedy Hamlet, with its recurring question: Is Hamlet's "old-fashioned disposition" fake or real? This question can only be answered by observing the thoughts of the main characters in relation to the cause of Hamlet's real or feigned madness. In the tragedy Hamlet, each of the main characters explains Hamlet's madness in his own unique way. To discover the cause behind Hamlet's madness, each character used their own ambitions, emotions, and interpretations of past events. Initially, one of the most accepted causes of Hamlet's instability is that of denied love, evoked by the self-realizing Polonius. In the very first scene of the second act, Ophelia rushes to tell her father, Polonius, disturbing news: Ophelia: My lord, while I was sewing in my cupboard, Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all undone, no hat on his head, his stockings dirty , without hocks and lowered to the ankle; pale as his shirt, his knees knocking together, and with a look as pitiful in its meaning, as if he had been delivered from hell to speak of horrors, he comes before me. Polonius: Crazy for your love? Ophelia: My lord, I know not, but indeed I know, fear him. (Act II, Scene I) Interestingly, Ophelia does not tell her father that Hamlet is mad because of Ophelia's denied love, but that Polonius automatically assumes it. Polonius: This is the true ecstasy of love, whose violent violence property makes itself, and leads the will to desperate enterprises as often as any passion under heaven that afflicts our nature. What, have you given him any harsh words lately? Ophelia: No, my good lord; but, as you commanded me, I rejected his letters and denied