Hamlet: Madness or Cunning? Hamlet, after hearing the ghost's tale, explains to the company of watchmen and his friend Horatio that they must promise to keep everything a secret and that they must not betray knowledge of Hamlet's plan to catch the murderer through the use of cunning. He plans to feign madness - an "antic disposition" (1.5.173) - in order to lull the murderer into a false sense of security, which will allow him to eventually avenge his father. Revenge, however, demands both good timing and certain proof. After seeing Claudius's guilty reaction to the play, Hamlet catches him alone soon thereafter and prepares to kill him (3.3). Drawing out his sword, though, he realizes that Claudius is kneeling to recite his prayers, thus Hamlet aborts his revenge for the moment. He is afraid that if he kills Claudius during prayer, that his soul will travel straight to Heaven. Hamlet fears he will actually reward Claudius by killing him - a sharp contrast to the torment that Claudius left his brother, Hamlet's father, in by killing him before he could make atonement. Likewise, Hamlet vows to kill Claudius during some act that "has no relish of salvation in't" (3.3.92) in order to send him to Hell. However, with better timing and little luck, Hamlet could have gotten his revenge and carried out the ghost's order with impunity if he had waited just a while longer. Filled with guilt, Claudius confesses after Hamlet departs for his mother's chamber: "My words fly up, my thoughts remain below./Words without thoughts to heaven never go" (3.3.97-98).
Hamlet has already moved on to his mother's bedroom, where he violently confronts her about her behavior. Thinking the sound he hears in her room might be his uncle (even though he has just recently seen him in another part of the castle), he thrusts his sword through the arras and unwittingly kills Polonius, who has been spying on him. Hamlet expresses little remorse over this killing initially, even though Polonius might have become his father-in-law and even though his rash action leads directly to Ophelia's breakdown and insanity. This reaction raises the question, is Hamlet really mad? Has the madness he once adopted as a role to play become his reality? After all, he is now the only one who can see and hear the ghost.