Hamlet為了轉移Claudius對他的戒心假裝成傻子。但是國王的謀士Polonius卻相信哈姆雷特]的瘋是相思病害的，因為哈姆雷特和Polonius的女兒Ophelia一塊出去約會了。Poloniu強迫Ophelia和哈姆雷特斷絕關系，以此逼瘋哈姆雷特。  就連Hamlet的兩個好友Roencrantz和Guildenstern也是 Claudius派去監視哈姆雷特的奸細。
　　一批演員要為國王演戲，哈姆雷特說服他們演一出由哈姆雷特導演的戲。他在戲中增加一些線索。他想通過演戲來找到謀殺他爸爸的兇手。哈姆雷特想借此觀察 Claudius 的反應。
　　
　這是哈姆雷特裝瘋后，和POLONIUS的一段對白：
[b]HAMLET[/b]: Well, God-a-mercy.
[b]LORD POLONIUS[/b]: Do you know me, my lord?
[b]HAMLET[/b]: Excellent well; [u]you are a fishmonger[/u].
[b]LORD POLONIUS[/b]: Not I, my lord.
[b]HAMLET[/b]: Then I would you were so honest a man.
[b]LORD POLONIUS[/b]: Honest, my lord!
[b]HAMLET[/b]: Ay, sir; to be honest, as this world goes, is to be [u]one man picked out of ten thousand.[/u]
[b]LORD POLONIUS[/b]: That's very true, my lord.
[b]HAMLET[/b]: For if [u]the sun breed maggots in a dead dog, being a god kissing carrion[/u],--Have you a daughter?
[b]LORD POLONIUS[/b]: I have, my lord.
[b]HAMLET[/b]: Let her not walk I am the sun: [u]conception is a blessing: but not as your daughter may conceive[/u]. Friend, look to it.
[b]LORD POLONIUS[/b]: What is the matter, my lord?
[b]HAMLET[/b]: Between who?
[b]LORD POLONIUS[/b]: I mean, the matter that you read, my lord.
[b]HAMLET[/b]: Slanders, sir: for the satirical rogue says here that old men have grey beards, that their faces are wrinkled, their eyes purging thick amber and plum-tree gum and that they have a plentiful lack of wit, together with most weak hams: all which, sir, though I most powerfully and potently believe, yet [u]I hold it not honesty to have it thus set down, for yourself, sir, should be old as I am, if like a crab you could go backward[/u].
[b]LORD POLONIUS[/b]: [Aside]  [u]Though this be madness, yet there is method in it[/u]. Will you walk out of the air, my lord?
[b]HAMLET[/b]: Into my grave.
[b]LORD POLONIUS[/b]: Indeed, that is out of the air.
[b]HAMLET[/b]: You cannot, sir, take from me any thing that I will more willingly part withal: except my life, except my life, except my life.
[b]LORD POLONIUS[/b]: Fare you well, my lord.
[b]HAMLET[/b]: These tedious old fools!

重點講解：
　　在這段哈姆雷特裝傻賣瘋的對話中，哈姆雷特似乎有前言不搭后語之嫌，但是字里行間還是能看出哈姆雷特的旁敲側擊的譏諷。
1.you are a fishmonger你是一個魚販子
2.one man picked out of ten thousand：萬里挑一
3.the sun breed maggots in a dead dog, being a god kissing carrion
　太陽在死狗身上養了一堆蛆，就像神親吻腐尸。
4.conception is a blessing: but not as your daughter may conceive.Friend, look to it.
　要樹立祝福的觀念，但是當你女兒懷孕了就不必了，你一定要弄清楚。哈姆雷特在此以勸說者身份向POLONIUS挑釁。
5.I hold it not honesty to have it thus set down, for yourself, sir, should be old as I am, if like a crab you could go backward。
　我認為不是誠實讓他們垮下的，象我一樣老時，如果是螃蟹要學會倒著走路。
6.Though this be madness, yet there is method in it.
　這是POLONIUS自言自語的一句話，他確信哈姆雷特有點傻，但是話里話外又含殺機。