Big Hamlet Questions

Things to think about as you continue to wrestle with what you think about Hamlet, what you think it's about, whether he's crazy, what his tragic flaw is, etc.:

• The King makes a statements that their love for Hamlet overshadowed their reason.  Besides its irony, might that statement have something to do with the theme of the play?  Is there a motif of reason vs. love?  Which actions seem to have reason outweighing love and which seem to show love outweighing reason?
• Is the King mad at Hamlet because Hamlet knows his guilt OR is he mad, ironically, because Hamlet killed someone the King loved?
• Is Gertrude guilty in all of this?  Of what?
• If Ophelia can go crazy from the loss of her father, is that evidence for Hamlet's madness due to the death of his...plus other stuff?  Or is she a foil to Hamlet?  Does she come across as clearly insane to his fake crazy?  Or does he look an awful lot like her but deals with it differently?
• Lots of cycle of life stuff in this play, decay, disease.  What do you think is the significance of that?
• Do you think he actually loved Ophelia?  What you believe will likely affect your thoughts on his actions, madness, and ultimately, the theme of the play.