When Hamlet is speaking to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Act II, scene ii, he says, "I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw." What message is he attempting to convey to his old 'friends' and the audience? Question 6 options: A: He wants to go hunting with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern so that he can practice killing animals before he has to kill Claudius. B: He is angered by the fact that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have been sent by the King and Queen as spies. C: Hamlet is saying that his madness changes like the weather, and that he is only mad some of the time. D:The high winds in Denmark suggest the fact that chaos still reigns after the murder of the former King.

Question

Raven Weber

English

25 September, 00:40

When Hamlet is speaking to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Act II, scene ii, he says, "I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw." What message is he attempting to convey to his old 'friends' and the audience? Question 6 options: A: He wants to go hunting with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern so that he can practice killing animals before he has to kill Claudius. B: He is angered by the fact that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have been sent by the King and Queen as spies. C: Hamlet is saying that his madness changes like the weather, and that he is only mad some of the time. D:The high winds in Denmark suggest the fact that chaos still reigns after the murder of the former King.

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Laylah Tate · Answer 1

The message that Hamlet is trying to convey to his old 'friends' and the audience is C: Hamlet is saying that his madness changes like the weather, and that he is only mad some of the time.

This is clear from the phrase "when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw" after having mentioned other cardinal directions before and linking them to him being mad. This distinction seems to suggests that the weather affects his madness (or more logically, that his madness changes like the weather). Therefore, sometimes he sees clearly (and can know a hawk from a handsaw) and other times he is completely mad with revenge.