Claudius: Is Hamlet mad?

I think that first of all, Claudius knows Hamlet does not like him. This is why he wants to know throughout the play if, in fact, Hamlet is mad. If Hamlet is, then he can easily dispense of him by sending him to England. This is why he acts so concerned-he is concerned, just not for Hamlet's sake. If Hamlet is not mad, then he could have something to worry about. Hamlet is coming to the age where he is the rightful age to inherit the throne. I think that Hamlet made a bad move in showing this play to the castle. It obviously shows that someone knows how King Hamlet was murdered. Hamlet invented the play, and so the obvious conclusion is that Hamlet knows the king was murdered. Claudius should now, more than ever, be concerned about Hamlet's state of mind.

Questions?

Why is King Claudius so interested in the madness of Hamlet?

Also, why would he send Hamlet to the country of England because of his madness?

Hamlet, Ophelia...old news

I think that Hamlet did love Ophelia at one point. His love notes, while not well crafted, were still love notes. He also gave her tokens. I am not real sure what that means, but he gave her tokens. There is no way he would have gone to all of that work for her if he did not in fact love her. If he just was with her because he was attracted to her, he would still try to be with her. I believe that, since he saw the ghost, he started to act wierd around her because of the fact that he is planning on killing someone. He does not wan't her to become involved with a murderer because he does love her. He is trying to shove her away with his raunchiness, by continuing to act crazy when he is around her, and by repeatedly telling her that he does not love her. It is like when you set a wild panda back into the wild.

Why is the "to be or not to be" speech so famous? It seemed like Hamlet was just ranting again. It's wierd that those first six words are known by millions of people. I knew them, but I didn't even know they were in Hamlet. I wonder if the book is based off of that speech