'Mad in craft'

[halfmoon25]

In Act III, scene iv, Hamlet tells his mother...

"That I essentially am not in madness,
but mad in craft."

I have always interpreted this quote as him telling his mother that he is not crazy, but instead that part of his plan (craft) was for him to fake being mad. Yesterday, as I was reading this scene, I had a thought. Could it be possible to interpret "craft" as his creation or birth? In other words, he is blaming his madness on his mother's (who he is calling mad) creation of him? Or being born into a corrupt world in general?

I could be way off base here...but it was just a thought I had. Feel free to shoot it down

[kelby_lake]

Possibly; Hamlet does like his wordplay. I think it's mainly the first purpose though.

[Gladys]

I could be way off base here...

I think so, because all Hamlet's words taken together relate to deliberate deception. If you read the side-by-side Hamlet in http://www.enotes.com/hamlet-text/act-iii-scene-iv, this becomes more obvious.

HAMLET

Not this, by no means, that I bid you do:
Let the bloat king tempt you again to bed;
Pinch wanton on your cheek; call you his mouse;
And let him, for a pair of reechy kisses,
Or paddling in your neck with his damn'd fingers,
Make you to ravel all this matter out,
That I essentially am not in madness,
But mad in craft. 'Twere good you let him know;
For who, that's but a queen, fair, sober, wise,
Would from a paddock, from a bat, a gib,
Such dear concernings hide? who would do so?
No, in despite of sense and secrecy,
Unpeg the basket on the house's top.
Let the birds fly, and, like the famous ape,
To try conclusions, in the basket creep,
And break your own neck down.

[halfmoon25]

I think so, because all Hamlet's words taken together relate to deliberate deception.

That's true...Now that I go back and look at the context around the quote, and know Hamlet's motivation in the scene, it wouldn't make as much sense to use that interpretation...