Hamlet

Hamlet goes mad by Act 4.

See the GradeSaver Classicnote for more information:

"The trip to England actually serves as a physical journey that mimics the journey of Hamlet's mind. England is after all a place of madmen according to the gravedigger in Act Five, and thus Hamlet's madness makes it the right place for him to go. This journey of the mind can be seen in the manner that Hamlet throws off his clothes of mourning once he meets the ghost. He thus removes the fake clothes that make him just as fake as Claudius and Gertrude. His new role is madness, a role that allows him to speak the truth without being punished, because he plays a fool. This is the same as a voyage to an enchanted place, a journey, that later results in a return after he has been changed. Hamlet thus journeys into madness. When Shakespeare brings the players to Denmark, they suggest through Hamlet what is rotten in Denmark. Claudius then sends him on the physical journey into madness, namely to England."