He would drown the stage with tears,
And cleave the general ear with horrid speech,
Make mad the guilty, and appal the free,
Confound the ignorant, and amaze, indeed,
The very faculties of eyes and ears.
– William Shakespeare
Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2. Hamlet says if the stage actor he has watched were in Hamlet’s shoes – father murdered and mother married to the murderer – he would inspire weeping and "make mad the guilty."