Artificial Madness Or True Insanity In Shakespeare's Hamlet

      When one refers to madness in Hamlet, most would think of Hamlet's madness, or at least that that he was pretending to possess. Although Ophelia does go insane and ultimately commits suicide, the central lunacy of the play revolves around Hamlet himself. Hamlet's plan to act mad is completely unexplained. It is safe to

When speaking on the topic of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” one of the most brought up topics is whether Hamlet is mad or sane. This is partly due to Hamlet’s decision to put on an antic disposition. Through Hamlet’s Antic disposition and his other decisions, the reader begins to see certain characteristics developing in Hamlet. Most notably, the character exhibits many symptoms found in mental illness’ common in the Elizabethan era. These characteristics show that Hamlet’s insanity is no longer just a mask. Hamlet has developed actual madness. The character, in reference to the Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of madness, is in “The state of being mentally ill.”

   In Shakespeare's play Hamlet, there are several questions that come to the reader's mind regarding the emotional state of Hamlet.  Was Hamlet really suffering from madness, as many of his friends and family thought?  Was he mad or just pretending to be mad?  Did Hamlet start out pretending to be mad, and his obsession drove him to madness?  The reader gets insight into Hamlet's mental status through other characters and through Hamlet himself. If the characters had the information that Hamlet had about the murder of his father, would they have thought differently of his actions and his sanity?

Insanity can be defined as a mental illness that causes a person to have difficulty distinguishing fantasy from reality. Whether Shakespeare’s Hamlet was insane or feigning insanity is a controversial topic. Gregory Shafer argues that Hamlet is not insane and that he uses insanity or madness for his own political purposes (42). In William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Prince Hamlet’s circumstances force him to seek revenge for the murder of his father King Hamlet. He creates a plan that he believes will give him an opportunity to kill Claudius, and the main part of this plan involves him faking insanity. Further and further into the book, his actions of a madman become more believable. However through his thoughts and actions it is clear that he is not truly insane, and his is only acting in this way in order to reach is ultimate goal of revenge.

Ophelia tries to obscure the truth because she is afraid of disobeying her father. It is obvious that Hamlet is already well aware that Polonius is watching after he states “Let the doors be shut upon him, the he may play the fool nowhere but in’s own house.”(3.1.132-133) Ophelia could have easily told Hamlet the truth, but due to her undying love for her father chooses to deceive Hamlet. Ophelia’s deceit leads Hamlet to start questioning her honest nature. Hamlet begins tearing apart by Ophelia because he is so irritated with her for being insincere to him. He states to Ophelia that “you should not have believed me: for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it: I loved you not.” (3.1.117-119) Hamlet states that he does not love Ophelia because he believes that through this scheme, Ophelia will reveal the truth that Polonius is in fact behind their “unplanned” meeting. Ophelia had betrayed Hamlet by lying to him, thus Hamlet felt the need to betray her. If Ophelia had just been honest with Hamlet he would have not become so discourteous towards her, but she was not which resulted in him denying his love for her. Just as Hamlet was deceived, Ophelia was also because it was her lies that led to the ending of their love. Ophelia’s dishonesty resulted in her becoming a mockery of Hamlets antic disposition. Hamlet uses Ophelia to uncover

“Norms” are established by the society, which an individual lives in. For this reason when an individual does not conform to those norms, they are looked upon as outcasts or even insane. In William Shakespeare’s book, Hamlet, he incorporates the theme of sanity vs. insanity as a way to develop characters throughout the plot though their actions and thoughts. One of the characters Shakespeare demonstrates this theme through is Prince Hamlet.

   Shakespeare's Hamlet is a master of deception. Hamlet decides to make Claudius believe that he is insane, but the scheme backfires when everyone, except Claudius, falls for it. Ophelia is one of those who believes Hamlet lost his mind, and when he does not return her love, she is so brokenhearted that she commits suicide. Near the end of the tragedy, Hamlet plays the part so well, that he convinces himself he is insane. Clearly, Hamlet's plan to put on an antic disposition is a tragic error.

Firstly, it is evident that Hamlet, after discovering his father was murdered by his treacherous, power-hungry uncle, decided to put on a show of insanity in order to deceive his uncle. Hamlet admits this himself when he confesses in secrecy to Horatio “As I perchance hereafter shall think meet to put an antic disposition on… (I. v. 170-2).” Polonius theorizes that Hamlet is truly mad, and he believes the cause to be that Ophelia had earlier rejected Hamlet 's romantic advances. However, Polonius himself admits that Hamlet 's

To begin, there are many times that Hamlet claims that he is not insane, but is rather just acting as though he is insane. As Hamlet, had stated in Act I Scene 5, “As I perchance hereafter shall think meet, to put an antic disposition on” (I, V pg. 1569). This is important because Hamlet says that from here on out he will be acting irrational. Hamlets plan to act irrational and insane this is to see if King Claudius actually killed his father, which will lead him to take revenge on King Claudius at the request of his father’s ghost. Hamlet would have to be considered very

According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, 20% of Canadians will experience a mental illness in their lifetime. Mental illness is a serious issue within society which can hinder the lives of all who are affected by it. Insanity (or “madness” as it is called in Hamlet), is defined by google as a state of frenzied or chaotic activity. Madness is something which can be exploited by those who appear to suffer from it. The exploiting of insanity stems primarily from the criminal justice system, where a plea of insanity could potentially get a murderer a sentence of some time in the mental hospital instead of a life in prison.

Although Hamlet was only pretending to be insane later on in the play, it caught up to him and he became insane.

Many criminal suspects today are found guilty by them attributing their insane actions to society by breaking human laws. In return, they are to make a contribution to in horrendous places such as place of confinement, guardhouse and correctional facility with their labour, effort and time. Nonetheless, what are the punishments for someone who feigned his or her madness and sparks off the death of the entire royal family? Shakespeare's Hamlet significantly demonstrates the consequences of dissimulating, in a way of dishonesty, but is Hamlet's madness simulated or real? This question is often left unanswered among the fans of Shakespeare's Hamlet. The idea of a character impersonating the concept or motif of insanity is not foreign to great literary works in modern days although many authors in ancient time use it to convey the sanity of the humor. There is much evidence in the play of Shakespeare's Hamlet, which Hamlet deliberately feigned fits of madness to confuse and plan to disconcert the king until he reveals his secret that he is responsible for Hamlet's father murder. However, the majority of the professors continue to argue that Hamlet's anti-decomposition is purely innocent and that he is not pretending. Nevertheless, with the similar saying of “One bad apple spoils the whole bunch”, in Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Hamlet: Prince of Denmark, Hamlet’s fatal flaw of

Ophelia and Hamlet were lovers. When Hamlet went crazy, Polonius was insistent that his madness was because he was crazy in love for Ophelia. When Polonius tells Ophelia to reject Hamlet “he became sad, and stopped eating, stopped sleeping, got weak, got dizzy, and as a result lost his mind. And that’s why he’s crazy” (2.2.138-141). Polonius goes so far to prove it that he spies on Ophelia and Hamlet.

Emily Dickinson writes, “Much madness is divinest Sense/ To a discerning Eye.” In William Shakespeare’s epic poem, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, the author portrays the character of Prince Hamlet as an insane and an impulsive individual with scenes of delusion, lovesickness, and indecision to murder. The populace surrounding young Hamlet in this work, confuse his character’s insanity for love that is not mutual, which they deem as a reasonable explanation for Hamlet’s current state of mind. As a result, the lunacy of Prince Hamlet contributes to the poem by creating a basis for the general idea of indecision and mental illness.

“I was never insane except upon occasions when my heart was touched” (Edgar Allan Poe). Many influential and historical people throughout time have been documented with insanity. In the Shakespearian play, Hamlet, the main character, Prince Hamlet, appears to be mad. “Though Hamlet was written over 500 years ago, the theme of individualism parallels strongly with the present Western construction of madness in mental health. In this article, a narrative case study of Hamlet is presented as a creative vehicle to explain narrative therapy and to challenge the individualized notion of madness by decentering it, unpacking it, and making it visible.”