Hamlet : An Act Of Antic Insanity In Shakespeare's Hamlet

In William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, we, as readers, increasingly question the sanity of the protagonist, Hamlet, as the play continues. His seemingly psychotic banter with the other characters of the play begins to convince us that Hamlet is, indeed, insane. Hamlet, however, states, “How strange or odd soe’er I bear myself, as I perchance hereafter shall think meet to put an antic disposition on” (1.5.171). He specifically tells Horatio and Marcellus that he will be acting mad, as a front. Hamlet has an exceptional grasp on mental philosophy and the uses and effects of logic, more so than the other characters of the play. Because of this, Hamlet appears insane to others, but in fact remains true to his

     Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, is a complex play, filled with layers of meaning. These are often revealed through the madness of the characters and the theme of madness throughout the play. Although Hamlet and Ophelia are the only characters thought to be so afflicted, the reactions of other characters to this madness mirrors their own preoccupations.

Insanity is an interesting topic to explore, tricky to determine and potentially deadly to those around the affected person. Although most people in society are sane beings, many argue that Hamlet in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is not sane. His actions are not that of a sane person, but rather of a grieving man who is driven to his death by his insane lust for revenge.

The insanity of a person can be contributed through the trauma that is caused by a few events in a person’s life, but in the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare wrote the main character prince Hamlet experiences a few dramatic events from the play which his attitude changes throughout. In order to figure out whether hamlet is insane is by figuring out what the characteristics of his insanity. Characters see Hamlet in different shades of gray, each side more or less sane than others. His sanity can be his truth or his lie.

In Shakespeare’s play, “Hamlet”, introduces an interesting character with the same name to the readers. Hamlet’s father tragically dies and he later finds out that it was his uncle, Claudius, who murdered him. This important event triggers the readers into believing that it causes Hamlet to become absolutely insane. However, Hamlet is not insane, and is instead merely putting on an act in order to get his revenge without getting suspected, which is really quite sane. Hamlet resorts to any sort of verbal or physical use of insanity in order to trick everyone into believing that he has gone mad. When not in the presence of specific characters, Hamlet displays signs of intelligence and rational thinking. Everything that Hamlet is doing is for a very understandable reason; there is a purpose to what he does and why he does it. Hamlet’s personality has changed due to recent events that occurs throughout his depressing life.

Madness is defined as “mental delusion and the eccentric behavior arising from it.” In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, the delusional state that Hamlet embodies has to be seen with a “discerning Eye.” While Hamlet claims his insanity is simply an antic disposition, his awareness of his deteriorating mental state is questionable. This state of madness can be judged reasonable as it allows him to investigate and avenge the unexpected death of his father. Consequently, Hamlet’s insanity results in a ripple effect, causing madness to become a central theme in the play through its effect on both Laertes and Ophelia.

Throughout the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the main character Hamlet is given the overwhelming responsibility of avenging his father’s unlawful death. Such an awesome burden can slowly drive a man “mad.” Because of this, Hamlet’s disposition is extremely inconsistent and erratic throughout the plot. At times he shows signs of uncontrollable insanity while, at other times, he exemplifies intelligence and “method in his madness.” Hamlet goes through different stages of insanity throughout the story, but his neurotic and skeptical personality amplifies his persona of seeming insane to the other characters in the book.

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 the play “Hamlet”, Shakespeare portrays the series of unfortunate events that develops into tragic characters and illustrates the symptoms of madness through Prince Hamlet and Ophelia while identifying the difference between genuine madness and feigned madness.

Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet” views the life of a complex protagonist Hamlet, the Danish prince who is fueled with vengeance to murder the killer of his father King Hamlet. Although Hamlet may be a character whose thoughts and actions resemble a madman or someone who has lost their sanity, it’s clear he is fully sane due to him deciding to fake madness to carry out his revenge plot on killing his Uncle Claudius, who is the current throne holder and his mother’s newlywed husband. It is very facile to see how one can be mad after losing a father and having their mother married to their uncle shortly after, but Hamlet uses people questioning his sanity to an advantage, which demonstrates how he still has his instinct. The most controversial

In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare Hamlet appeared to be mad after speaking with his father’s ghost about getting revenge on his uncle, Claudius, for killing his father, Old Hamlet, also, Hamlet’s unrequited love for Ophelia was one of the central ideas in the play that eventually led to Hamlet’s madness, this develops the idea of appearance becoming reality. In the beginning of the play, Hamlet appears to be mad after speaking with the ghost of his father, Old Hamlet. Hamlet says to Horatio “Here,as before,never, so help you mercy, how strange or odd soe’er I bear myself—As I perchance hereafter shall think meet to put an antic disposition on”(I.V.89-192). In this quote Hamlet is letting Horatio know that he is going to feign madness in order to get revenge for his father’s death.

In the tragic story of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, by William Shakespeare, the sane Hamlet occasionally switches between the personalities of sane and insane. When madness suits Hamlet’s purpose, he puts on an antic disposition. On the other hand, when his sanity proves worthy, Hamlet reverts back to being smart about what he needs to do next. Hamlet claims that he can be mad sometimes and sane the other times by saying that he is “mad north-north-west” (Shakespeare, 376.) In order for Hamlet to accomplish his short-term goals, he switches from sanity and insanity, which slows his long-term goal of getting revenge.

“Hamlet, a revenge tragedy, is about Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, trying to figure out the mist behind his father’s death. By talking to his father’s ghost, Hamlet realizes that his father, King Hamlet, was killed by his own uncle, Claudius” (Kara 2). Throughout the play, the theme of madness often occurs from multiple characters. Madness can be defined as a mental disability or a pathological condition of the mind eliminating all rational thoughts caused by an unthinkable injury. These injuries could sometimes be hard to understand, but they can occur in a time of major stress or despair. For example, “there is a psychological loss in Hamlet’s mind in which he plans to bring justice by taking his revenge” (Yucel 5).

Madness is an act of extremely foolish behavior. In the play “Hamlet” Hamlet goes crazy over his father being killed, but he is not sure what to think about it. All types of people become mad over all sorts of things. People go mad about the smallest things to the biggest things. For example; a parent punishes their kid for something they think they did, but the kid knows they actually didn’t do it. So the kid is upset and feels like he was punishes because their parents do not know what they are talking about. This will cause the kid to become mad and he will start to do things that he thinks is right, but he is actually in the wrong and he will eventually start to become crazy. This is an example of what Hamlet went through in the story “Hamlet”. He is his own enemy because of his madness.

The antic disposition scene is often used to argue that Hamlet was not mad. Researchers like Rahman and Abbad study communication in literature. In their paper, the state that Hamlet was flouting the maxim when he said that he was going to put on an antic disposition. They state that Hamlet is basically saying that he is going to fake his madness though he is doing so indirectly (Rahman & Abbas, 55). However, it may be possible that Hamlet was not mad in this scene or his madness may not have been as intense. Tenney suggests that Hamlet’s madness may not have been as intense in the beginning of the play, but it intensified as the play progressed (Tenney, 632). It becomes clearer that Hamlet is truly mad as the play progresses because his madness begins to affect some of his most valuable relationships.