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Hamlet Insanity Analysis

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In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, a series of tragic events unfolds as the main character, Hamlet, quickly slips into a state of insanity due to the murder of his father Hamlet, the King of Denmark. From the beginning of the play Hamlet is portrayed as undoubtedly shaken and depressed by the death of his father as well as crazed by it. As the play goes on though, Hamlet sees the ghost of his recently deceased father and plummets into a deep insanity. After this point Hamlet informs a few close friends and family members that he will begin to “act” insane, although this is truly an expression made by Hamlet to justify his actions rather than admit to his insanity. Hamlet’s madness is real and progressively becomes worse throughout the play and although …show more content…

Hamlet feels an internal grief that Gertrude could never see and his actions along with his clothes only show a part of it. Gertrude can’t understand Hamlet’s extreme actions because a sane mind can’t likely understand the actions of the insane mind. Hamlet was so deeply troubled and depressed by his father’s death that he was able to slip into a state of insanity that revolved around the idea of his father. In this state Hamlet’s mind fixated about his father’s death and was unable to think of much else other than his own possible death. Hamlet wishes that he can commit suicide. In one of his soliloquies Hamlet …show more content…

This act pushes Hamlet’s madness over the edge to the point where he is unable to exist in a stable state at all. After Hamlet sees the ghost of his father, his insanity worses and continues through the play in an extremely crazed and distraught state. This form of insanity causes Hamlet to commit multiple acts that a sane man could never commit. One example of Hamlet’s crazy antics is when he kills Polonius on a whim. While Hamlet is speaking to his mother in the “closet scene” in her room Gertrude calls out for help because of Hamlet’s aggressive nature with her and she thinks that Hamlet may kill her. From behind the curtains Polonius was lurking and listening in on their conversation. Hamlet just assuming it is Claudius lurking behind the curtains stabs through the curtain and kills him. This act shows Hamlet’s pure insanity because no one in their right mind would be able to just assume who they were killing and continue to kill them. In addition, once Hamlet realizes it’s Polonius, he is not bothered that he murdered the wrong person. Hamlet stands over Polonius’s dead body and calls him a fool and a low life. Once Hamlet is done insulting the man he just wrongly murdered, he comforts his mother by saying that he’ll take care of the dead body in her room and drag him out. Not only does this casual murder show the true insanity of

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