Essay on Hamlet Madness Analyzed

While Hamlet’s “mad” behavior starts out as an “antic disposition,” his mental state deteriorates. Does Hamlet truly go “mad,” or is all of his wackiness an act?

Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, is about a young prince who wants revenge when he learns about the murder of his father. As the play begins, Hamlet’s character appears to be a normal, sane person. Moving through the acts Hamlet’s personality changes from normal to depressed. There are hints of insanity that try to convince people Hamlet is “mad”. Others might say that Hamlet is faking madness to pursue his goal of revenge. First, he sees a “ghost” that tells Hamlet who killed his father and married his mother. Was this a dream or was this real? Second, Hamlet kills more than one person to avenge his father’s death. Where these accidents or intentional? “Insanity: a legal term for mental illness of such degree

Throughout Shakespeare?s play, Hamlet, the main character, young Hamlet, is faced with the responsibility of attaining vengeance for his father?s murder. He decides to feign madness as part of his plan to gain the opportunity to kill Claudius. As the play progresses, his depiction of a madman becomes increasingly believable, and the characters around him react accordingly. However, through his inner thoughts and the apparent reasons for his actions, it is clear that he is not really mad and is simply an actor simulating insanity in order to fulfill his duty to his father.

     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.

His madness was argued to be an act to confuse Claudius. He acted crazy to cover his plans of seeking revenge on Claudius, when talking to Polonius he acted completely mad, “For in the sun breed maggots in a dead dog, being a good kissing carrion-Have you a daughter?”(Hamlet 2.2.95) Hamlet used much blabber, such as this, when talking to anyone close to Claudius. As the play went on his madness was more and more liable. He started becoming very irrational and distracted by his plans. When Ophelia gives Hamlets letters back he goes into a rage, yelling “Get thee to a nunnery.”(Hamlet (3.1.131) The most well known action Hamlet committed was when he stabbed Polonius in a rash decision, hoping it was Claudius, “O, what a rash and bloody deed is this!“(Hamlet 3.4.171) One thing that brought him one step closer to going mad was Ophelia’s death. Hamlet may have been acting in the beginning but by the end of his devious plan to avenge his father, he lost himself and actually caused himself to go mad.

Can you imagine acting like a whole different person? Throughout the play, the bizarre Hamlet claims to pretend to be insane. Many people believe that Hamlet is not acting psychotic but others believe that he is actually out of this world psychotic. There are many reasons that prove that Hamlet is going mad. Firstly, because he is acting crazy in front of many people, he may even be crazy. Also, it would be normal for him to go mad because of how his life is going. For instance, his world turned upside down the second his father died. Secondly, what he does makes him seem more like he is delirious. A time that made Hamlet seen more insane is when he was talking to Ophelia as if he didn't love her. Thirdly, Hamlet telling us his thoughts make

In the story of Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Hamlet’s sanity is questioned because of the relationships he had with other characters in the story. Hamlet’s relationship with the other characters did not all start off bad. Gertrude was his mother, Ophelia is the woman that he loved, and Claudius was his stepfather. Eventually over time all of them started a conflict. Hamlet didn’t just have problems with them, he had problems with himself. The problems were internally and externally with him and his Mother, Lover, and Stepfather.

Was Hamlet insane? Scholars have debated this question ever since Shakespeare presented this play to the public. Although I am not a scholar, I believe that there is enough evidence in the play to suggest Hamlet had been sane. He may have been depressed and angry however this was due to the treachery and betrayal contaminating Denmark. The insanity act had been an instrument to allow Hamlet the freedom to achieve his goal of revenge.

   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.

In Act I, Scene V, after hearing the ghost’s demand for revenge, Hamlet says in advance that he will consciously feign madness while seeking the opportune moment to kill Claudius. Therefore, it is hard to conclude that he coincidentally became insane after making such a vow. Hamlet’s supposed madness not only becomes his way of relating to the other characters during the majority of the play, but also that which develops his character as throughout the play. Still, the question remains: Is Hamlet really crazy or just pretending?

Throughout Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the main character, Hamlet, must seek revenge for the murder of his father. Hamlet decides to portray an act of insanity, as part of his plan to murder Claudius. Throughout the play, Hamlet becomes more and more believable in his act, even convincing his mother that he is crazy. However, through his thoughts, and actions, the reader can see that he is in fact putting up an act, he is simply simulating insanity to help fulfil his fathers duty of revenge. Throughout the play, Hamlet shows that he understands real from fake, right from wrong and his enemies from his friends. Even in his madness, he retorts and is clever in his speech and has full

As stated by Ms. Turk, “If a person in a rational state of mind decides to act crazy, to abuse the people around him regardless of whether he loves those people or hates them, and to give free expression to all his antisocial thoughts, when he starts to carry out those actions, its it possible to say at what point the stops pretending and starts actually being crazy?”. In Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the way others interpret Hamlet’s behavior is different from the way Hamlet views himself.

In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare madness is a prominent trait that many of the characters in the play come to possess. These characters go through a multitude of troubles throughout the play that makes this madness justifiable. This madness plays an immense role in the outcome of the play and events throughout it. Hamlet and Ophelia show this trait of madness in their actions throughout the play which ultimately have a detrimental effect on themselves and other characters in the play.

Aspects of madness throughout the play are linked to Hamlet’s sanity being sometimes confessed, seeking an excuse from Laertes for his violence against him on the plea of madness. Act 5, Scene 1, between the clowns represent how madness influences the play with Ophelia’s death. The quote, “She drowned herself wittingly,” comprehends the clowns expressing the sentiment of the common people that Ophelia has committed suicide, although the audience has only Gertrude's poetic account of the drowning, which she says was accidental. The literal graveness of the situation subsides to the humor. This makes it possible for the characters to look at the subject of death objectively, giving escalation to such speeches as Hamlet's reflections over the skull of Yorick. The tone is set from the opening of the scene, during the Gravediggers' discussion concerning Ophelia. Simply, they use her death to debate whether suicide is legitimate and justifiable according to religious law. This is not the first time, however, that this question has been upraised in the play. Hamlet has the very same conversation with himself throughout his "To be, or not to be" soliloquy in Act 3 scene 1. The characters in Act 5 scene 1 approach the topic this time with dark humor, and in doing so convey an entirely different

Madness, understood as an abnormal state of mind, broadens across a spectrum of unrecognizable or worrying behaviors. Numerous Shakespearian performances touch on the theme of madness, though Shakespeare 's Hamlet displays the idea rather clearly because of the difficulties that the main character endures. Prince Hamlet is troubled by the lack of grieving from his mother after his father had died. Hamlet 's mother, Queen Gertrude, remarries Hamlet 's uncle, Claudius, less than two months after old King Hamlet had passed on, or so Hamlet believes. Hamlet is soon visited by the ghost of his father who reveals that King Claudius had poisoned him and that Hamlet must gain revenge. All while trying to deal with the outrageous happenings within the kingdom, Hamlet is also troubled by his love interest, Ophelia, along with his comrades. It is not surprising that Hamlet begins to reach insanity due to this unfortunate chain of events. Madness, displayed through Hamlet 's thoughts, emotions, and actions, becomes apparent to the characters similarly as it is expressed to Hamlet, himself.