Hamlet's Destructive Humor Essay

Is Hamlet Mad? Not Likely. Madness is a condition of the mind which eliminates all rational thought leaving an individual with no proper conception of what is happening around him/her. Madness typically occurs in the minds of individuals that have experienced an event or series of events that their mind simply cannot cope with and, thus, to avoid their harsh reality, they fall into a state of madness. In William Shakespeare’s masterpiece Hamlet, there is much debate around the protagonist, Hamlet, and whether or not his madness in the play was real or feigned. It was a disastrous time in the prince, Hamlet’s life as his father had just passed away, his uncle then took the kingship and wed Hamlet’s mother, then the

A foil is a minor character in a literary work that compliments the main character through similarities and differences in personality and plot. In William Shakespeare's play "Hamlet", the main character, Hamlet, has three major foils. These foils are his close friend Horatio, Fortinbras, Prince of Norway, and the brother of his love, Laertes. These three characters contradict and enhance Hamlet's major characteristics.

As Hamlet says, ?Frailty thy name is woman?, her actions cause Hamlet to curse women all together. In the first Act, Claudius and Gertrude question Hamlet?s depression. They push Hamlet to accept his father?s death and move on with his life. Hamlet hides his feelings about his mother and the king. He should have admitted his hatred for their marriage. While Hamlet is holding back his feelings, he becomes more angered at their attempts to calm him. Gertrude is also aware of Hamlet?s feelings for Ophelia and uses this as an excuse for Hamlet?s madness. Hamlet has plenty of time to confess the cause of his madness and that?s what he should have done. Instead, Hamlet allows his mother to think he is madly in love rather than tell the truth. After Hamlet delivers his play and sees guilt in his uncle, Gertrude sends for Hamlet. Instead of hurting his mother, he insists on her to tell him the truth. It would have been easier to just go ahead and hurt Gertrude. Also, Hamlet should have acted more swiftly on this, then her confession could have taken place earlier in the play. This could save him from a great deal of pain and leave his thoughts for other problems.

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.

2001. One definition of madness is “mental delusion or the eccentric behavior arising from it.” But Emily Dickinson wrote “Much madness is divinest sense to a discerning eye.” Novelists and playwrights have often seen madness with a “discerning eye”. Select a novel or play in which as character’s apparent madness or irrational behavior plays an important role. Then write a well-organized essay in which you explain what this delusion or eccentric behavior consists of and how it might be judged reasonable. Explain the significance of the “madness” to the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

At the beginning of Act I Hamlet fires a subtle comeback towards King Claudius by saying, “A little more than kin and less kind”(1.2.65). King Claudius doesn’t even realize Hamlet is using a pun here, it blows right over his head. Hamlet uses wordplay during this time to subtly point out that he is

Polonius seemly hear all these vulgar and misogynistic rants and becomes ever more convinced that Hamlet is mad. He never rests easily until he ends up behind yet another arras, scheming, yet this time in Gertrude’s room and gets himself killed. The act of betrayal, by both Polonius and Gertrude has far-reaching consequences; Polonius is killed by Hamlet, Ophelia becomes mad and Laertes demands vengeance. Polonius’s betrayal disgusts Hamlet and he can only but refer to him as ‘a foolish prating knave’ and his mistreatment of his body when he says he will ‘lug his guts in the neighbour room’ can equally be taken as his disgust towards him.

How does the use of comic relief best contrast the tragedy of Hamlet? In great works of literature a comic relief is used as contrast to a serious scene to intensify the overall tragic nature of the play or to relieve tension. As illustrated in Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet, intense scenes are joined with character’s banter and vacuous actions as to add a comic relief. In Hamlet, Polonius acts as a comic relief by his dull and windy personality, Hamlet uses his intelligence and his negativity toward the king and queen to create humor, while on the other hand Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are a comic relief by their senseless actions and naïve natures. Polonius, Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are all used as a comic relief to

King Claudius expresses, “Welcome, dear Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Moreover that we much did long to see you, the need we have to use you did provoke our hasty sending.” (2.2.1-4) He addresses them in what is seemingly a sincere manner, proclaiming the supposed yearning he has had. However, these so-called sincere actions towards Hamlet’s childhood friends are just to convince them to take on the role of spying on Hamlet’s actions and reporting them back to Gertrude and Claudius. He continues to mask his true motives by saying, “To draw him on to pleasures and to gather...you may glean..to us unknown, afflicts him thus that, opened, lies within our remedy.” (2.2.15-19) King Claudius’ choice of words convey an inkling to the audience that he cares for Hamlet because of how he expresses his need to find out Hamlet’s condition, and fix it. This also presents Gertrude with the idea that Claudius has Hamlet’s best interests at heart. This, in King Claudius’ favor, solidifies his honorable, yet selfless stature with his contriving

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.

It is interesting to note that Hamlet only puts his 'madness'; performance on for the characters he is suspicious of such as Claudius, Polonius, Gertrude, and Ophelia. When Hamlet is around Horatio, Marcellus, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, the Players and the Grave-Diggers, he acts rationally. He changes his disposition with ease and speed. During Act 2, Scene 2, Hamlet is speaking with Polonius. When Polonius asks if Hamlet recognizes him, Hamlet replies that 'You are a fishmonger.'; He goes on to insult Polonius further and calls daughter Ophelia a 'good kissing carrion';. When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern appear, Hamlet begins to behave cordially again. He warmly greets his friends and engages them in light philosophical humor.

The bourgeois in the play criticize and demean others who they see as inferior. When Hamlet complements Horatio who is modest when accepting it, Hamlet tells him that he is not flattering him and asks, “Why should the poor be flatter’d?” (III.ii.55). He also says that there is nothing to gain from complimenting Horatio because he has nothing to give. This showcases how the wealthy value materialistic possessions and are okay with flattering others to get what they want. The bourgeois also use others to gain power. Claudius was willing to throw away his moral standards and kill his own brother for power. He does not allow anything to stand between him and the power that he wants. Claudius even knows that he does something that is dishonorable, but asks God if he can “be pardoned and retain the offence” (III.iii.59). Gertrude also tries to keep her status throughout the

• Hamlet does not murder Claudius because he thinks that he is praying, and that Claudius would go to heaven if he died while he was praying.

Hamlet shows impoliteness to his mother throughout the play. Hamlet’s anger towards his mother becomes so great that he hurts her physically. In fact, she felt so unsafe around him and yelled for help! Even though Hamlet wins his mother’s trust, in reality, his verbal

  Well aware that several hours of unrelenting angst would be a bit much for his audience to take, William Shakespeare strategically placed several humorous scenes throughout his masterpiece, Hamlet.  In particular, the character of Polonius fills the role of the comic fool; he is in two essential comedic scenes, one with his own children and then one with Hamlet.  Shakespeare's acute ability to weave humor into this very heavy play is noteworthy, as his use of comedy goes beyond merely providing much-needed comic relief.   In fact, the rather numerous comedic scenes serve as a foils to, as well as reflections of, the intense action of the play.   In every case where humor is used in Hamlet, it is