Madness In Hamlet And Ophelia

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?

Many people have seen Hamlet as a play about uncertainty and about Hamlet's failure to act appropriately. It is very interesting to consider that the play shows many uncertainties that lives are built upon, or how many unknown quantities are taken for granted when people act or when they evaluate one another's actions. Hamlet is an especially intriguing production, both on the set and on the screen because of its uniqueness to be different from what most people expect to be in a revenge themed play. Hamlet's cynicism and insane like behavior cause him to seem indecisive, but in reality he is always judging and contemplating his actions in the back of his mind in order to seek revenge for the murder of

His feigned madness permitted Hamlet to express these emotions freely towards Ophelia: “...Get thee to a nunnery, / farewell. Or if thou wilt needs marry, marry a / fool; for wise men know well enough what monsters / you make of them...” (3.1.138-41). It was also important for Hamlet to be so vulgar towards Ophelia because it would not have been possible for him to continue being a caring loving boyfriend while attempting to avenge his father’s death. Lastly, by pretending to be mentally disturbed, it provided Hamlet with an excuse for any sinful deeds he would commit on his pursuit of revenge. Hamlet exemplifies this conception as he seeks for Laertes forgiveness for murdering his father Polonius: “If Hamlet from himself be ta’en away, / And when he’s not himself does wrong Laertes, / Then Hamlet does it not, Hamlet denies it. / Who does it then? His madness...” (5.2.230-33). Hamlet’s pursuit of the truth and revenge was much better accompanied by madness rather than sanity which gave Hamlet a clear motive to fabricate insanity in the play. In the midst of Hamlet’s supposed madness, the prince continues to speak rationally with certain individuals as well as maintain sensible and logical thoughts. This idea is depicted through his conversations with his good friend Horatio who is assisting Hamlet in his search for the truth behind Old Hamlet’s death. For example, before the

When reading Shakespeare’s Hamlet as a class, the first thing that most teachers or professors point out is the argument/idea of sanity, specifically Hamlet's sanity. I believe that Hamlet is, in fact, feigning his madness. What I do not know is if I believe this because it is what I was taught or if I came up with the idea myself based on my own interpretation. When I was taught Hamlet there was no argument it was just fact that he was faking his madness. Because of my confusion, I came to find that it may be interesting take out of the play any moment in which Hamlet makes the audience aware that he is only pretending that to be mad. I want to take out any proof that his madness isn’t real. The argument for legitimate madness is always

People have mostly seen women inferior to men because women have been thought of as simple-minded and could not take care of themselves. Shakespeare’s Hamlet shows how men treated and thought of women during the 1500s. There was an order most did not interfere with; however, some did. In the 1500s, women were supposed to conform to men’s wishes. Throughout the play, Ophelia first obeyed her father and brother’s wishes, ignored the social norms later, and then went mad, which caused her to never gain her own identity.

     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.

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is one of Shakespeare’s most tragic plays. Most of the characters in this play suffered a heartbreaking death, although, all of the characters faced anger, regret, madness or distress. Madness was a reoccurring theme in this play, two characters portrayed this more than others. Ophelia and Hamlet faced similar fates, with similarities and differences along the way, all to do with their madness.

Great authors can develop the same idea in different ways. Shakespeare introduces the characters of Hamlet and Ophelia to mental illness throughout “Hamlet”. Hamlet a, Depressed and Monomaniacal Psychopath, runs off of the vengeance of his father to kill his uncle, King Claudius. Ophelia A victim of, hysteria and depression, cannot function without the support of her father and lover without this support she can loses the will to live. Shakespeare uses metaphors, gender, tone, and word choice to develop the progression of mental illness in his characters throughout “Hamlet”.

It is in act 4 scene 5 of Shakespeare’s Hamlet where we first see Ophelia go mad. The language used to describe this event is chilling in its genius. Her madness is thought by those around her to be triggered by her father’s death, but if they listened to her they would know the truth. Ophelia is driven to madness by many different factors, the major one being her relationship with Hamlet. Towards the start of her mad episode, she says, “ So would I’a done, by yonder sun, / An thou hadst not come to my bed.(4.5.70-71)” She is talking about a woman who was tricked into having sexual intercourse with a man, a man who lured her in with the promise of marriage. It seems to be that Ophelia feels duped and taken advantage of, that she has in some way been devalued.

Both Hamlet and Ophelia act very strangely. Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, insults everyone around him. He tells Ophelia he never loved her, calls her father a fishmonger, and in subtle ways calls his mother a whore and her new husband a murderer. And Hamlet himself is driven to acts of murder, from the unintentional stabbing of Polonius to the plotting that kills Rosencrantz and

Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays. In it, a young, Danish prince struggles with the death of his father and the betrayal of his mother. This struggle is so profound; it shakes its main character Hamlet to the core and brings him to the brink of sanity. Shakespeare uses madness to convey important information throughout the play especially through Hamlet and his love interest, Ophelia. Hamlet does not always appear to be mad, in fact throughout the play his sanity is questioned by the reader and other characters. Whether real or faked, Hamlet and Ophelia’s madness reveal to us more about their characters, opinions and secrets than their regular discourse.

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.

The tragedy of Hamlet by William Shakespeare is about Hamlet going insane and reveals his madness through his actions and dialogue. Hamlet remains one of the most discussed literary characters of all time. This is most likely due to the complex nature of Hamlet as a character. In one scene, Hamlet appears happy, and then he is angry in another and melancholy in the next. Hamlet’s madness is a result of his father’s death which was supposedly by the hands of his uncle, Claudius. He has also discovered that this same uncle is marrying his mom. It is expected that Hamlet would be suffering from some emotional issues as result of these catastrophes. Shakespeare uses vivid language, metaphors, and imagery to highlight how Hamlet’s madness

The mere nature of the soliloquy is to enter the thoughts of a specific character It is a simple idea. It would make sense that Shakespeare employs this literary method to reveal something about Hamlet’s own internal struggle in any given soliloquy. Hamlet is an conflicted and self-disparaging individual who often finds himself toiling with his own ideas and movies frequently. But the first soliloquy is used to reveal to the audience that Hamlet is furious at his mother and Claudius, even before he learns his father was supposedly murdered by the new king. The fury toward Claudius and Gertrude alone is enough to make Hamlet even contemplate suicide, “Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d/ His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter” (Shakespeare,

Hamlet's first soliloquy exists in order to give both an insight into Hamlet’s emotional state and a small background on what has happened in the recent months to put him in that state. Hamlet tells the audience that he feels disgusted with his mother for marrying Claudius within two months of Hamlet Sr. dying. This monologue also easily explains to the audience that Hamlet feels distraught over the loss of his father. “Hamlet is just like us... his mysterious inner life, his roller coaster of emotions...his conflicted feelings about his parents…” (Hamlet). Hamlet’s heartache over his father's death and mother’s quick wedding causes him to experience inner struggles throughout the majority of the play. This soliloquy has the role of keeping the fluidity of the play by using one of the characters in the play to temporarily act as a narrator