Madness In Hamlet Essay

This being because in the beginning the reader can easily see that Hamlet is depressed because of recent events in his life, and decides to pretend to be mad in order to gather information that will confirm the ghost's story. He chooses madness for several reasons including it fits right into his melancholy. However it is a fine line between pretending to be crazy and really being mentally ill. This leads the reader to question if hamlet ever crosses the thin line set before him in the play of sanity and

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.

While it is true that Hamlet was merely playing the role of someone who had gone mad, many people may say that Hamlet’s madness was brought upon himself simply by the fact that he was trying to fulfill the orders from his dead father yet couldn’t because of his lack of acting upon a plan. It is strongly possible that Hamlet became extremely frustrated because every chance he got to expose Claudius and capture him in this enormous secret, he failed to do so. Therefore, Hamlet’s madness could be judged as reasonable but most likely for different reasons than one may think. Rather than going mad over the concrete facts that his father died and his mother remarried his uncle less than two months afterwards, he drove himself mad over his own flaws. Hamlet’s tragic flaw absolutely led to his tragic downfall as a

He acts irrational only when he is around certain individuals. He acts irrational around Polonius, Claudius, Gertrude Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and Ophelia but remains calm and rational around Horatio, Marcellus, and the players. A big part of the play is when Hamlet lashes out at Ophelia and convinces her he has actually gone mad. “With a look so piteous in purport as if he had been loosed out of hell to speak of horrors...Then he let out a sigh so piteous and profound as it did seem to shatter all his bulk and end his being” (2.1.84-97). This single action brings tremendous tension and makes Polonius immediately believe that Hamlet has gone mad because of his love for his daughter. On the other hand, Hamlet can be rational just as much as a sane person. "Give him heedful note, for I mine eyes will rivet his face, and, after, we will both our judgments join in censure of his seeming” (3.2.83-86). Hamlet tells Horatio to watch Claudius during the play to see if he acts guilty. The fact that he thought this out in such an organized and clear way makes it hard to believe that he is mad because a madman would never be able to think like that. Hamlet also knows how to act properly around the players. An example of this is when he asks, "You could, for a need, study a speech of some dozen or sixteen lines, which I would set down and insert in 't, could you not?” (2.2.540-542). This question is understandable and

The astute statements and remarks that Hamlet says throughout the play prove that he is completely sane. Hamlet does indeed act mad throughout the play, but it is only an act to prove that Claudius killed King Hamlet. “I am essentially not in madness, but mad in craft” (3.4.187-188). Hamlet is admitting that he has been acting mad, but that it is by his will, which shows that is in control of his actions. Also, after Hamlet kills Polonius, Hamlet gives clever hints to where Polonius’s body is hidden, something that an insane person would be incapable of doing. “Where is Polonius?  In heaven. Send thither to see. If

Hamlet’s sanity has made many people question him. “Hamlet certainly displays a high degree of mania and instability throughout much of the play, but his “madness” is perhaps too purposeful and pointed

In Shakespeare's play Hamlet the main character Hamlet experiences many different and puzzling emotions. He toys with the idea of killing himself and then plays with the idea of murdering others. Many people ask themselves who or what is this man and what is going on inside his head. The most common question asked about him is whether or not he is sane or insane. Although the door seems to swing both ways many see him as a sane person with one thought on his mind, and that is revenge. The first point of his sanity is while speaking with Horatio in the beginning of the play, secondly is the fact of his wittiness with the other characters and finally, his soliloquy.

From the beginning of the play it is clear that Hamlet is distressed. Ever since the death of his father, Hamlet, has appeared to be in a state of madness. After learning from the ghost that Claudius killed his father and had affair with his mother, Hamlet refuses to tell anyone what the ghost said to him. “How strange or odd soe’er O bear myself, As I perchance hereafter shall think meet to put an antic disposition on…” (1.5) This quote by Hamlet suggest feigned madness. So when his friends see him he will pretend to be mad.

Hamlet’s madness becomes more pronounced as the play progresses. In Act 3, Scene 4, Hamlet argues with Gertrude, following the murder of Polonius. During the argument, Hamlet sees the ghost of Hamlet Sr but Gertrude does not. This indicates that Hamlet has gone mad, as it seems that he is imagining the ghost. Gertrude comments on Hamlet’s behaviour while he is talking to the ghost by saying “Alas, he’s mad!”

Since he lost his father, he has been crazy, or at least acting with madness. The readers do not really know if Hamlet’s behavior

Therefore, he could avoid any threat from King Claudius while at the same time makes certain about whether King Claudius killed his father or not. Logically, no mad would admit that he pretends to be mad, as mad person almost does not see his madness. In the otherwise, no mad would accept the truth of his madness, so he would do effort to do not reference to any idea relates to the issue of madness. Hence, Prince Hamlet seems to be confident about the integrity of his mental status to the degree he acknowledges that he will take the role of

Hamlet’s supposed madness surfaces immediately after he converses with the ghost of his father, King Hamlet. In this discussion, Hamlet discovers the truth behind his father’s death. He learns that his uncle, Claudius murdered his father, stole his mother, Gertrude, and usurped the throne of the Danish Kingdom. Directly after this dramatic conversation, Hamlet begins to act strangely, casting away those who he cares about and adopting a violent and irrational behavior. This can be observed with the conversation that Hamlet has with his friends immediately after seeing his father’s ghost. This conversation

Scholars have been disputing the sanity of Hamlet, for over four hundred years, in the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare. Is he an insane madman or a vengeful, devious, genius? There are many contradictory ideas and theories on Hamlet’s so called psychosis, his procrastination in avenging his father’s death, and his actions towards his mother.

“There is no great genius without some touch of Madness” - Aristotle. In Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, the question is not “to be or not to be”, it is if Hamlets mad outbursts are real, or just a facade (Shakespeare 3.1.56). Many literature experts such as Isaac Ray believe that Hamlet is faking. However, the pain he experienced after losing his father caused him to unlock a new divine sense that advanced his cognitive thinking to far beyond his time period. As a result, Hamlet began to lose his friends and family because they could no longer connect with him on the same intellectual level. With this new sense of self, Hamlet was not concerned with his morality and struggled with suicidal tendencies throughout

The play “Hamlet” is one of William Shakespeare’s greatest works as well as one of the most famous English plays ever written. Created as a tragedy, it features a complicated central character and a plot containing many themes. The main character, Hamlet, has been a subject of numerous interpretations and studies where his actions and thoughts throughout the play have been analyzed time and again. A certain aspect that is arguably the most disputed is Hamlet’s sanity. Do the events that take place in the play drive him to the point of insanity, or was it all an act of deception? Though there is evidence that generally brings support to both sides of the argument, Hamlet is truly not insane. He merely acted insane for his own agenda.