Shakespeare's Hamlet : Was Hamlet Truly Mad?

His mother and his uncle have married after only 2 months of Hamlet’s father’s death. This has caused Hamlet to be in a heavy state of anger, mixed with his already deep state of mourning. According to Theodore Lidz, these two states can lead to one thinking back on all the negative wishes one may have had in the past. Considering Hamlet’s relatively young age, death wishes upon a parent are not serious but they are common among children. “…and as most, if not all, children have sometimes had death wishes toward a parent, guilt over such wishes can become intense when the parent dies.” (Lidz 48) All of these emotions mixed together so early in the play could lead to a sense of depression.

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

When the audience first meets Hamlet he is grief-stricken and upset with his mother for her hasty remarriage to his uncle. Directly preceding Hamlet’s first soliloquy he is firmly scolded by his mother and uncle for mourning his father and is denied permission to return to the University of Wittenberg. In his soliloquy, Hamlet says, “O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt,/Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,” (1.2.133-134.) Hamlet is expressing his desire to die, but is unwilling to kill himself because he does not want to be sent to Hell. In this statement, the audience is able to see that Hamlet is deeply depressed and ready for death. Also in the first soliloquy, Hamlet says, “O, most wicked speed, to post/With such dexterity to incestuous sheets,” (1.2.161-162.) Hamlet makes this statement in order to reflect his anger with his mother for marrying her brother-in-law, a marriage he deems incestuous, within a month of his father’s death. This statement shows that Hamlet’s depression is not only caused by his father’s death, but also by his mother’s apparent betrayal of his father. Hamlet’s first soliloquy shows him to be very depressed and establishes a strong base for his character to develop.

In William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet, the protagonist, Prince Hamlet, is an inconsolable young man who struggles with the death of his father, King Hamlet. Hamlet is confronted by the ghost of his father in the first act and discovers the truth of his father’s death. The Prince is horrified at the disclosure that his Uncle, King Claudius has murdered his father. He also finds himself outraged by his mother’s hasty remarriage; however, the Ghost forbids him to cause her any harm. Hamlet promises to avenge his father’s death and conspires to feign insanity in order to carry out his vengeance against King Claudius. Throughout the play, many characters believe Prince Hamlet to be genuinely mad, which is exactly what he anticipates. His

Hamlet’s delusion begins directly after he learns of his father’s death. Immediately, he longs to avenge the death of his beloved father, the former King Hamlet; as he tries to piece together how this tragedy occurred, and why his mother marries his uncle, he becomes entangled in his own curiosities. He feels as though he should approach his mother, and question her; try to bring her into reality, and make her become aware of the wrong she is doing. In the first scene, after the wedding of Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, and Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle, he falls into deep self pity. He is unable to speak to anyone else about his true feelings, so he reveals that his too, “...too sullied flesh would melt,/ Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,/ Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd/ His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! O God, God…”(I.II.133-136). Hamlet reveals his suicidal thoughts to the audience, and

Throughout the play, Hamlet, Shakespeare applied a myriad of motifs to enhance the meaning and complexity of his work. One of the numerous motifs utilized in the play is madness. The question of Hamlet’s actual madness is profusely raised among readers in the Elizabethan era and is still brought up numerous times today. Some may assert that Hamlet was literally mad and others may argue that Hamlet’s madness was feigned. In the beginning of the play, Hamlet spotted his father’s ghost and discerned that his father’s death was caused by his uncle, Claudius. This situation initiated a whirlwind of events that took Hamlet on a downward spiral. These events are comprised of Hamlet’s actions to try to avenge his father’s death. They support and convey the impression that Hamlet’s madness was real. Although, Hamlet specifically claimed that he was not mad in the text. Hamlet’s madness was feigned since he confessed his reasoning for his antic disposition in order to avenge his father’s death and get revenge for Claudius’ actions.

     When we first meet Hamlet, he is a sad, dark, loathsome figure; the loss of his father and the whoring of his mother have upset him indefinitely. Like a ticking time bomb, Hamlet’s noticeable temper reflects the storm of emotions and thoughts brewing in his head, and then like a catalyst, his meeting with the Ghost of King Hamlet brings his anger to a boil. With revenge in mind, Hamlet plans to fake his madness so that he may be free to pursue his father’s killer. Everyone, except his close friend Horatio, seems convinced that he is mad. Claudius however, fearful that someone will discover his evil deed, has also had his perceptions heightened by his guilt and he experiences chronic paranoia throughout the

   In Shakespeare's play Hamlet, there are several questions that come to the reader's mind regarding the emotional state of Hamlet.  Was Hamlet really suffering from madness, as many of his friends and family thought?  Was he mad or just pretending to be mad?  Did Hamlet start out pretending to be mad, and his obsession drove him to madness?  The reader gets insight into Hamlet's mental status through other characters and through Hamlet himself. If the characters had the information that Hamlet had about the murder of his father, would they have thought differently of his actions and his sanity?

In order to determine whether or not Hamlet is truly mad, it is crucial to first define the term 'madness'. According to the Oxford dictionary, madness is "a state of having a serious mental illness, extremely foolish behavior, or a state of wild and chaotic behavior". Initially, Hamlet is in fact the exact opposite, and it can be inferred that Hamlet is not mad. However, Hamlet's ability to make decisive decisions and maintain stable thoughts significantly weakens, proving that he is mentally unsound. A string of tragic events overtake Hamlet's mind, and in turn his character develops and transforms into a mad man as is portrayed through his erratic behavior towards Ophelia, his apparent hallucination in the form of his father's ghost, and

In conclusion, Hamlet is not mad; everything he does has a purpose. He is out to avenge his father’s murder. He proves this by telling Horatio that he is going to fake madness, and admitting to his mother that he is not crazy. He also only acts mad in front of Polonius, Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. When Hamlet is with a trusted friend he is rational and symptom free, however when someone he wants to

It is clear that the death of his father and his mother 's remarriage has taken an enormous mental toll on him and that he desires death to free himself of the burden laid upon him by the ghost. He romanticizes it, saying that suicide is the brave and courageous option akin to “[taking] arms” against troubles. However, he can’t commit to the idea of death, saying “To sleep, perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub / For in that sleep of death what dreams may come” (III, i, 66-67). He craves death, which would allow him to escape all the “natural shock / that flesh is heir to” (III, i, 63-64) but the more he ponders it, the further he is from reaching a decision. Ironically, the argument within his mind about how he should free himself of the ghostly burden — murder, or death — is impeding him from carrying out any action on it. At the end of his most famous soliloquy, Hamlet hasn’t made any decisive choice and therefore is in limbo regarding death due to his overarching rationale. His inaction proves “[his] endless reasoning and hesitation and the way in which the energy of his resolutions evaporates in self-reproaches” (Morgan 259). Moreover, Hamlet tackles the decision of interpreting what is real and what is false when he questions the ghost’s true nature. At first, Hamlet is certain

Hamlet feels the constant need to reassure himself that his beliefs are correct, especially in his soliloquies about death. It is stated, “O that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!...” (Act 1, Sn 2, 129-1559). Hamlet discusses how things were not good and he was just in mourning and despair in this soliloquy. In the noted to be or not be soliloquy he continues the decisions on death, “To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer, The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?...” (Act 3, Sn 1, 56-89). As Hamlet continues through the play he gives up in a sense because of everything happening to the people he was close to and to him in general. He lost the people he cared about due to his uncle’s careless actions and his mother playing along with it. When he actually got emotion from his uncle things were only proven to be more complicated because his father’s ghost was correct. His soliloquies prove how Hamlet was overly depressed and wanted to die, although depression during this time period is completely different compared to now.

Hamlet portrayed extreme madness that recurred throughout the book. It started off with simply acting to be crazy, but eventually leads to true madness. Hamlet tells the queen “a beast… would have mourned longer, married with my uncle my father’s brother, but no more like my father” (1.2). Hamlet refers to his mother as a beast implying she is not human. Problems with Hamlet’s mother are not a huge contributing factor to his madness, but still fuel the problem. It also leads readers to believe Claudius could be a problem later on. This turns out to be true as he is one of the main sources to Hamlet’s madness. Another tremendous source is the ghost driving Hamlet to get revenge on Claudius. When the Ghost of Hamlet’s father comes back, he tells Hamlet “so art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear”(1.5). The Ghost explains what really happened to try to convince Hamlet to avenge his death. This drives him to insanity with the stress and pressure of should he, or should he not kill

Hamlet is arguably one of the greatest dramatic characters to be created. As he learns of his father’s death, he starts to over analyze ever little detail causing him to create scenarios in his mind that give me anxiety. His mother notices his anger, but Hamlet makes it known that the distress he is feeling over-powers his actions. He says, “Together with all the forms, moods, shapes of grief… for they are the actions that a man might play; but I have that within which passes show, these but the trappings and the suits of woe” (ACT I, ii). He is angry at his mother because she remarried that same man that killed his father. Hamlet starts to see his father’s ghost and she cannot. She then starts to tell Hamlet how he has offended his father, as in Claudius. When Hamlet is defending

Hamlet was distraught after he found out that is father had been killed by his uncle and then to learn that his uncle shortly thereafter married his mother was seemingly unbearable. Hamlet had a conversation with himself as to the pros and cons of continuing his life. This is the conversation that he had himself while he waited for his plan unfold. A suicidal death were his thoughts because of the deep frustration regarding the situation. My opinion of this Soliloquy is a two-part question that Hamlet was considering. Initially, he was considering taking his life. This was essential because of the fact that his uncle had taken his father’s life and within 30 days of his father’s death, his uncle and his mother are married. Secondly, he contemplated getting revenge against his father’s death. This was beginning to be too much for a young prince to handle so he figured some rest and sleep would shield and him from the life that was less than perfect life that he was living. In his thoughts, he felt as if he would sleep and dream that is his pain and misery of his reality would end. Every thought of every day was miserable and painful. Each memory brought sorrow and anger, therefore, he wanted to sleep in hopes of the reality of life taking a pause. Hamlet’s reality was too much for him to bear. While his body slept it seemed that that he would be safe from the oppressive faults of