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Similarities Between Hamlet And One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

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“People with mental health problems are almost never dangerous. In fact, they are more likely to be the victims than the perpetrators. At the same time, mental illness has been the common denominator in one act of mass violence after another,” Roy Blunt, a United States senator, had said. Some individuals who are mentally ill are able to achieve their goals because they have the qualities associated with being a leader, such as having confidence typical of narcissism or willing to use others like psychopaths. The characters of Hamlet and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest focuses on these states of mental health and how it ties into the people and setting. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, characters …show more content…

Pretending to have a mental disorder for a personal or financial gain is called malingering and both protagonists of Hamlet and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest use this to achieve their goals. In Hamlet, the protagonist’s sudden insanity confuses Claudius and the rest of the characters, which gives Hamlet more room to carry on his revenge. “So much as from occasion you may glean,/ Whether aught, to us unknown, afflicts him thus/ That, opened, lies within our remedy,” (Shakespeare 2.2.16-18). This results in characters either avoiding Hamlet or trying to figure out the reasons for his change, which caused conflict in of itself for the other characters. Another character who feigns madness is McMurphy from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, who originally entered the mental asylum to lessen his time in a prison work farm. McMurphy continues this pretense of having a mental disorder because he wants to revive the manliness of the men in the asylum, even though it could mean that he would never be released. However, there is a common goal often associated with those who do not feign madness and are often times portrayed more …show more content…

For instance, when working in a corporation, it is typical to have confidence and be willing to use others to climb up the corporate ladder. Samantha Sutton, a life coach, claimed, “Researchers found that people who have the ‘Dark Triad’ of personality traits--narcissism, manipulation, and psychopathy-- may advance their careers more quickly than those who do not.” This is understandable, because narcissists have high self-esteem, manipulators know what their goals are, and psychopaths do not feel guilt for their actions. Regarding other types of mental disorders, psychiatrist Neel Burton in his article, “The Meaning of Madness,” addressed other mental disorders and how it could potentially help the person. He claims, “‘Depressive realism’ may enable some people with depression...to see the world more accurately and to judge it accordingly.” Taking this into consideration, Hamlet is able to see the corruption and flaws of the world he lives in, which he did not notice before his father’s death. Burton also suggests that if a person can overcome their mental disorder, they can achieve certain goals because they have the quality to do so. Narcissists are ambitious and courageous, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder allows one to be dedicated to their work, and schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are linked to creativity. Also, Harding from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

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