The Mind of the Mad: Analysis of Hamlet

Several emotions engulf Shakespeare’s Hamlet throughout the play, the most famous being Hamlet’s own emotional state. His madness, triggered by his incestuous uncle, has led several scholars to explore the psychological causes of his madness. This research into Hamlet’s madness will explore his madness in comparison to other characters, the psychoanalytical studies behind his madness, and defining whether his madness is genuine or another play within the play.

Throughout the play of Hamlet, one of Shakespeare's most famous tragedy's the main character, Hamlet is faced with the responsibility of getting vengeance for his father's murder. He decides to pretend madness as part of his plan to get the opportunity to kill Claudius who was the suspected murderer. As the play goes on, his portrayal of a madman becomes believable, and the characters around him respond quite vividly. Through his inner thoughts and the obvious reasons for his actions, it is clear that he is not really mad and is simply an actor faking insanity in order to complete the duty his father assigned him.

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

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.

     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.

Hamlet is understandably distraught. He may not be mad, but he likely is close to the edge of sanity during many of the most intense moments in the play” (Sparknotes).

He therefore had to act mad even when talking to her because he realized his every move was being watched. This is evident when he told her he is not in love with her and that he never loved her. These statements by Hamlet caused him to inadvertently hurt Ophelia to such a great extent that she committed suicide. As a result, Hamlet was forced to permanently sacrifice his true love out of concern for his own safety and his goal.

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.

Throughout Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the main character, Hamlet, must seek revenge for the murder of his father. Hamlet decides to portray an act of insanity, as part of his plan to murder Claudius. Throughout the play, Hamlet becomes more and more believable in his act, even convincing his mother that he is crazy. However, through his thoughts, and actions, the reader can see that he is in fact putting up an act, he is simply simulating insanity to help fulfil his fathers duty of revenge. Throughout the play, Hamlet shows that he understands real from fake, right from wrong and his enemies from his friends. Even in his madness, he retorts and is clever in his speech and has full

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

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.

“Hamlet’s madness is less than madness and more than feigned”. What is madness? Mad is a word with such uncertainty that it can be stretched to mean an abundance of things more than just pure psychological instability: a weariness of life; a suicidal impulse; a plotting charisma. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, a wild disagreement has been consequent for a series of years in the case of the madness of Hamlet, the play 's central narrative, was justifiable or feigned. As in any decision, one must be given both sides of the controversy before making an impartial conclusion. The case of Hamlet 's madness is no exclusion. It is appropriate to say that Hamlet may have remained sensible throughout the performance, especially in consideration of his rag flashes of what seems to be psychological discipline and stability. However, Hamlet is perceived as disoriented by overwhelming burst of hysteria after acquiring knowledge of his father’s death, news of Gertrude’s quick remarriage, and Claudius becoming the new King. In the butt end it is up to the scholar to determine for him or herself the psychological nature of Hamlet’s madness, as it may have been the motive of William Shakespeare, taking into review how open-ended this subject continued throughout the play.

In a New Historic analyzation, it is important to note Hamlet’s madness that leads him to paranoia, revenge, and murder. In Shakespeare’s Elizabethan era, madness was defined as “internalization of disobedience”. Using this definition, it can be interpreted that Shakespeare derives Hamlet’s lunacy from the plea for vengeance made by his father’s spirit. Hamlet feels blameworthy and that