The Sanity Of Shakespeare 's Hamlet

The question of Hamlet’s sanity has been a subject of much debate. As Stephan Greenblatt states in his observations about Hamlet in his essay “Hamlet”: “Is Hamlet’s madness feigned or true, a strategy masquerading as reality or a reality masquerading as a strategy?” (1181). While Greenblatt lays out two possible courses, could there be a third option in this scenario? “… Hamlet cleverly uses madness as a cover under which he will determine the truth of the Ghost’s story before accepting the self-damning course of revenge” (Evans, 6). While Evans’ explanation can be seen as an argument that Hamlet is “acting” the part, could this observation also be used to imply that Hamlet knows the end result of his actions? Has Shakespeare set Hamlet

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.

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

Insanity is defined as a disordered state of the mind. Written in the Elizabethan era, the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare takes place in Denmark and focuses on the prince of Denmark, Hamlet. Hamlet portrays himself as insane, thereby disguising his sanity, in order to seek revenge which results in his downfall. This is illustrated when Hamlet uses double/speak to confuse the other characters, as well as when Shakespeare provided a contrast between sanity and insanity with Hamlet and Ophelia, and lastly the concept of thought versus action.

“One may smile, and smile, and be a villain. (1.5.115) ” But is being a villian the same thing as being insane? A villian can kill someone (like Hamlet did) but killing someone does not make a person automatically insane. In William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, the main character Prince Hamlet, is not insane. After King Hamlet died at war, Prince Hamlet is devastated. He is even more distraught when he finds out that his mother married his uncle. Hamlet later finds out that his Uncle killed his father. In this tragedy, Hamlet has to navigate his way through love, pretending to be crazy, avenging his father's death and many other tragic events that happen leading to his death. Hamlet is not insane because he told people that he is going to pretend

Hamlet is seen as a sane person because he plans his “act” of insanity just to gain time and make a decision about killing Claudius. From the very beginning of the play Hamlet gives the impression

In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare Hamlet appeared to be mad after speaking with his father’s ghost about getting revenge on his uncle, Claudius, for killing his father, Old Hamlet, also, Hamlet’s unrequited love for Ophelia was one of the central ideas in the play that eventually led to Hamlet’s madness, this develops the idea of appearance becoming reality. In the beginning of the play, Hamlet appears to be mad after speaking with the ghost of his father, Old Hamlet. Hamlet says to Horatio “Here,as before,never, so help you mercy, how strange or odd soe’er I bear myself—As I perchance hereafter shall think meet to put an antic disposition on”(I.V.89-192). In this quote Hamlet is letting Horatio know that he is going to feign madness in order to get revenge for his father’s death.

A major controversy that has divided the literature community for hundreds of years is the debate of whether Hamlet, in William Shakespeare’s well known tragedy, Hamlet, is feigning madness or is actually mad. It can be proven though textual evidence that Hamlet is not mad but is disgusted by life because he cannot overcome his innocence which disjoints Denmark. This disgust has been created by uncertainty and changes which have changed the innocent view of the world into one of which includes experience. Hamlet, however, does not want to see the many shades of gray in the world; he wants to see the world in black and white, so he knows the absolute right from wrong. His disgust towards life can be seen thorough his interactions between Gertrude,

Emily Dickinson writes, “Much madness is divinest Sense/ To a discerning Eye.” In William Shakespeare’s epic poem, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, the author portrays the character of Prince Hamlet as an insane and an impulsive individual with scenes of delusion, lovesickness, and indecision to murder. The populace surrounding young Hamlet in this work, confuse his character’s insanity for love that is not mutual, which they deem as a reasonable explanation for Hamlet’s current state of mind. As a result, the lunacy of Prince Hamlet contributes to the poem by creating a basis for the general idea of indecision and mental illness.

The line between sanity and insanity is a very thin line. Emotions which can range from happiness to pain can push anyone back and forth in the line. Shakespeare shows us in the play Hamlet how the events in Ophelia’s life drive her to total insanity.

Madness can control people and cause them to do things opposite of their normal behavioral actions. The happenings in Hamlet’s life has driven him to this madness and has caused him to make some very important decisions. Death as a whole made this story and affected the pot in many ways. All of the reasons for his madness are justified but it may just be part of a whole scheme by Hamlet to get what he wanted. No one had known what had happened when Gertrude and Claudius got married just after King Hamlet’s funeral.

Something that is often overlooked when examining the state of Hamlet’s sanity is just how astute Hamlet was. His usage of clever words, smart remarks and philosophical humor to prompt a desired response from certain people, show that he was able to use reason or logic in thinking. It is this kind of rational thinking that further proves that he was of a sound mind. An example of this cleverness is when he is talking with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and he refers to them as

Mental illnesses plague the minds of thousands of people all over the world. Recently, the topic of mental illness is brought to light more often as it is more prominent in modern day society. There is a significant increase of mentally ill characters in modern texts. Throughout history, critics have found characters that have mental disorders that affect the play primarily because characterizing a protagonist or antagonist as mentally ill brings depth to the character’s essence. Many acclaimed critics question the sanity of the protagonist in one of William Shakespeare’s most famous plays, Hamlet. The question of Prince Hamlet’s sanity divides readers into two different opinions: one defending his plan of fake insanity and the other confirming his insanity. In his plan to avenge his father’s death, Hamlet disguises himself as mad. Unfortunately, Hamlet’s intricate plan backfires as his mental illnesses become more prominent. The death of loved ones seem to trigger the psychosis in Hamlet’s mind which is seen in the depressive state he is in after his father’s death. His relationship with Ophelia and his mother Queen Gertrude, his fluctuating emotions and lack of sympathy are also evidence of his insanity. Hamlet descends into true insanity as he displays characteristics of psychosis, which is evident in his depression and suicidal thoughts, his relationships with female characters, his temperamental moods, and his lack of empathy over the death of others.

The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines insanity as, “a deranged state of the mind that usually occurs as a specific disorder”. In Shakespeare's play, Hamlet is considered to be insane by many due to his unstable, deranged behavior and his attitude towards others. Hamlet does an outstanding job of acting insane throughout the play, so good, in fact, that his insanity is questioned to actually be truthful. The answer to Hamlet's madness lies in the actual reasons for his insanity. Although Hamlet’s constant altering behavior was scrutinized by individuals as being psychotic, we can not forget that his father was just murdered and he wishes to uncover the truthfulness of his father’s death and avenge the killer. Hamlet chooses to to change his behavior in order to try to put pressure on Claudius to reveal the truth of his father’s murder, he displays rational and intelligent thinking in planning as well as in responding to unplanned situations, and he has been upset by the recent events that have happened in his life, all of which could create a false image of insanity.

No doubt this question has aroused to anyone who has read what is probably considered to be Shakespeare´s masterpiece Hamlet. And the answers to this question almost certainly differ in each case.