Was Hamlet Faking His Insanity? Essay

Hamlet only owns up to his madness because it buys him time to stay and perform actions if he

Hamlet’s madness is questioned by many readers. The truth is that Hamlet portrayed madness before he came up with the plan of acting madness. This madness is an important characteristic in the play with Hamlet’s actions revolving primarily around the idea he has because of his madness. There are several occasions further in the play when the audience sees Hamlet acting mad even though there is no one else in the room that he was aware of. In act three, scene four, when Hamlet is in his mother’s chamber and hears a noise behind the arras the rash decision to stab the noise behind the curtain shows exactly how erratic and unstable Hamlet is. His rash behaviour to kill without seeing what he is doing shows that his madness is real and not something he is faking to have revenge for his father. In act five scene two, Hamlet announces that he has switched the letter that ordered Hamlet to be killed in England; instead writing that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are to be killed. This is perhaps because he thought they were the ones who ordered his death when in fact they were just following Claudius’ instructions. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were Hamlet’s friends which show that he was perhaps paranoid in his madness. They were there to help yet his rash character after seeing the Ghost has yet again ended people’s lives. It is important to consider that in the Elizabethan era madness was defined differently than what the

Hamlet only claims madness because it allows him to say and perform actions he otherwise would be prohibited from, while keeping people from

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

       The most interesting thing about all of the characters' guesses as to the logic behind Hamlet's insanity is that the majority of their opinions stem from the thing that most plagues or preoccupies them. Claudius believes that Hamlet is crazy because he has a secret. This was ironic because the secret that Hamlet does have is that he knows that Claudius is his father's murderer. The very secret that plagues Claudius is the same that plagues Hamlet. Hamlet's mother, Gertrude, is wrapped up in her guilt about marrying Claudius so soon after the death of her late husband. She thinks that this must be what makes Hamlet rant so incoherently. While spying on Hamlet for the King, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern decide that he is going crazy because he can no longer fulfill his potential. Their betrayal of their school chum is fueled by the same blind ambition that they believefuels Hamlets insanity. Polonius thinks that Hamlet must be mad

Hamlet’s plan from the beginning is to act insane to draw attention to the royal family, and his plan eventually works. “Something have you heard of Hamlet’s transformation” ( 2.2.3-4). When people start to notice that Hamlet was going insane, more attention is focused on the king and queen than before the incident. Also, even Ophelia believes that he is mad: this leads to her being watched over by her father, and eventually leads to her suicide when she drowns herself. He is such a good actor that even his mother thinks that he is insane. “O, he is mad, Laertes” (5.1.272). Gertrude is more in love with Claudius than she is with Hamlet. This is proven when she jumps to Claudius’s side when he was accused of murder and immediately rats out Hamlet. Hamlet could be accused of being insane, but in the end his plan works out which proves that he is sane and in his right

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.

After this scene Hamlet acts insane and he often criticizes his mother for remarrying and even insults her, but gets away with his actions because at this point those around him are starting to believe there is something wrong with Hamlet. Hamlet is not crazy but if he were truly crazy then he would not internally realize that he is mad, a crazy person usually doesn't realize they are going crazy, but it is others who realize because of his or her actions. In Hamlet's case, Hamlet knows he is "crazy" and his acting is beneficial for him because he is able to talk freely without having to hold anything back. If Hamlet were truly insane it would have caused him his own death, because usually when an individual is insane they are unaware of what they are saying and their actions are usually always made hastily, a quality that Hamlet does not seem to have.

In the beginning of the play the main character, Hamlet, gets a visit from the ghost of his father that has recently deceased unexpectedly. His father’s ghost appears throughout the play but only Hamlet has the ability to see this spirit which leads to the conception that he has gone insane. He grieves his father’s death in very unhealthy

Was Hamlet insane? Scholars have debated this question ever since Shakespeare presented this play to the public. Although I am not a scholar, I believe that there is enough evidence in the play to suggest Hamlet had been sane. He may have been depressed and angry however this was due to the treachery and betrayal contaminating Denmark. The insanity act had been an instrument to allow Hamlet the freedom to achieve his goal of revenge.

The insanity of a person can be contributed through the trauma that is caused by a few events in a person’s life, but in the play Hamlet, William Shakespeare wrote the main character prince Hamlet experiences a few dramatic events from the play which his attitude changes throughout. In order to figure out whether hamlet is insane is by figuring out what the characteristics of his insanity. Characters see Hamlet in different shades of gray, each side more or less sane than others. His sanity can be his truth or his lie.

     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 tragedy, Hamlet, the character of Hamlet feigns insanity. For a person in his situation, having one's peers think of one as crazy can be quite beneficial. His father, the king, had just died, and he is visited by a ghost who appears to be his father's spirit. The ghost tells Hamlet that he was murdered by his brother Claudius, who is now the current king and who recently married the former king's wife. Hamlet vows revenge and, as a tool to aid him in that plan, convinces people that he is crazy. The fact that he is acting, as opposed to actually being insane, can be seen in Hamlet's conversations with a watchman, two childhood friends, and his mother. Also, there are many actions in the play that he would not have

In shakespeare novel, Hamlet is supposed to be faking insanity all along, but in my point of view, at some point he might’ve really taken his role to serious. Insanity, according to the dictionary means: “a permanent disorder of the mind.” I don't think Hamlet had a permanent disease of the mind because he knew what he was doing all along and he planned things the way he wanted to be. In the events of the play, Hamlet’s father dies, and then his mother marries his uncle within a few weeks of his father’s death, and his uncle was for Hamlet the main suspect of the death of his father, it is hard for him to maintain himself sane after that, and then happening to see the ghost of your father. That I think is something that can drive people crazy. Hamlet main goal I would say, is keeping himself sane but making everyone think that he is crazy.