What Makes Hamlet's Insane

There is a fine line between sane and madness that everyone can teeter on in some point in their lives. Sometimes this is the result of a broken relationship, a loss of a job, confusion about the future, anger, or can be a result of countless other events or reasons. This theme of insanity is present in countless pieces of literature due to its relatability to everyone, not just people with a diagnosed mental illness. People tend to do crazy things and act crazily without being completely insane. Along the same lines, when people linger in their crazy actions and start to do it purposefully, it can lead to something that is real and more permanent. Hamlet’s madness, in Hamlet by Shakespeare, is a complex idea that is constantly developing throughout

When he talks to Guildenstern and Rosencrantz, Hamlet is clever to realize what their actual pupose of visiting was. "I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw. (2.2.401)." Hamlet is able to play with his friends through his "madness" and is still capable to maintain his secret of what he is really doing.

Many people have seen Hamlet as a play about uncertainty and about Hamlet's failure to act appropriately. It is very interesting to consider that the play shows many uncertainties that lives are built upon, or how many unknown quantities are taken for granted when people act or when they evaluate one another's actions. Hamlet is an especially intriguing production, both on the set and on the screen because of its uniqueness to be different from what most people expect to be in a revenge themed play. Hamlet's cynicism and insane like behavior cause him to seem indecisive, but in reality he is always judging and contemplating his actions in the back of his mind in order to seek revenge for the murder of

Throughout the play, Hamlet undergoes a painful split between head and heart, caused by numerous family problems. When the prince returns home to pay his final respects to his dear and beloved father, he discovers a most terrible fate. He learns that his noble father whom he had loved so, is not only deceased, but his own uncle is to blame. Hamlet's mother, whom he also loves dearly, is now sharing an "adulterous bed" with the very murderer of her once beloved husband. Initially, Hamlet is driven to a state of ruin by

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).

Insanity is an interesting topic to explore, tricky to determine and potentially deadly to those around the affected person. Although most people in society are sane beings, many argue that Hamlet in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is not sane. His actions are not that of a sane person, but rather of a grieving man who is driven to his death by his insane lust for revenge.

Hamlet is a young man who has become crazy from his trials and tribulations in life. He lost his father due to his uncle murdering them and then had to watch his mother marry the killer. Hamlets insanity can be demonstrated by his crude language and disregard for the well being of his mother. It can also be shown by his depression, which causes him to second guess everything including his life and finally his love, Ophelia helps to justify his absurdness by acting as a mirror. His foolish behavior worries many in the kingdom and creates a hostile and paranoid environment for those around. While some in the castle may believe that Hamlet is putting on an act, he proves that he is mad through his violet actions, his mental health and Ophelia.

Many people, while reading and studying Hamlet, often question the sanity of various characters throughout the play. There are many signs throughout Shakespeare’s writing that indicate a lost sense of sanity in the main characters Hamlet, his uncle/father Claudius, his mother/aunt Gertrude, and Ophelia. Each of these character’s sanity plays a large role in the plot of the play.

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.

Another character that can be pointed to as the reason why multiple tragedies occurred throughout the play is Hamlet, and his desire to seek vengeance against Claudius for murdering his father. The way in which Hamlet went about achieving revenge drastically influenced the occurrence of tragedy throughout the play. Hamlet decided to create a persona of insanity, and present himself as insane to others to reach his ultimate goal. This act of insanity however lead to a multitude of tragedies. The first of which was the death of Polonius. During a conversation with his mother Hamlet was acting quite bizarre to keep his act of madness up. Eventually Hamlet said this, “Come, come, and sit you down. You shall not budge.

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, by William Shakespeare, begins with the mysterious death of King Hamlet in Denmark; as a result, his son, Prince Hamlet, is overwhelmed with grief and undergoes an existential crisis when his mother, Gertrude, quickly moves on from mourning. To make matters worse, King Hamlet’s brother, Claudius, hastily takes over the kingdom by marrying her. The purpose of Hamlet’s first soliloquy is to introduce his troubled thoughts, which significantly contrast his subdued tone during forced conversations with Claudius and Gertrude. Hamlet astutely expresses his tremendous sorrow by attributing his feelings of helplessness to Claudius’ abrupt assumption of power. After dwelling through his pain, he rationalizes that his tormented mental state is

William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” is the most infamous tragedy to happen in playwriting. The most important part of Hamlet is how there is a lot of tension between Claudius and Hamlet, and their fight that nearly collapses the entire kingdom. Hamlet has a lot on his plate, from trying to avenge his father’s death to just wanting to die; and because this is a Shakespeare tragedy, the theme of death is evident. In the first act, after much consultation, King Hamlet talks to Prince Hamlet and tells him that his brother, Claudius, has killed him.

The tragedy of Hamlet by William Shakespeare is about Hamlet going insane and reveals his madness through his actions and dialogue. Hamlet remains one of the most discussed literary characters of all time. This is most likely due to the complex nature of Hamlet as a character. In one scene, Hamlet appears happy, and then he is angry in another and melancholy in the next. Hamlet’s madness is a result of his father’s death which was supposedly by the hands of his uncle, Claudius. He has also discovered that this same uncle is marrying his mom. It is expected that Hamlet would be suffering from some emotional issues as result of these catastrophes. Shakespeare uses vivid language, metaphors, and imagery to highlight how Hamlet’s madness

The king of Denmark, Hamlet’s father, has died, leaving Hamlet distraught and grieving. His mother triggers these emotions in him to an even further extent by marrying Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius, soon after the funeral. When the ghost of Hamlet’s father comes to Hamlet while roaming the castle grounds, telling him he was murdered by Claudius, Hamlet vows to use madness as a weapon to exact revenge upon Claudius and his mother. However, the idea that Hamlet descends into madness throughout the play is extremely debatable, as some of his actions have no logically beneficial explanation. In Hamlet Shakespeare describes a fictional world filled with spies, murder, and revenge. Through Hamlet’s thoughts and actions Shakespeare communicates the idea that Hamlet’s tragically flawed motives derive not from revenge and hatred, but from a severe mental disorder.