Why Is Hamlet Feigning Insanity

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.

Hamlets Falsified Madness In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, a large theme and running question revolves around whether or not Hamlet’s madness is falsified or truly genuine. Through Hamlet’s own confessions, the observations of others, and his eloquence and logical thinking, it is clear that Hamlet is putting on an antic disposition to feign madness; he is not truly insane. Through Hamlet’s monologues, soliloquies and conversations with his closest allies we can learn a great deal about his character and true nature.

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.

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.

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

Insanity is the act of doing something over and over to get the same result. Hamlet was known to be insane, but for some reason does not follow that definition. This is because he is not actually insane by definition, like the people believe he is; rather Hamlet has been driven to madness upon realizing that his father had been murdered by his very own uncle. This is his own enemy because it affects his choices, relationships, and view on life. First and foremost, each choice Hamlet makes affects him as well as everyone around him, but his madness influences each decision he makes on how he acts.

I believe that Hamlet claimed to have feigned madness because then the suspicion of what he is planning, the revenge he is planning, wont seem so clear to the others. Hamlet made it seem like he was going mad so people would just brush off any weird or maddening comments or actions that he has and will do in the act of revenge for his fathers death. I believe this because after Hamlet talks to the ghost of his father he says, “I’ll wipe away all trivial fond records, all saws of books, all forms, all pressures past that youth and observation copied there, and thy commandment all alone shall live within the book and volume of my brain,” (Act I, Scene V). After talking to his fathers ghost, Hamlet decides that nothing matters in life other than to seek revenge for his father’s murder. As he stated, he clears his brain of everything but that and sets him plan into motion to kill his uncle.

CLEVER TITLE “ To be or not to be” is a famous line vocalized by Hamlet in William Shakespeare’s novel, Hamlet (3.1.64). Throughout his soliloquy, Hamlet questions whether or not he should live or die, endure or surrender, and act or confess. Hamlet debates if his act is worth the mental and physical toll, or if he would be better off dead.

Hamlet's Madness in William Shakespeare's Hamlet At any given moment during the play, the most accurate assessment of Hamlet's state of mind probably lies somewhere between sanity and insanity. Hamlet certainly displays a high degree of mania and instability throughout much of the play, but his "madness" is perhaps too purposeful and pointed for us to conclude that he actually loses his mind. His language is erratic and wild, but beneath his mad-sounding words often lie acute observations that show the sane mind working bitterly beneath the surface. Most likely, Hamlet's decision to feign madness is a sane one, taken to confuse his enemies and hide his intentions.

The claim that Hamlet feigned his madness can be viewed as a controversial conversation after reading the play. On page one hundred three, Hamlet says, “To put an antic disposition on.” (Act I, Scene V) This quote is important as it shows when one ‘puts on’ something, it means to act versus how things actually are viewed. Therefore, Hamlet is stating that he is normally not like this.

Insanity is a perfectly rational adjustment to the sane world. In the play Hamlet several times only with family and close family members has he showed any signs of madness. However when he is alone he is thinking of ways to make other believe that he is insane. Hamlet is trying to deceive everyone by his words and his actions. Essentially the book Hamlet is about a boy who needs to help his father to take revenge by assassinating the king so that he may be in peace. Although Hamlet seems insane throughout most of the book, he is just faking it so that he may assassinate the king and avenge his forebear.

In Hamlet, he seems to be mad, but there is a question that everyone asks when reading or watching this play “was it, or was it not true that Hamlet was faking his insanity, really suffering, or maybe even both.” First, this is what insanity is: insanity is acting crazy, but not knowing that they’re acting crazy. Also, it’s going through a lot of stress at the same time causing you to act stranger then a normal person. Hamlet was not totally insane. It doesn’t fit.

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

Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, is about a young prince who wants revenge when he learns about the murder of his father. As the play begins, Hamlet’s character appears to be a normal, sane person. Moving through the acts Hamlet’s personality changes from normal to depressed. There are hints of insanity that try to convince people Hamlet is “mad”. Others might say that Hamlet is faking madness to pursue his goal of revenge. First, he sees a “ghost” that tells Hamlet who killed his father and married his mother. Was this a dream or was this real? Second, Hamlet kills more than one person to avenge his father’s death. Where these accidents or intentional? “Insanity: a legal term for mental illness of such degree

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the main character Hamlet is believed to have gone insane after the death of his father. There is much evidence in the play that causes one to believe that Hamlet is in fact crazy. However, there are also indications to the contrary, Hamlet only feigns madness for the purpose of carrying out his mission. He rehearses his pretend madness first with Ophelia for even if he fails to convince her , that failure would not cause him any harm. The language he uses is clearly not that of an insane person, he is lucid and succinct when he speaks proving that he knows exactly what he is doing. .