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. One main view as to why Hamlet decides to feign madness is to have a mutual response to each person regardless of their relationship. For example, it is easier to seem mad at everything towards each person in his case versus having to remember what individual he is mad at. If he acts the same towards everyone, and not represent himself in another way, they will believe he is truly mad. As stated by Polonius, “Made call I it, for to define true madness” (Act II, Scene II) and “pity ‘tis ‘tis true- a foolish figure” (Act II, Scene II) show that Hamlet is representing himself in a manner where others think he is mad, although have suspension that he may be faking it. The foolish figure words …show more content…
Hamlet says, “I am but mad.” (Act II, Scene II) This statement is to the point and he clearly explains that he is mad. He gives good evidence of this when he speaks on page one hundred twenty-five when he says “Make mad the guilty, and appall the free.” (Act II, Scene II) This scene shows good evidence of his insanity appearance. This quote is also a contradicting statement as we see both the mad and guilty part versus being free. During this time, other characters may start to wonder what his views are. Even though he is speaking for Hecuba, it seems the speech shifts and begins to describe what Hamlet (himself) is going through too by stating “Am I a coward?” (Act II, Scene II) This drastic change from Hamlet makes the other characters aware that his madness may not be real after
He acts irrational only when he is around certain individuals. He acts irrational around Polonius, Claudius, Gertrude Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and Ophelia but remains calm and rational around Horatio, Marcellus, and the players. A big part of the play is when Hamlet lashes out at Ophelia and convinces her he has actually gone mad. “With a look so piteous in purport as if he had been loosed out of hell to speak of horrors...Then he let out a sigh so piteous and profound as it did seem to shatter all his bulk and end his being” (2.1.84-97). This single action brings tremendous tension and makes Polonius immediately believe that Hamlet has gone mad because of his love for his daughter. On the other hand, Hamlet can be rational just as much as a sane person. "Give him heedful note, for I mine eyes will rivet his face, and, after, we will both our judgments join in censure of his seeming” (3.2.83-86). Hamlet tells Horatio to watch Claudius during the play to see if he acts guilty. The fact that he thought this out in such an organized and clear way makes it hard to believe that he is mad because a madman would never be able to think like that. Hamlet also knows how to act properly around the players. An example of this is when he asks, "You could, for a need, study a speech of some dozen or sixteen lines, which I would set down and insert in 't, could you not?” (2.2.540-542). This question is understandable and
In Act I, Scene V, after hearing the ghost’s demand for revenge, Hamlet says in advance that he will consciously feign madness while seeking the opportune moment to kill Claudius. Therefore, it is hard to conclude that he coincidentally became insane after making such a vow. Hamlet’s supposed madness not only becomes his way of relating to the other characters during the majority of the play, but also that which develops his character as throughout the play. Still, the question remains: Is Hamlet really crazy or just pretending?
is saying. It acts as an alibi if something is taken in the wrong way,
Throughout the Shakespearian play, Hamlet, the main character is given the overwhelming responsibility of avenging his father’s "foul and most unnatural murder" (I.iv.36). Such a burden can slowly drive a man off the deep end psychologically. Because of this, Hamlet’s disposition is extremely inconsistent and erratic throughout the play. At times he shows signs of uncontrollable insanity. Whenever he interacts with the characters he is wild, crazy, and plays a fool. At other times, he exemplifies intelligence and method in his madness. In instances when he is alone or with Horatio, he is civilized and sane. Hamlet goes through different stages of insanity throughout the story, but his neurotic and skeptical personality amplifies his
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
One of the largest debates in the literary world is whether Hamlet was actually mad, or if he feigned it to disconcert Claudius and others close to him. The question of whether or not is similar to that of whether or not Gertrude was aware that the cup was poisoned. Personally, I believe that Hamlet was not mad, but rather delusional; making himself mad to fit his own goals, rather than simply being such. He had many soliloquys debating whether or not to appear mad to others, but also showed pieces of madness through his obsession with murder. As a result, Hamlet was not mad, but he was not of sound mind, either.
Integrated inside of every human by the fault of sin and revealed when events take a wrong turn, anger is seen as an important human emotion and reaction one can never avoid. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the prince of Denmark named Hamlet is forced to deal with anger when his untrustworthy uncle Claudius marries Hamlet’s mother, the queen Gertrude, right after the murder of his father, thus receiving the throne. While Hamlet battles the inner turmoil of anger, his insanity is considered among the king and queen. Claudius, with some insight from Gertrude, begins to turn his anger from Hamlet’s insanity, which includes publicly condemning the king, into murderous revenge. The anger between Hamlet and the royalties
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
158-161). Claudius believes that whatever the reason for Hamlet’s madness, the end result or outcome will be dangerous. Polonius, however, believes that the reason Hamlet is acting so strangely is because he is madly in love with Ophelia. Because of Claudius’ fear of what Hamlet could do he decides that “Madness in great ones must not unwatched go” (3.1. 182-183) and sends Hamlet to England. Hamlet admits to others that he is mad, which would seem like something that someone who was actually mad would be unlikely to do because they wouldn’t want to bring attention to it. Hamlet wants to bring attention to the idea that he is mad because he wants it to be spread around so that it becomes a known fact. Hamlet says “How strange or odd some'er I bear myself / as I perchance hereafter shall think meet / to put an antic disposition on.” (1.5. 170-172) to show the reader that his madness isn’t real.
An important reason to how hamlet's madness played an important part was, how it helps him figure out who was truly on his side. One tremendous issue the play witnessed was how each person betrayed one another. However, Hamlet was able to eliminate this problem by faking frenzy. In act, I, scene V, lines 190-201 Hamlet tells Horatio how he was going to a fake frenzy after seeing his father's ghost. "How strange or odd some'er I bear myself/That you, at such times seeing, never shall, /With arms encumbered thus, or this headshake, /Or "If we list to speak," or "There be an if they/might,"/Or such ambiguous giving-out, to note/That you know of me-this do swear". Here hamlet says to Horatio that from this point forward he'll act weird but to also ignore him as it is just an act to seek revenge for his father. Furthermore, Hamlet would then only act
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’s absurd actions began when he got a visit from his father’s ghost. As he was conversing matters with the ghost, he acknowledged that he may need to disguise himself with strange behavior (antic disposition) in order to not give himself away. He wanted to ensure that he wouldn’t make it conspicuous that he was planning to kill Claudius in order to achieve his own equanimity. Hamlet mentioned to Horatio, Marcellus, and the Ghost, “How strange or odd some’er I bear myself (As I perchance hereafter shall think meet to put an antic disposition on)... ” (Pg. Act I Scene V Lines 175-177). He needed to surreptitiously act in a strange manner in order to convey the idea to the culpable King that he didn’t have a plan, although he did. Hamlet would not have given them the caveat that he would act mad if he actually was crazy. One who is mad will most likely not admit it, but Hamlet certainly admitted that he would be acting this way to communicate a certain impression. At the climax of the play, the queen claimed that Hamlet was mad when he interacted with his father’s ghost after he murdered Polonius. She vehemently claimed, “Alas, he’s mad” (Pg. 177 Act III Scene IV Line 109). She declared
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. .
From a psychological point of view, “feigned madness” can be grounds on which Hamlet’s future actions can be legitimised, if not at least be accounted for. To commit a murder for the purpose of revenge, on the basis of a spirit’s account would seem rather absurd but by proclaiming madness, the entire prospect is more believable and by that extension, validates the possibility of such an account. More importantly, Proser argues that Hamlet’s “ barrage of incoherencies (transparent to us, opaque to them) acts as a smoke screen for his own soliloquized plot-hatching” ( Proser 340 ). In a sense, the artifice of madness can assist as a deceptive tool while Hamlet struggles internally to resolve the moral quandary of vengeance and seeks to confirm the truth behind the King’s murder.