William Shakespeare 's Hamlet, The Most Famous Being Hamlet 's Own Emotional State

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, there are two characters that display qualities of insanity. Specifically, Hamlet and Ophelia, although they both appear to be mad at times, their downfall (or supposed downfall) is quite different. Ophelia's madness seems complete while Hamlet's is questionable throughout the play. Hamlet's madness comes and goes; Ophelia's does not. Ophelia tells no one that she is "mad"; on the other hand, Hamlet shows everyone about his madness. Hamlet turns his madness on and off depending on the company he keeps. Ophelia on the other hand, cannot handle the loss of Hamlet's love, her brother's absence, and her father's death. It is all too much for her and she snaps. Hamlet and Ophelia’s position in society, along with the

    William Shakespeare’s creation of the character of Hamlet within the tragedy of that name left open the question of whether the madness of the protagonist is entirely feigned or not. This essay will treat this aspect of the drama.

In the play “Hamlet”, Shakespeare portrays the series of unfortunate events that develops into tragic characters and illustrates the symptoms of madness through Prince Hamlet and Ophelia while identifying the difference between genuine madness and feigned madness.

Hamlet’s depravity was caused by the sudden reemergence of his father telling him to end Claudius’ life where as Ophelia's madness was caused by the rejection of Hamlet, who actually loved her, and the accidental murder of her father. Both of these poor souls suffered as if cursed by Dionysus himself. This cruel but necessary display reveals that, while Shakespeare values the idea of madness in his play, this too isn't the main topic we should be focusing

With the coming of Freudian theory in the first half of this century and the subsequent emergence of psychoanalytically-oriented literary criticism in the 1960s, the question of Hamlet's underlying sanity has become a major issue in the interpretation of Hamlet. While related concern with the Prince's inability to take action had already directed scholarly attention toward the uncertainty of Hamlet's mental state, modern psychological views of the play have challenged his sanity at a deeper, sub-conscious level, typically citing self-destructive and, most pointedly, sexual drives to explain his behavior, his words, and the mental processes beneath them. In a play with undertones of incest and heavy doses of

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a tragic tale filled with madness, betrayal, and revenge. The treacherous death of King Hamlet leads to a series of events that causes Hamlet to present an “antic disposition” to deceive the people around him and avenge his father’s death. However, beneath his methodical and logical mind, there is an underlying current of mental instability. Although at first he feels that the idea of an act of madness is a good one, it becomes clear throughout the play that even Hamlet begins to doubt his own sanity. Shakespeare depicts Hamlet’s fragile mental state which transitions from a clever mask of madness into a genuine madness that is exacerbated by his family issues and obsessive behavior.

Dramatic literature is told through a story of dialogue about a character that experiences conflict throughout the play. These kinds of plays are often performed on the stage. One of the most famous playwrights of the 16th through the early 17th century was William Shakespeare, and his work continues to live on in the 21st century. The longest play Shakespeare had ever written was Hamlet, which is about a young prince who grieves over the death of his father and seeks revenge as he learns that it was King Claudius responsible for his father’s death. Throughout the play Hamlet expresses his thoughts through different soliloquys. Hamlets soliloquy in Act I, “O that this too, too sullied flesh”, contrasts from his famous soliloquy in Act III, “To Be or Not to Be”, and both reflect issues of the times in which Shakespeare had lived in.

The significance of madness in Hamlet contributes to the main characters antic disposition. Hamlet’s purpose for acting

Literary critics have been debating Hamlet’s madness for over four hundred years. In what is considered to be one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, the main character seems to be having an existential crisis that borders on pure madness due to the murder of his father and the hasty marriage of his mother to his uncle. In actuality, it is the world around him driving him to what seems like pure delusion. I believe that Hamlet’s actions are a direct result from his mixed feelings towards Ophelia and his mother and also his inability to decipher his emotions.

In Shakespeare’s classic play Hamlet, there are certainly a host of contrasting and influential characters that come together to naturally unfold the surprising events that make up the story. One such character is Ophelia, who spices up the play quite a bit. One of the main components, aside from her unrequited love of Prince Hamlet and her spying on him on behalf of her father and brother, that allows her to be such a central character is her madness, which leads up to her death. Not everyone agrees on the subject of Ophelia’s madness, especially if it was real or feigned and if it’s actual cause. In my opinion, Ophelia was driven to genuine madness out of grief and confusion.

Hamlet's madness in no way reflects Ophelia's true madness, his actions contrast them, furthermore in the play the only persons who regards Hamlet as really mad are the king and his henchmen, and even they are conflicted with many doubts. Hamlet also deliberately feigned acts of madness in order to confuse and frustrate the king and his attendants.

Hamlet displays his understanding of existentialism in the soliloquy “To be, or not to be, that is the question” (3.1.63) and yet his other words and actions lead us to believe he is still unaware of his own truth. Hamlet says "Then are our beggars bodies, and our monarchs and outstretched heroes the beggars ' shadows" (2.2.263-264) and says that we are all beggars, all lowly men, and we only have any greatness because others think we do. This is in direct conflict with his hubris, showing that he can come up with insights that are emotionally valid and yet he does not entirely accept them as he also has the opposite characteristic. He still cares about the hierarchy and wishes to be above people and is, but only because he and others

The true soliloquy is a speech that an actor delivers alone onstage to either himself or an audience.. In William Shakespeare Hamlet, Hamlets soliloquies appears to generally reveal that he is pure but that he has adapted impulsive behaviour and enters his downfall into mental instability. Nonetheless, the soliloquies and set speeches have a fulfillment of place revealing much about Hamlet and his overall development in character.

In my previous reflection I wrote about Hamlet’s madness being feign to conceal his ulterior agenda of enacting revenge on his stepfather/uncle King Claudius, and in turn fulfilling his father’s entity wish. I further elaborate on how Hamlet believes that in portraying a madman, attention will only be directed towards his socially abnormal antics. I also stated that although Hamlet’s madness across Act Two is feign, Hamlet shows signs of genuine madness. However, throughout Act Four, the blurred line of his feigned or genuine madness has become very apparent. Hamlet has been feigning madness all along.

First we can analyze hamlet being devastated by his fathers death. It is only fair to understand the pain he must have felt, and on top of that he is supposed to be the heir to the throne of Denmark. Instead, his uncle takes it from him by marrying his mother, Gertrude, so quick. By looking through the psychoanalytic lens, we first look at his id or unconscious, which are our most desired dreams or hopes that are deep within our mind, also known as the “pleasure principle: is the