Feigned madness

Shakespeare’s character Hamlet were brought to a court of law, the question of his insanity would be debated endlessly. The familiar character has been analyzed since the time the play was written in an attempt to discern the true madness, if there is any, from the feigned. With evidence to support both sides of the argument, one must weigh the value and relevance of each evident piece. Both sides of the argument are strongly supported; however, in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the evidence against Hamlet

into madness?” (Shakespeare 26-27). After talking to his father, Hamlet feigned his own insanity as a way to get revenge on Claudius. In order to convince everyone of his insanity, he first convinced the person who knew him the most: Ophelia (Shakespeare 38). As a result, to rationalize Hamlet’s madness, Polonius claimed that the reason behind his odd behavior was the love he had for Ophelia (Shakespeare 41-42).

In order to determine whether or not Hamlet is truly mad, it is crucial to first define the term 'madness'. According to the Oxford dictionary, madness is "a state of having a serious mental illness, extremely foolish behavior, or a state of wild and chaotic behavior". Initially, Hamlet is in fact the exact opposite, and it can be inferred that Hamlet is not mad. However, Hamlet's ability to make decisive decisions and maintain stable thoughts significantly weakens, proving that he is mentally unsound

question of whether the madness of the protagonist is entirely feigned or not. This essay will treat this aspect of the drama.   George Lyman Kittredge in the Introduction to The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, explains the lack of success with Hamlet’s pretended insanity, and in so doing he implies that the madness is entirely feigned and not real:   The necessity for some device like the play within the play is due to the failure of Hamlet’s assumed madness to achieve its purpose

father asks him to seek revenge. His friends and family think he is full of pure madness, but he is actually faking it so it is easier for him to get revenge. On the other hand, Ophelia did have a real problem with insanity. After her father was accidently killed, she drowned herself. I believe Ophelia didn’t know how to live without her father, so she thought killing herself was best. Hamlet was able to feign his own madness

Hamlet, both the character and the play, has puzzled many critics of Shakespeare's works because there is no definite explanation for Hamlet’s feigned madness or indecisive nature. In the eyes of many critics, the character ’s two main qualities are irrational and detrimental to the play’s plot. There are multiple views that try to reconcile the reason behind Shakespeare's motives, either through a study of the history of the play or how the creation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet came to be. Each theory

There are debates arguing the topic that either Hamlet's madness is real or is feigned. Often individuals would want to find points in between both arguements and say that Hamlet started with a foolproof plot for revenge and succumbed to the realization that not all was what it seemed, to which Hamlet began a lethal spiral into insanity. In Act 1 of the play, Hamlet's plan to follow his deceased father's ghost does not sit well with his close friends Horatio and Marcellus. By following his father's

Claudius is the closest of all the characters as to the cause of Hamlet's insanity, that is, if he is actually insane. He thinks that Hamlet's madness is caused by deep melancholy. Ever since the death of his father, Hamlet has been deep in sorrow. He has become greatly introspective and muses on his life. Even before the complication of his dead father's request, Hamlet's sorrow at his loss

Hamlet’s Unique Madness In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the main character, Hamlet, has a very peculiar type of madness, which possesses both real and fake elements. In the play, Hamlet intended to act mad as a disguise, but at times, his fake madness appeared to be much more than pretend; this combination of real and fake insanity creates a type of madness that is unique to Hamlet’s character. Indeed, Hamlet has very obvious displays of pretend madness, primarily shown through his interactions with

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