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Is Hamlet Sane Or Insane

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What is madness? How would one identifies who is mad? How can one quantifies and defines that concept of ‘madness’? From a medical approach, madness is considered as being in some state of severe mental illness. From a more popular perspective, it is assigned to a spectrum of atypical behavior ranging from foolish reactions, to idiocy or lunacy. In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, Queen Gertrude, the protagonist’s mother, marries her dead husband’s brother Claudius who killed Hamlet’s dad in the first place. Hamlet then sees the ghost of his dead father who requests him to take revenge on his death. Would that be considered madness? Throughout the process of vengeance, Hamlet is seen to have extremely erratic behavior and in states which …show more content…

However, as conniving as he is might seem to be, could simply be a form of manipulation for self-preservation. Though Hamlet may act insane at times, under the true nature of the definition of “madness”, he would come out as mentally sane. William Shakespeare, the writer of that tragic play, never clearly states whether Hamlet is truly mad or simply a conniving man, leaving the audience to make its own assumptions. Is Hamlet sane or insane? And if so, how does that impact his title of a “tragic hero”. Throughout the play, Hamlet's questionable madness is explored through his apparant lunacy, his feigned actions and his and others’ perspectives of his …show more content…

Even though many people don’t realize they don’t have a mental issue, many believe that their high level of manipulation gives them superiority over others. However, in Act 2, scene 2, Polonius says "Though this be madness, yet there is method in't." After Hamlet has continuously disrespecting Polonius, Polonius, while speaking to the audience, is saying that Hamlet’s “mad” behavior has substantial reasoning behind it. Though not the cause of his father’s dead, but Hamlet’s love for Ophelia has made him “mad.” Even though he does come across as ignorant, he is ironically correct in a way that maybe past Hamlet’s disguise he is truly mad. However, Hamlet does it on purpose because he knows Polonius will tell Claudius. Correctly so, when Polonius tells Claudius, Gertrude responds"I doubt it no other but the main,/ His father's death and our o'erhasty marriage" which follows under Hamlet’s manipulation that due to his life circumstances everyone would believe the obvious reasons he has gone mad.” Every character in the play seems to believe that Hamlet’s madness has something to do with their own relationship that they share with Hamlet whether Gertrude as his mother or Polonius his lover’s father without being aware of the fact that this is all part of his conniving scheme. However, Claudius believes in Act 4 scene 4 that, "This mad young man. But so much was our love,We would not

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