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
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.
There is a distinct division of opinion among the other characters of the play about Hamlet's sanity and the split is along gender lines. Ophelia and Gertrude both state that Hamlet has gone mad, but the major male characters, on the other hand, like Polonius think that there is "method" in Hamlet's "madness," that his insanity is a surface mask to shield him as he plans the darker purpose of revenge. Since Hamlet is disturbed by the sudden death of his father and his mother's marriage to his uncle, King Claudius, the abnormality of his behavior to some extent is also understandable. Hamlet is naturally withdrawn, dark, and passive in the wake of those traumatic events. He also shows this when he constantly releases his anger with lines like "How (weary), stale, flat, and unprofitable seems to me all the uses of this world!" His self-exile and his self-reproach are essentially normal reactions to a series of events that he must avenge at his dead father's command but without further direction against a powerful chain of power within the guilty King.
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
Is Hamlet Mad? Not Likely. Madness is a condition of the mind which eliminates all rational thought leaving an individual with no proper conception of what is happening around him/her. Madness typically occurs in the minds of individuals that have experienced an event or series of events that their mind simply cannot cope with and, thus, to avoid their harsh reality, they fall into a state of madness. In William Shakespeare’s masterpiece Hamlet, there is much debate around the protagonist, Hamlet, and whether or not his madness in the play was real or feigned. It was a disastrous time in the prince, Hamlet’s life as his father had just passed away, his uncle then took the kingship and wed Hamlet’s mother, then the
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.
The astute statements and remarks that Hamlet says throughout the play prove that he is completely sane. Hamlet does indeed act mad throughout the play, but it is only an act to prove that Claudius killed King Hamlet. “I am essentially not in madness, but mad in craft” (3.4.187-188). Hamlet is admitting that he has been acting mad, but that it is by his will, which shows that is in control of his actions. Also, after Hamlet kills Polonius, Hamlet gives clever hints to where Polonius’s body is hidden, something that an insane person would be incapable of doing. “Where is Polonius? In heaven. Send thither to see. If
Insanity can be defined as a mental illness that causes a person to have difficulty distinguishing fantasy from reality. Whether Shakespeare’s Hamlet was insane or feigning insanity is a controversial topic. Gregory Shafer argues that Hamlet is not insane and that he uses insanity or madness for his own political purposes (42). In William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Prince Hamlet’s circumstances force him to seek revenge for the murder of his father King Hamlet. He creates a plan that he believes will give him an opportunity to kill Claudius, and the main part of this plan involves him faking insanity. Further and further into the book, his actions of a madman become more believable. However through his thoughts and actions it is clear that he is not truly insane, and his is only acting in this way in order to reach is ultimate goal of revenge.
Insanity is an interesting topic to explore, tricky to determine and potentially deadly to those around the affected person. Although most people in society are sane beings, many argue that Hamlet in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is not sane. His actions are not that of a sane person, but rather of a grieving man who is driven to his death by his insane lust for revenge.
In Shakespeare's play Hamlet the main character Hamlet experiences many different and puzzling emotions. He toys with the idea of killing himself and then plays with the idea of murdering others. Many people ask themselves who or what is this man and what is going on inside his head. The most common question asked about him is whether or not he is sane or insane. Although the door seems to swing both ways many see him as a sane person with one thought on his mind, and that is revenge. The first point of his sanity is while speaking with Horatio in the beginning of the play, secondly is the fact of his wittiness with the other characters and finally, his soliloquy.
Hamlet isn't insane, he just acts insane and plays another character to fool people. The way Hamlet talks in verse or sane shows that he can act insane or act normal when he pleases. Hamlet also cracks jokes and says ignorant things whenever Hamlet watches the play with Ophelia. Beautiful Hamlet makes these brilliant schemes to find evidence on who killed his stunning father, like the play inside a play, an insane person could not do that.
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
Hamlet’s insanity can be thought of as a tragedy or misconception of reality. The death of his father had shaped the first few impressions of his own persona as well as a new experience with his new aunt. As a result of his genius insanity prince Hamlet has devised a plan to make things more clear to the audience. “Hamlet’s behavior strikes the audience as abnormal on several occasions. For example, Hamlet seems to be really mad when he is in front of Ophelia in disordered clothes. He behaves as if he had been loosed out of hell to speak of the horror”. As the progress of the play foreshadows a significant end to his insanity that he acts upon. As the play progresses throughout, Hamlet finds ways in order to give others the impression that he has lost his sanity from his “love” of Polonius’s daughter Ophelia. “(Ophelia)He grabbed me by the wrist and held me hard, then backed away an arm’s length and just looked at me, staring at me like an artist about to paint my
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
In William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet, it is clearly evident Prince Hamlet is overcome with “madness” due to his father’s murder and other malicious actions taken against him. Throughout the play, there are many examples of how Hamlet displays his insanity due to certain situations he experiences and how he handles them. Hamlet shows his madness through the killing of Polonius, his treatment of Ophelia, his thoughts of suicide, and the treatment of his mother Gertrude.
“Hamlet’s madness is less than madness and more than feigned”. What is madness? Mad is a word with such uncertainty that it can be stretched to mean an abundance of things more than just pure psychological instability: a weariness of life; a suicidal impulse; a plotting charisma. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, a wild disagreement has been consequent for a series of years in the case of the madness of Hamlet, the play 's central narrative, was justifiable or feigned. As in any decision, one must be given both sides of the controversy before making an impartial conclusion. The case of Hamlet 's madness is no exclusion. It is appropriate to say that Hamlet may have remained sensible throughout the performance, especially in consideration of his rag flashes of what seems to be psychological discipline and stability. However, Hamlet is perceived as disoriented by overwhelming burst of hysteria after acquiring knowledge of his father’s death, news of Gertrude’s quick remarriage, and Claudius becoming the new King. In the butt end it is up to the scholar to determine for him or herself the psychological nature of Hamlet’s madness, as it may have been the motive of William Shakespeare, taking into review how open-ended this subject continued throughout the play.