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Comparing Perks Of Being A Wallflower And Hamlet

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Recommended: Hamlet and mental health

One-in-ten American’s are diagnosed with depression and this number increases twenty percent each year. In one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, Hamlet, and in the award winning novel, Perks of Being a Wallflower written by Stephen Chbosky, both of the main characters deal with severe mental illness. Although depression stems from different causes, Charlie and Hamlet have many similar problems. Throughout Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet shows symptoms of depression. His constant “thoughts of death or suicide”(Gwinnell 4), his “grandiose ideas”(Gwinnell 7), and his “inappropriate social behavior” (Gwinnell 7) allow the reader to diagnose Hamlet as depressed. The reoccurring theme of suicide is evident. Hamlet struggles with the question: “is it
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In William Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet”, and Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the sanity of the characters Hamlet and Ralph McMurphy is questioned. While circumstances of these characters cause them to look insane, their motives for acting crazy or irrational come from an underlying agenda: Hamlet wants revenge for his father’s death and McMurphy wants to gain control from Nurse Ratched. The death of Hamlet’s father causes Hamlet to fall into a depression leading to suicidal ideation. McMurphy is a criminal brought to a mental hospital on account of his psychopathic tendencies. Devastated by the news of his father’s death, Hamlet becomes utterly depressed and hopeless, bearing “more grief inside [him] than you could ever see

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“People with mental health problems are almost never dangerous. In fact, they are more likely to be the victims than the perpetrators. At the same time, mental illness has been the common denominator in one act of mass violence after another,” Roy Blunt, a United States senator, had said. Some individuals who are mentally ill are able to achieve their goals because they have the qualities associated with being a leader, such as having confidence typical of narcissism or willing to use others like psychopaths. The characters of Hamlet and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest focused on these states of mental health and how it tied into the people and setting.

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In our society, we can see that our desires and emotions often conflict with the actions we take. But when our emotions are driven purely from emotions, we are met with dire consequences since emotions can be a potent force that can lead to destruction. This is beautifully illustrated in Hamlet, a play by Shakespeare, As I Lay Dying, a novel written by William Faulkner, Solo on the Drums, a short story by Ann Petrey, and Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants, a children's book by Dav Pilkey. These works show the discrepancy between what is in the mind and what is public and shown to other people, and how the revelation of those emotions through unchecked actions leads to chaos and destruction. Hamlet takes a very

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Death seems to be the biggest mystery in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. From the start of the play with the Ghost of Hamlets father appearing to avenge his death, to Hamlet’s most popular “To be or Not to be” soliloquy, and to the plays bloody conclusion; the uncertainty of death seems to always be on our protagonist mind. Death has become a recurring theme throughout this whole play. His thoughts of death range from death in a spiritual matter, the truth and uncertainty in what death may bring, and the question of his own death.

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In the play Hamlet, he faces a family crisis of murder that causes him to go mad. He seeks restitution for his father’s death and in the end, causes the pain and suffering of many others. Hamlet in total can be linked to

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Although the audience can relate to the general scenarios Hamlet undergoes, most of his experiences are quite incomprehensible to the average person. Thus, proposing these questions naturally leads the audience to put themselves in Hamlet’s shoes, evaluating the “whips and scorns” he has endured, which in turn generates empathy. Interestingly enough, empathy and projection are opposite ideas (Abeles); as Hamlet attempts to redirect the focus off of himself, the audience does the exact opposite by evaluating Hamlet’s life from his cynical yet unique perspective. At the same time, the audience can still identify with Hamlet’s pain stemming from the loss of his father and disconnect with his lover, among other

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The meaning of life has always been a dilemma and continues to be one. Hamlet’s famous dilemma will never get lost as it is definitely a fundamental dilemma now-a-days. In today’s society human life is always in search of what it means to be or not to be. This question is constantly being asked, be it from the idea of where Hamlet meant it as to live or to die. One can see this as a question of to be part of something or not to be part of something; to be part of the in crowd or not to be.

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The question of whether or not Hamlet was insane is of a never-ending debate. Was he always crazy? Was he always faking it? Or was he somewhere in between? In this paper I will share three different views and provide my own interpretation of Hamlet’s sanity.

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Hamlet discusses his first suicidal thought, which shows Hamlets degree of depression. In this soliloquy, Hamlet is complaining that he cannot commit suicide and he wishes that his physical state (body) would melt away. During this scene in the play, Hamlet is still grieving his father’s death and controlling his rage towards Gertrude’s incestuous marriage to Claudius, Hamlet wishes to die himself and is having thoughts about suicide due to his melancholy state. Depression is the first symptom of dissociative identity disorder that causes or alters an individual’s personality. Audiences can observe that Hamlet is traumatized from his father’s death, which is causing his mental state to worsen.

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His depression is so great that he has thought of suicide, a huge cultural sin, as he knows. Hamlet’s thoughtfulness is also conveyed, taking six lines to delve into his emotions.

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Hamlet’s mental state will be examined through multiple actions and a soliloquy. Upon learning the truth about King Hamlet’s death, Hamlet has a hard time facing

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As a result, people were unwilling to suicide in order to maintain their reputation, and because their moral standard refused them to be a coward by escaping from incapable events. Hamlet thought the same way, his life tormented him, but he suicide was morally unacceptable. Meanwhile, Hamlet’s moral standard related to the views of others. He was afraid that his father would look down upon him if he committed suicide. Because his father was such a hero to himself.

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Hamlet’s ability to overthink situations or decisions makes him conclude that committing suicide might be the easy way out of his indecisiveness. Hamlet overthinks every problem that is happening. He overthinks so much that he cannot make up his decision about what to do with the problem. The cluelessness that is going on within his mind makes him lose his mental status, life and the love of his life. Hamlets actions are hypnotized by his thoughts: “Thus Conscience does make cowards of us all, And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought, And enterprises of great pitch and moment, With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action” (3.1.85-90).

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Suicide is a reoccuring theme in Hamlet. Since this is a theme that affects all characters to a certain degree, it is interesting to see how the idea of suicide is treated both morally, religiously and aesthetically. This essay will mostly be based on Hamlet´s own soliloquies, considering their relevance to the theme, but Queen Gertrude´s treatment of Ophelia´s death is also worth a mention. The story of Hamlet takes place in medieval Denmark, but a precise date is not mentioned.

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