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Depression Depicted In Shakespeare's Hamlet

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To be depressed or not to be depressed, that is the argument. Depression is a common disorder amongst people, but just because you are depressed, it does not make you insane. We see this assumption made in William Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’. Many believe Hamlet was insane because of the way he acted and reacted towards everything. In reality Hamlet was depressed and enraged because of the actions of others towards him and his own emotions.In the play, Hamlet has to return home to make it to the funeral of his father King Hamlet. He comes home to find out that his mother, Gertrude, has married King Hamlet’s brother Claudius. When Hamlet encounters his father’s ghost, he finds out that King Hamlet was murdered by Claudius, in order for him …show more content…

He is so bothered by his mother’s new marriage that instead of showing or telling her how depressed he is about this, he decides to mock her and make it into a joke. The reason why people see Hamlet as insane instead of depressed is because he has the courage to make fun of his own mother. Hamlet’s constant battle with his emotions for Ophelia is yet another reason people see him as insane. Hamlet tries to hide his true feelings for Ophelia mostly because of Polonius, Ophelia’s father. Hamlet does not trust Polonius. In Act 3 , Scene 1, Polonius and King Claudius have arrange for Hamlet to run into Ophelia because they want to determine if it is love that is making him suffer. When Hamlet walks in and Ophelia tries to return him his gifts, Hamlet notices something move. He now knows that he is being spied on. So Hamlet tells Ophelia “This was sometime a paradox, but now the time gives it proof. I did love you once...You should have no believed me, for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it. I loved you not” (lines 124-129). This part of the play makes him seem really insane because he is telling Ophelia that he loved her but that he did not love her. I think that since Hamlet has to hide his feelings for Ophelia it makes him sad since he can not be with

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When Ophelia returns all his letters and gifts he tells her that he has never loved her and that she should “get thyself to a nunnery.” This is one example how his mood changes throughout the play. Then after all this her father, Polinous, is murdered by Hamlet. The Hamlet is sent away to England All of these actions result in her feeling such stress that she becomes insane in the end.

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