Hamlet Journal 1 In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, the main character Hamlet, appears to be insane, but his mistrust for his uncle and desire for revenge drives him “To put on an antic disposition on— / That you, at such times seeing me, never shall,” (I.v.181). He succeeds in convincing almost everyone around him that he is truly a mad man whose only cure is execution; however, he is enigmatic and ambiguous. By having an appearance of insanity and madness, Hamlet is able to use it to his advantage to achieve his own purpose of ridding his father’s murderer. As the Prince of Denmark, he is more obsessed with flushing out Claudius’s guilt and shame into the open to move forth with revenge than affairs with the son of their past enemy, …show more content…
He was able to tell that his schoolmates came back to visit only because they were ordered by the king and queen to watch him. Similar to before with Polonius, he calls them “fools” and “sponges” without trouble; however, there’s a sense of rationality beneath his deceiving words. This shows that he is able to think critically and is able to differentiate between friend and betrayer. In Act 5 Scene 2, Hamlet says to Horatio, “ I sat me down, / Devised a new commission, wrote it fair/He should those bearers put to death/Subscribed it, gave ‘t th’ impression placed it safely, /The changeling never known.” (V.II.32) If he were truly mad, Hamlet would not have been able to know to switch letters causing his former friends to become executed in …show more content…
As the innocent victim of Hamlet’s feigned madness, Ophelia’s insanity is a product of her inability to cope with Hamlet and her father’s death. Her songs show hidden grief and sorrow; her flowers represent the fact that beneath the innocent exterior, there is a weakness or flaw in everyone. Hamlet was able to look past his grief for his father’s death, but he caused someone he loves to be in pain. Whether it is the frailty of women, sorrow, or death, anything, including love, can appear to be pleasant, but can be the ultimate cause of a person’s