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Examples Of Mental Illness In Hamlet

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Mentally Ill There are many different types of mental illnesses that usually originate from traumatic events that happen in one's life. Hamlet, the main character in the play Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare, went through multiple traumatic events. These events affected Hamlet’s mental health throughout the play. The events that led Hamlet to depression also led him to have bad thoughts and to do crazy things. Hamlet was already struggling mentally so when he is told bad, new information about his father’s death, it adds to his mental decline. This leads to Hamlet’s anger growing and he becomes unhealthily obsessed with getting vengeance. His plan to succeed in taking his revenge was to act insane. This facade of insanity helps lead to the decline of Hamlet's mental …show more content…

By the end of the play, all of these things leave Hamlet truly insane. Hamlet's poor mental state is shown as the play progresses through his displays of depression, his pretend madness, and his obsession with revenge. At the beginning of the play, it is introduced that Hamlet's father has died and his mother is getting hastily remarried. There is no time for Hamlet to process his feelings as the two events are only months apart. Hamlet is depressed by the death of his father and his mother marrying so soon after his father’s death. After he meets and talks to his mother and new king, Hamlet speaks his first soliloquy. During Hamlet’s soliloquy, he expresses that he has a want to kill himself but he says “his canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! Oh, God, God, “(1.2.132). Hamlet is acknowledging that even though he wants to kill himself God is against it. At this time Hamlet would not go against God, but as the play continues Hamlet has more suicidal

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