ipl-logo

Hamlet's Madness Is Real Essay

401 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Analysis of hamlet

I believe that Hamlet's madness is real. There's no way someone could go through what he went through and fake their madness. Although I believe Hamlet’s madness is authentic, I don't believe it took control of him. At the beginning of Hamlet his father King Hamlet was killed. He soon finds out that Claudius poisoned his father. Then soon after his mother marries his uncle Claudius. Which then becomes his uncle/stepfather. Hamlet’s mother definitely played a big role in his madness. Hamlet actually expresses this in Act I, Scene ii, by saying, "I must hold my tongue" (Hamlet Act I scene ii). Hamlet feels that his mother is disgusting, and what she is doing is incest. He also thinks she is disrespecting his dad, by getting with a fake version of his …show more content…

“Oh, what a rogue and peasant slave I am!”(Act II Scene ii).Hamlet is having a war with his conscious.This is when I believe Hamlet madness becomes real. From the moment he found out his father was murder the goal was to get revenge, but he planned on faking his madness. This clearly did not work. Lastly when Hamlet finds out Ophelia is dead, and he is to blame. This is important because Hamlet actually sees that he has been acting mad, and went too far. “I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers Could not with all their quantity of love Make up my sum”(Act V Scene I). In this particular part of the scene he doesn't yet see his own madness, Claudius does. Soon after in Act V, Scene II, Hamlet expresses his madness. “What I have done That might your nature, honor, and exception Roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness”(Act V Scene II). Hamlet apologizes to Laertes and admits to his madness. Some might say this was a part of his plan, but the emotions he expressed when he was in Ophelia's grave were authentic. The apology may have been fake but the madness is real. So with everything Hamlet went through, from the death of his

Show More
Related
645 Words | 3 Pages

One definition of madness is “mental delusion of the eccentric behavior arising from it.” However, as Emily Dickinson once wrote, “Much madness is divinest Sense/ To a discerning Eye.” In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the main character, Prince Hamlet, shows apparent madness which proves to serve an important role throughout the story. This erratic behavior consists of his seemingly senseless dialogues, his loss of care for Ophelia, and his increasingly aggressive nature. Such behavior often proves justified by the play’s audience due to its convincing nature despite Hamlet’s predisposition towards insanity.

Read More
1154 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout the play Hamlet continues to act insane and even dies with the act continuing. Even after Hamlet gathers all the evidence that proves Claudius is the murder, Hamlet continues to behave in a strange way. When he mistakenly murders Polonius he does not react as a sane person would. This act enrages Laertes, who then wants to avenge his father’s death. Driven to madness by the murder of his father, Laertes, with the help of Claudius conspires to kill Hamlet.

Read More
932 Words | 4 Pages

Hamlet's insane behavior is a significant part of the story because it is supposedly part of his revenge plan, but also because of the additional problems, it creates. Some have argued that his madness was indeed an act, but rather real madness that he was trying to cover up by telling people

Read More
636 Words | 3 Pages

Hamlet spent a lot of time convincing those around him that he was mad, but he may have convinced himself in the process.

Read More
1457 Words | 6 Pages

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.

Read More
2082 Words | 9 Pages

In this scene, his behavior was so mysterious that the person he was acting impertinently towards is concerned about him. What we can deduce from this quote is that Hamlet doesn’t care about the consequences of what he does or how they affect others. He just walks into Ophelia's room and harrasses her without a care in the world except for his vengeance, demonstrating where his priorities are. Of course, everything was done to fulfill his desire to get revenge by doing justice to his uncle, his mother, his lover, his friends, and his sanity.

Read More
595 Words | 3 Pages

Firstly, Hamlet employs madness to avenge his father's death by constructing a facade to prove Claudius’ guilt. Ophelia describes Hamlet’s madness as, “Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other; / And with a look so piteous in purport / As if he had been loosed out of hell” (II. i. 79-81). This introduces Hamlet’s act to conceal his knowledge of his father’s death from Claudius and Polonius.

Read More
1441 Words | 6 Pages

While the play begins, he is suffering from grief and depression, but he does not feel able to express himself to others, so he pretends to be insane. This causes him to conceal his true joyful and peaceful personality. It starts when Ophelia explains to her father, “...I was sewing in my chamber, Lord Hamlet,… [looked] as if he had been loosed out of hell” (2.1.78-79,84). As he knows his mother, Claudius, and those close to him will learn about it and believe that he is insane because of love and not because of mental illness, Hamlet pretends to be insane in front of her. He does not want people finding out about his issues, which is common for people suffering from such illnesses.

Read More
801 Words | 4 Pages

Madness is often a symptom, and in the case of Hamlet this may be the reason behind his actions. The death of Hamlet’s father is the catalyst for Hamlet, causing him to see the ghost and ultimately become obsessed with the idea of revenge. A common theme for shakespeare is to explore a character’s mind and reasonings, and Hamlet’s character being mad was a perfect opportunity to continue this theme. Hamlet’s debatable madness, Ophelia being truly mad and the death of every character involved with Hamlet or his father is a prime example of tragedy, which Shakespeare is known for. While Hamlet’s madness is not certain, it is indisputable that the play Hamlet was built off of the idea of what is madness, and how does it affect one’s

Read More
575 Words | 3 Pages

There are many reasons for Hamlet to truly go mad including the death of his father, his mother’s remarriage and the relationship he holds with Ophelia, leading many away from the fact that he is “not

Read More
451 Words | 2 Pages

In Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet, there are a series of events that causes Hamlet to act abnormally. He has to deal with his father’s death, mother’s remarriage, and his lover Ophelia. However, it is often argued whether Hamlet’s madness is real or fake. Throughout the tragedy, he is over-exaggerating his madness for his plan of revenge.

Read More
1004 Words | 5 Pages

A select few scholars believe that Hamlet is not pretending to be mad, but in reality is insane. Hamlet reveals his insanity through his strange behavior toward others. Dr. Simon A. Blackmore claims, “The Real or Assumed Madness of Hamlet” in Shakespearean Online that Hamlet is insane because of the fact that he is able to see a ghost while others cannot (215). Dr. Blackmore in The Real or Assumed... also asserts that in Act III, scene IV, the instance when Hamlet is in Gertrude chamber and Hamlet states to Gertrude that he see a ghost.

Read More
1457 Words | 6 Pages

In the play, Hamlet, William Shakespeare reflects the common early modern beliefs and perspectives about madness by using the character development of the protagonist who feigns madness throughout the play. Given Hamlet 's status as a prince, current knowledge of madness during the time period, and the contrast of the different types of madness of other characters in the play, Elizabethan audiences would have found it plausible that Hamlet feigns madness as part of his plot to avenge his father 's death. This new historicist perspective steers the modern reader away from anachronistic psychological interpretations of the play. Hamlet’s status as a prince gives the character certain roles and expectations to fulfill, such as avenging his father’s

Read More
767 Words | 4 Pages

It is obvious that Hamlet had a troubled mind in the play because he was torn on what to do in order to avenge his father’s death. He was torn between whether he was following his father’s wish or the wish of the ghost that appeared to him. This made him insane because, he spent his time worrying about his father’s death revenge and this affected his state of mind. Hamlet became insane because

Read More
487 Words | 2 Pages

He felt betrayed by his mother who married his uncle, shortly after King Hamlet’s death. Prince Hamlet promised revenge to avenge his death thus he looked for a plan. He decided to feign madness as he spoke with Polonius so that Claudius questions him. The rest of the play questions Hamlet’s motives and whether he is, indeed, mad or acting. He’s convinced Claudius of his madness, although he knows not of his fate he delays the King’s murder.

Read More

More about Hamlet's Madness Is Real Essay

Related Topics

Open Document