Insane In Hamlet

493 Words2 Pages

To be or not to be, that is the question. In actuality, it’s more like to be sane or not to be sane is the question. Scholars have tried for years to tear apart Shakespeare’s masterpiece of a play, Hamlet, and debate whether Prince Hamlet is completely sane or Insane. In Hamlet, the main protagonist is the prince of Denmark and is mourning the death of his father. Prince Hamlet’s uncle marries the widowed queen who is Hamlet’s mother and is found to murdered the late King Hamlet. After examining and analyzing the play, Hamlet is found to be clever and cunning, pretending to throw fits of insanity while fooling everyone around him. Therefore, the prince is clearly and perfectly sane.
Before Hamlet is called into Denmark for his father’s funeral, the guards of the castle and Horatio see an apparition of the late King. “In the same figure like the king that’s dead…In which the majesty of buried Denmark” (Crowther). In addition, Hamlet meets the ghost of his father later on; “Angels and Ministers of grace defend us! Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damned...Thou comest in a questionable shape that I will speak to thee” (Crowther). Horatio and the guards are terrified at the sight of the ghost; along with Hamlet. There would be no reason for Hamlet to fake his fear at this point in time. This scene shows that he is sane and …show more content…

The king has poisoned Laertes’ sword and a cup of wine to act as a tribute. As the duel unfolds, Hamlet uncovers the plot to kill him and kills both Laertes and Claudius, but gets poisoned in the process. As he dies, he tells Horatio “And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain to tell my story” (Crowther). Hamlet tells Horatio to tell my legacy and story; Hamlet does not want for his story to be forgotten and all the bloodshed for nothing. A mad man wouldn’t say such a thing unless for a true purpose, for Hamlet truly died as man with