The theme of deceit is a perpetual plague in literature that has infected many of William Shakespeare’s compositions. It is especially prominent in the renowned tragic play of Hamlet, a story about the Prince of Denmark grappling to avenge his father’s death in the early 17th century. Perhaps the most distinguished manifestation of insanity is found within the antihero, Hamlet, however it is not what it appears to be. Shakespeare, in this play, is deliberately adding a fabricated dimension of psychosis in order to steepen the quest for vengeance while simultaneously strengthening the portrayal of this eccentric protagonist, who only is not only doing what is reasonable but what is necessary to requite his father’s honor. One of the most controversially …show more content…
When talking with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet tells them, “I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw,” (II, ii, 368-369). Most people who are genuinely crazy believe that they are perfectly normal. For Hamlet to discern that he is misaligned with the world around him and to demonstrate recognition that his behavior is unusual shows that he is aware of what truly acceptable. Furthermore, he then realizes that he is sometimes far from this criterion. This open acceptance that he may be mad is a good indication that he is …show more content…
Despite brooding on the possibility of suicide, he is attached to his humanity, and the possibly of an afterlife. “O, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt Thaw and resolve itself into a dew Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! O God, God, How wear, stale, flat, and unprofitable/Seem to me all the uses of this world” (l.ii.132-137). This occurs again when he utters the famous lines, “To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of trouble” (III.i.58-61). His ultimate restraint from suicide is what makes him sane. Someone who is insane, would be far more detached, far more unconcerned with the