ipl-logo

Madness Ignites In Shakespeare's Hamlet

1327 Words6 Pages

Madness Ignites In the play, Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the theme of revenge and madness heavily relate to one another. Madness and revenge relate to one another because revenge will eventually lead a person to go mad, if a person cannot execute revenge they can go mad, and mad people will go to outrageous extents to get revenge. This relates to today because madness causes immoral actions, a victim may think an act of revenge may not be immoral (but just an act of justice), and those who seek revenge want to have those in similar situations as them fail. Revenge and madness relate because revenge can lead a person to go mad. As demonstrated in the play, Hamlet has a strong desire for revenge for Claudius murdered Hamlet’s father. At Hamlet’s turning point …show more content…

Shakespeare demonstrates this concept with his character, Ophelia. Because Ophelia is a woman, revenge is not part of her rulebook. As well, because Ophelia loves Hamlet, she cannot commit direct harm to him. Finally, Ophelia has so much built up inside of her including the fact that she cannot express her feelings properly that she went completely mad, “chanted snatches of old tunes; as one incapable of her own distress” (Hamlet 5.1), and thus, committed suicide. Ophelia committing suicide was an act of revenge. Because she could not commit revenge and live (unless she wants her reputation tarnished) she kills herself. This is her form of revenge towards Hamlet for killing her father. Because Hamlet killed her father, but she loved Hamlet, Ophelia had much built up emotion which, in her mind, could only be released in one way- suicide. Revenge can cause the innocent to go mad as demonstrated by Ophelia’s actions. Lack of revenge leads a person to madness because you are bottling up your emotions, releasing them to nothing. This bottle up leads one to a path of self destruction and wonder of self

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
592 Words | 3 Pages

In Hamlet by William Shakespeare he uses Hamlet’s madness to cause conflict between Hamlet and the other characters. Shakespeare has Hamlet fake madness throughout the whole play to find out who killed his father, and to trick the new king into thinking that he is really mad. Before Hamlet goes mad he tells Horatio, “How strange or odd some’er I bear myself (As I perchance hereafter shall think meet to put an antic disposition on)” (1.5.176-177).

Read More
651 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the insane and sane Hamlet occasionally changed between the realms of insanity and sanity. When madness suits Hamlet’s purpose he puts on a “antic disposition” (1.5.173). On the other side, when sanity is worthy, Hamlets reverts back to being logical. He claims he is “mad north-north-west” (2.2.376), which means he is mad sometimes and sane others. Therefore, to accomplish his short-term goals, Hamlet changes between insanity and sanity, which also slows his goal of revenge.

Read More
721 Words | 3 Pages

Revenge is a powerful trigger that puts people into action. People in society have always felt the need to take revenge on someone who has harmed them, and that has been happening for many centuries since. Similarly, it is seen in William Shakespeare’s tragic play Hamlet, Henry Slesar, and David Patneaude’s short story “The Right

Read More
1137 Words | 5 Pages

This clearly proves that Ophelia's father was her world and without him everything that was beautiful to her is now gone. Hamlet was the one that killed her father and she still loved him, causing her to go insane. Hamlet pushed her to insanity and suicide with his madness, contributing to the meaning of the play. This is heavily shown with the murder of Polonius, Hamlet acts on suspicion alone that it sounds like Claudius and goes to kill him “How now, a rat? Dead for a ducat, dead!”

Read More
1153 Words | 5 Pages

William Shakespeare tells the tale of a troubled man in his masterpiece, Hamlet. Imagine your beloved father dying and your mother marrying his brother shortly after. You’re left to grieve on your own. Instead of consoling you, your mother and uncle have a wedding and begin to share the same bed. This is what Hamlet suffers through in the play.

Read More
472 Words | 2 Pages

In William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, Hamlet pretends to be mad. At first, Hamlet’s madness is a guise put forth to hide his mental capabilities from his uncle and mother. Throughout the play, Hamlet’s actions make it questionable whether or not Hamlet is pretending to be mad, or if he is actually mad. Hamlet, in fact, does actually go mad, because his many emotions blind him and guide his senseless actions.

Read More
716 Words | 3 Pages

The Reality Behind Madness Madness is the most contradictory element in William Shakespeare 's, Hamlet, in IV.v.160-193 shows an act of true madness. The essential need for madness begins in Act I, when Hamlet decides acting mad is the only way to revenge his father 's death. This progresses the underlying meaning of the play, is Hamlet genuinely crazy? The argument continues when Hamlet murders Polonius with no remorse. Ophelia denies seeing Hamlet, which is the reason everyone believes is the cause of Hamlet 's madness.

Read More
1611 Words | 7 Pages

Hamlet, Claudius, Laertes, and even Fortinbras are drawn to violent behaviors due to the war-torn countries that they live in. The idea of revenge gives a motive for characters to inflict violence on those who wronged them. More importantly, violence surrounds each and every one of these character. Revenge simply gives Hamlet and Laertes a purpose. A purpose to pursue something meaningful.

Read More
2186 Words | 9 Pages

Shakespeare has written this motif with complexion that can only be appreciated with dedication. One of the aspects in studying the nature of revenge is character. Throughout the play he switches the characters and their motives. Not only does he switch from character to character but he writes it so that the characters are both male and female and vary in age and relations. The roles that gender plays provides a change in the nature of revenge especially when considering the era.

Read More
1500 Words | 6 Pages

Have you ever drifted away from your own sanity in hopes of getting revenge? Does the thought of violence or chaos cross your mind when it seems like the world is out to get you? In one of William Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies, Hamlet, acts of violence seem to follow each and every character in the play. In the beginning, Hamlet was thrown into a whirlwind of change and endless emotions. With his father just being murdered by his uncle Claudius and Polonius banning the relationship between him and Ophelia, the only thought running through Hamlet’s mind was anger and revenge.

Read More
718 Words | 3 Pages

Revenge is the desire to inflict harm on one who has wronged someone else. In many cases, revenge is motivated by a desire to make a person receive payback for their wrongdoings. A person can either forget and carry on with their life or allow sin to fill themselves with anger and a thirst for revenge. In the tragedy, Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet has a strong suspicion that his father’s death was a murder by his uncle, Claudius because a ghost had told him so. Hamlet’s depression transitions into an intense desire to avenge his great father, Hamlet becomes consumed with the past as everyone around him moves on into the future.

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
1305 Words | 6 Pages

Shakespeare had revenge play such a big role in his play to prove that revenge is not good. He had all of the characters end up differently to prove that. Revenge is not a good thing to base your actions off of and in Shakespeare’s play he shows

Read More
1198 Words | 5 Pages

It is the basis of revenge as a whole. Other authors, who have a focus on revenge, also agree with Shakespeare’s comments. In order to prove that Shakespeare’s statement held truth, one must comprehend what his comment symbolized. In honesty, he was rather blunt in his meaning.

Read More

More about Madness Ignites In Shakespeare's Hamlet

Related Topics

Open Document