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Nature Of Insanity In Hamlet

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Hamlet Essay: the nature of insanity Hamlet is a play written by William Shakespeare, this play is inspired by a 13th-century legend called Amleth, chronicled by the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus. Hamlet deals with topics as losing your sanity changes a person drastically and how easily the human mind is broken. And dives into the mindset of the characters that are affected by insanity. And you have to define insanity to know what it exactly it entails. According to Ryan Howes a therapist with a PhD from LA County+USC Medical Center insanity is “mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis, or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior.” …show more content…

He is constantly erratic and always findings ways to expose the current to what he is because he is fixated on getting revenge. He also acts violent towards the people that he knows Specifically, the scene of Polonius’s murder it shows some of the strongest evidence for Hamlet’s insanity. This scene in the play shows great levels of hysteria within Hamlet’s mind. At the beginning of the scene Hamlet is shown being extremely violent towards Gertrude; Hamlet criticizes and While against the mirror Hamlet makes Gertrude look at her herself. After this he pulls her away and wraps his arms around her neck and holds her …show more content…

After being threatened, Polonius then reveals himself behind the curtains by responding to Gertrude’s calls. Hamlet responds to Polonius by running over to him and violently stabbing him multiple times. This explosive violent nature of killing emphasizes Hamlet’s hysteria because he was unable to stop himself once he started the killing. This act of overkill shows his inability to control his emotions. After the killing he begins to calm down a little and he realizes what he has done. And then he see’s what he did to Polonius’ body and acts very sad for what did and knowing that he can’t go back because of his burst of rage caused him to do what he had done.
Hamlet is a unique character because everytime you look at Hamlet he changes. And just how we see real people change, Hamlet has this almost real authentic feel to him like his is real person in the world not a fictional one. HIs dramatic behavioral changes can be interpreted to people by many different ways and is considered an enigma to most people because they can’t get a perfect reading on him, and that make his insanity into a perfect cloak to hide his true

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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.

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This shows how instinctive he is because he doesn't even check to see who it is behind the curtain. Resulting in him stabbing Polonius rashly. Even though this murder was more of an accident Hamlet did not show any real type of sympathy towards the situation. Hamlet owned up to what had happened with little to no shame. All his anger and hostility came rushing out and he couldn't control himself.

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Contrasting his attitudes with the moments that the king walks in, his behavior towards Polonius while the play is preparing, and his actions to Ophelia during the play, Hamlet is sporadic, when alone with Horatio, he is calm and collected, then again the sudden resumption to his “antic disposition” when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enter. There is a long break in which we don’t sense any insanity from Hamlet, this is due to the fact that he has no need to assume his disguise. When we find Hamlet with the players, he is giving them directions for the play. With the players, Hamlet acts normal and of sound mind because the players are not likely to betray him, they don’t have the opportunity or the wish to do so.

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Because Hamlet can see reality so clearly, the growing obsession forces Hamlet to act irrationally when he is confronting other individuals. For example, when talking to Gertrude in the castle bedroom, Hamlet can no longer control his actions, which spur from his emotions, while he refers to Gertrude’s association with Claudius as a matter of “kill[ing] a king” and while he slays Polonius, who is hiding behind a curtain (Scene 4, pg 86-87). Hamlet’s obsession with murdering his father’s killer coincides with the confirmed revelation of Claudius’ actions and Polonius’ death by demonstrating that the prince can no longer remain objective in his goal, which ironically, was his father’s advice. Despite Polonius consistently acting as the “rat” (pg. 87) that Hamlet refers to, and has been aware of, the prince cannot help but allow his irrationality to grip him tightly. As a result, Hamlet can only think in black and white, rather than consider future possibilities.

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He acts on impulse and emotion, which also explains why his mind is overworked. Furthermore, Hamlet’s contradictive nature is his significant tragic flaw. Hamlet also behaves impulsively. For instance, when he stabs Polonius without checking to see whom it is, he is prone to rash behavior and can easily be deceived as a madman, wielding

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In Hamlet Act four, it clarifies how Hamlet is being demanded to kill Claudius, but he is afraid to. For what Hamlet did to kill Polonius was unnecessary, he did not know that it was Polonius, Hamlet thought it was Claudius, and instantly, he was genuinely in a bad spot for what he is going through. Hamlet may not plan to carry out his father’s revenge, therefore making his decision can fulfill his destiny. Hamlet is apprehensive about his crowd to believe he’s the bad guy of this. But apparently, he is innocent about why he killed Polonius.

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 King Claudius explains Hamlet's behavior to Polonius in act three, "madness in great ones must not unwatched go" (Shakespeare, 3.1.196).   This proves that Hamlet's behavior is not going unnoticed to him and he shouldn't go farther.  Polonius is also greatly affected by Hamlet's behavior because of his daughter Ophelia's relationship with him, and like the king, he would spy on Hamlet.  

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The most captivating part of this scene was when Hamlet, accidently killed Polonius. It happened so fast that I do not believe Hamlet could have stopped it if he wanted to, puls the fact that Polonius was hidding behind a curtain in the Queen’s room, Hamlet could have though that he was an intruder, and in self defense killed the old man, or maybe not, because clearly after he stabbed Polonius unknowingly, he wished that it was king Clauding, there showing that Hamlet was in a mood of violence, and might have killed someone eventually. Also the fact that he apologized to the dead body, after he found out that it was Polonius showed that he felt guilty, and obviously that he did not want to kill him. He was so angry that his actions were faster

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An overwhelming amount of evidence shows that Hamlet faked his insanity to confuse the king and his accomplices. Often revered for their emotional complexities, William Shakespeare’s tragic characters display various signs of mental illness. Sylvia Morris notes “Hamlet contains Shakespeare’s most fully-developed study of mental illness, and has always intrigued commentators on the play.” (“Shakespeare’s Minds Diseased: Mental Illness and its Treatment”). When looking at the play, one can infer that Shakespeare makes the relationship between sanity and insanity undistinguishable from one another.

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Hamlet is using this false madness as a cover from Claudius. This is so Claudius does not suspect him of his real intentions, which is to murder him. Proof of his false insanity is seen when he talks with Polonius. He manages to convince Polonius of his madness by pretending that he did not know who Polonius was, and by calling him a fish monger. Hamlet knew that Polonius was spying on him on behalf of Claudius, so he faked his insanity so that Claudius would not see him as a threat and therefore be oblivious to his real intentions.

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Polonius is a deceitful person and is always spying on Hamlet to see what is the cause for his madness. “Gertrude: What wilt thou do? Thou wilt not murder me?/Help, help, ho!/Polonius: (from behind the arras) What, ho? Help, help, help!/Hamlet: How now, a rat?

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In Hamlet, Shakespeare uses many references to sanity and insanity. Throughout the play, Hamlet goes back and forth between sanity and insanity, whether pretending to be insane just to mess with those he does not like or to save himself from getting in trouble. Hamlet is actually one of the smartest characters in the play, which is why he can pull off acting crazy so well. Shakespeare uses this idea of sanity and insanity to help the plot change and take a different directions. One of the most discussed topics of the Hamlet is whether Hamlet is insane or if he was just pretending the whole time.

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As Hamlet reaches the climax of the play, his entrapment comes in the form of malevolence towards Claudius in Act III, scene iv. This is when Hamlet stabs Polonius through the curtain, and then voices how he will fully commit to violent actions against the king, after the Ghost tells Hamlet again to do what he has been told. “I do repent; but heaven hath pleased it so, to punish me with this, and this with me, that I must be their

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Insanity is an idea that has been examined for a long time in numerous mediums such as films, music, plays, and even works of literature. William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” is no exception to that rule. Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most complex characters, and many scholars have been debating for centuries whether or not Hamlet is truly insane, or whether there is a particular reason for his odd behavior. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet merely pretends to be mad but in reality is sane.

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Hamlet doesn’t seem to think twice about killing Polonius. This portrays that Hamlet has a darker side. This also reflects the ideology that Hamlet us indeed crazy. It is ironic that Polonius was spying on Hamlet at the time. Maybe he wouldn’t have been killed if he didn’t do this in the first place.

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