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Ophelia's Madness In Hamlet Research Paper

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In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the main character Hamlet is driven genuinley mad due to the tragic death of his father, along with the desire to find out if his uncle was truly the instrument of it. Many people seem to think that Hamlet’s madness is feigned throughout the entire play, and some say that it was real only at certain times. Many of the people making these accusations about Hamlet’s madness have never experienced the loss of not only a father, but a king. For one to say they would know how they would even handle their own fathers death until it has happened would not be a truthful statement. It is proven that grief is different for everybody. Instead of one believing Hamlet is faking his madness because it only happened at …show more content…

Unlike Hamlet's madness…Ophelia's madness is never questioned. She lost Hamlet emotionally, and her father on all counts; but why is Ophelia's madness justified but Hamlet’s is seen as feigned? There could be many reasons for this, from him being a male and his emotions being invalidated, to the fact that he was talking to ghosts so nobody actually believed him. Regardless of the reason, the overall truth is Hamlet having gone through what he did, he could have very well been mad if not madder than Ophelia. He also lost his father, along with Ophelia later in the play; and to top it all off, many people were out to get him because he knew the truth about everything! Hamlet’s madness is shown again when he loses another loved one (Ophelia). Hamlet jumps into Ophelia's grave and fights with Laertes, “ Forty thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love, make up my sum.” (Act 5, scene 1, 254-256). As you can see this act was in the moment with all that Hamlet was feeling. Losing two people can truly take a toll on one. This is proven by Ophelia as well. For one to say that Ophelia was mad, but Hamlet was not would just be contradicting oneself and could be seen as hypocritical.

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Emily Dickinson once said “Much madness is divinest Sense— To a discerning Eye—“. This type of madness can be found in the play “Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Though many characters show madness throughout the play, Ophelia’s madness is the most prevalent. Ophelia has good reason for this irrational behavior because of the trauma she has gone through. First, her boyfriend dumps her, then he calls her vulgar names, and lastly, he kills her father.

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Madness was a reoccurring theme throughout the play and these were the two characters which portrayed it more than others. In Act 3 Scene 1 Hamlet encounters Ophelia and calls her “fair”, creating a calm atmosphere. Later Hamlet rapidly changes his attitude, raging towards Ophelia and telling her “Get thee to a nunnery” implying he loved her once but now denies her love. Hamlet was acting mad in front of her in an aggressive manner and says “God hath given you one face and you make yourselves another”, Hamlet is suggesting that all women are two faced. Hamlet finds out that this was a setup of Claudius and Polonius to spy on him, so they can find out if he is truly mad.

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One primary example which proves the insanity behind Hamlet’s loss of love for Ophelia is when he berates her for being a pawn of her father. During his encounter with Ophelia, Hamlet states that, “If thou dost marry, I’ll give thee this plague for thy dowry. Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny. Get thee to a nunnery, go. Farewell” (x).

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Having your father die is bad enough, but to have your mother marry your uncle, within a few weeks of your father’s death? Then to see the ghost of your dead father. That would drive anyone a little insane, but maybe not to the extent that everyone thought Hamlet was acting. Hamlet is torn between acting sane and letting everyone else see him as insane.

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The differences in their madness strongly support the assertion that Hamlet is, in fact, not truly mad. "The mad role that Hamlet plays to perfection is certainly a proof of Shakespeare's genius, but by no means a surety of the insanity of the prince, unless we be prepared to maintain that no one saves a madman can simulate dementia" (Blackmore). As Blackmore points out, his crazy behavior is such that only someone who is not mad could play the part so well. Again, a truly mad person would not have so much control over his actions and

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Lastly, because of Hamlet’s actions after he finds out of Ophelia’s death. An example from the play would be when Hamlet ends up at Ophelia’s funeral on accident. He throws himself into Ophelia’s grave after Laertes to prove he loves her more than Laertes does. One last example of this is when Hamlet uses his rage from Ophelia’s death in his duel with Laertes, which puts him ahead a few points before the tragic end of the play.

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At the beginning of Act V Hamlet is sad and depressed when he found out that Ophelia is dead, and compared his love to her with everyone else. Hamlet expressed his love with Ophelia by telling Laertes that he would do anything for Ophelia even if it was to be buried with her, and if Laertes “prate of mountains” Hamlet would “let them throw millions of acres” on them (V.i.259-260). Readers know this to be true because in the earlier plays Hamlet even took the time to write Ophelia letters, and sent her gifts. Near the end of Act V Hamlet is sane when he “proclaim” the reason he fought Laertes was due to “madness”(V.ii.219). Even though Hamlet said it was his mental illness that caused the fight which makes Hamlet a sane person because only sane people can point out that sometimes their actions are wrong.

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The apology may have been fake but the madness is real. So with everything Hamlet went through, from the death of his

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There are plenty of examples of Hamlet appearing mad, but there are just as many examples of Hamlet appearing sane, even intelligent. Hamlet is even aware of his madness, which can be seen in the quote, “What I have done that might your nature, honor, and exception roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness… It ‘t be so, Hamlet is of the faction that is wronged; His madness is poor Hamlet’s enemy” (273). Hamlet is clearly aware of his own madness, but this does not necessarily invoke his sanity. Hamlet still appears insane,

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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

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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.

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Ophelia’s death results from Hamlet's madness, his telling Ophelia that she needs to go to a nunnery, and Polonius's death. Hamlet telling Ophelia to go to a nunnery made Ophelia feel insecure. Especially when Hamlet told Ophelia that he would marry her just so she would sleep with him. Then, Hamlet comes back to Ophelia telling her that she needs to go to a nunnery. Which is basically calling Ophelia a whore, because a nunnery is like a whorehouse. Ophelia at this point felt very insecure about herself and she questioned her relationship with Hamlet.

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Soon after Hamlet discovers his father 's death was not of natural causes, but in fact he was poisoned by his own brother, Claudius; he begins to act as if he has been taken by insanity. During this time, his insanity was nearly indistinguishable. During his "acting" he even claimed he wasn 't in love with Ophelia, he told her, "Ay, truly, for the power of beauty will sooner transform honesty from what it is to a bawd than the force of honesty can translate beauty into his likeness. This was sometime a paradox, but now the time gives it proof. I did love you once.

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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.

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It was also very much clear he was not mad that he could not forget his love for "Ophelia"till last. When his be loved"Ophelia",who was the part and parcel and apple of eye for him,she was on death-bed,and when,all of sudden,she died,he felt the severe pain in his heart,his life was jolted. He became the victim of internal injuries,which were unexpressable and un-bearable,but faced that lethel shock boldly and participated in the funeral procession of his beloved. His normality was graphic,when he uttered the dialouges,at the burial ceremony of "Ophelia", Brother of ophelia said, "I love you ophelia" but,Hamlet reaplied splendidly that: "I love her more than 40 thousand brothers". It shows that he is performing the role of mad one .

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