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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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