Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, is a tragic play about a young boy who is grieving about the loss of his father. The play takes place in the royal palace in Denmark between the 14th and 15th centuries. The insanity of Hamlet plays a role with his mental state, relationships with other people, and the plot of the play.
First, Hamlets mental state has fluctuated throughout the play, between good and bad. Since the death of Hamlets father, he has struggled with trying to deal with his grief. Gertrude told Hamlet to stop wearing black clothes and he responded with “my black clothes…nor any other display of grief can show what I really feel” (Shakespeare 25). Hamlet is trying to deal with his grief just like any one else does, but he doesn’t know how to express his real feelings with anyone. When Hamlet is talking to himself he says, “Oh, what a mean low-life I am” (129). Hamlet knows that he is going crazy but he has no ambition to get help or talk about his feelings with anybody. The more
…show more content…
Hamlet has loved Ophelia, but since the death of his father his mental state is decreasing, causing him to treat her worse. Laertes is telling Ophelia, “…his affection will fade after a minute. Not a second more” (41). As a brother thing to do, Laertes is looking out for Ophelia because he knows that Hamlet could break her heart and her reputation. Ophelia was returning Hamlets belongings and he tells her, “you shouldn’t have believed me…I didn’t love you” (143). As hamlet is having a conversation to himself, Ophelia comes in to give him back some of his items that she had, and he keeps telling her that he never loved her. Hamlet was questioning himself if it was better for hm to be alive or dead, which makes hum not want to confess his love from the past with Ophelia. Hamlet has too much going through his mind, that he is not in the right mental state to be loving