ipl-logo

Shakespeare's Hamlet: The Reason Behind His Madness

964 Words4 Pages

The Reason Behind His Madness Hamlet gets himself into an utterly dire situation as his madness is totally self caused and entirely avoidable. He chooses his own fate when he is wrapped up in the idea of destroying his uncle to avenge his father. The thought of carrying out this revenge drives him to actually become mad and ruin almost all of his ties of friendship and his love for Ophelia. Hamlet’s demise, and the demise of loved ones around him, is self-inflicted and self-destructive. In the play of Hamlet, Hamlet, the main character, is the son of the King that has just recently died and Hamlet’s mother quickly thereafter remarried the Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius. There is a night that comes, where Hamlet is visited by the ghost of his deceased …show more content…

This plan hints towards a little bit of his self-inflicted madness taking over. What he wants to do, which he also discusses with his childhood friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, is that at the play, that will be held for them, the King and royal family, he will have one of the players recite a speech he came up with to try and draw a reaction out of Claudius. -”Which I have told thee of my father’s death: I prithee, when thou seest that act afoot, Even with the very comment of thy soul Observe mine uncle; if his occulted guilt Do not itself unkennel in one speech, it is damned ghost that we have seen And my imaginations are as foul As Vulcan’s stithy. Give him heedful note; For I mine eyes will rivet to his face, And after we will both our judgements join In censure of his seeming” (Hamlet III,ii. 78-88). The reaction, to Hamlet, will prove that Claudius is in a guilty state of mind and is actually responsible for the Death of the prior king, Hamlet’s father. Once the speech is recited, the King reacts in just the way that Hamlet expected and flees from the theatre shouting, “Give me some light: away!” (Hamlet III,ii. 273). This just fuels the madness of Hamlet because now he feels he has reasonable motive to carry out the murder of

Show More
Related

Grief In Hamlet's Grief

1071 Words | 5 Pages

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet struggles to cope with his late father’s death and his mother’s quick marriage. In Act 1, Scene 2, King Claudius, Queen Gertrude, and Hamlet are all introduced. Hamlet has just finished publicly speaking with his mom and the new king, and after he is interrupted by his good friend Horatio, who reveal the secret about King Hamlet’s ghost. Hamlet’s soliloquy is particularly crucial because it serves as his initial characterization, revealing the causes of his anguish. Hamlet’s grief is apparent to the audience, as he begins lamenting about the uselessness of life.

Read More

Madness Of Insanity In Hamlet

1153 Words | 5 Pages

He does this to see whether Claudius is guilty of his father’s murder or not. When the prologue actor enters, Hamlet says, “We shall know by this fellow. The players cannot keep counsel. They’ll tell all. ”(3.2.130-131).

Read More

The Importance Of Redemption In Hamlet

1386 Words | 6 Pages

With regards to the loss of his father, Hamlet lost his sense of self-worth/value. He began to question life and whether it was specifically for him as a result of his mother marrying his uncle, Claudius, in a month's time after her husband’s death. Through the visitation of Old King Hamlet’s ghost, Hamlet was able to find purpose in life which, destroy his core issue of an insecure/unstable sense. Likewise, Hamlet had the ability to control his psyche in order for his antic disposition to work; this all lead for his quest to murder Claudius to be successful. After the encounter with the Old King’s ghost, Hamlet says, “The time is out of joint.

Read More

Honor In Hamlet Essay

799 Words | 4 Pages

In the play Hamlet, we find that Hamlet meets with his father’s ghost, and about his father murder by the hands of blood related brother, Hamlet takes a decision, to revenge and restore the glory back

Read More

Hamlet Death Theme Essay

873 Words | 4 Pages

When Hamlet meets with the ghost King Hamlet in the opening scene, he realizes that his father is murdered by Claudius. From Act I scene 5, the ghost King Hamlet is asking Hamlet to seek for revenge, “So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear” (1.5.12). By knowing this, Hamlet starts the revenge for his father and sets the tone of the entire play where death, revenge, murder, and suicide become the symbols of the whole play, and leads to the deaths of almost all the characters, including Claudius, Laertes, Polonius, Ophelia, Queen Gertrude, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Hamlet himself. Also, because of his father’s death and his mother’s quick marriage with Claudius, Hamlet has the idea of committing suicide. From Act I scene 2, "O, that this too sullied flesh would melt,Thaw, and resolve itself to dew" (1.2.133-134).

Read More

The Insanity Of Hamlet In Shakespeare's Hamlet

416 Words | 2 Pages

Hamlet is the Prince of Denmark, who recently lost his father, the King. The guards persuaded Hamlet to go see his father’s ghost. The ghost reveals to Hamlet that Claudius murdered him, and asks Hamlet to avenge his death. Hamlet swears that he will do it, telling his friend, Horatio, and the guards of his plan. Hamlet is in love with Ophelia, but she ignores him because her father, Polonius, and her brother, Laertes, told her to do so.

Read More

The Destruction Of Hamlet's Madness In Hamlet By William Shakespeare

612 Words | 3 Pages

In Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Hamlet is approached by a ghost who he believes to be his father. Tasked with the job of avenging his father, he decides the best way to go about it is by putting on an act, a “antic disposition”. He decides that if he acts like he has gone crazy then he will be able to uncover some of the secrets of what happened and hopefully avenge his father. However, as the story progresses, Hamlet's madness becomes a question. Is this still an act or has it became much more?

Read More

How Is Hamlet Intelligent

575 Words | 3 Pages

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

Read More

Hamlet The Ghost

1084 Words | 5 Pages

His death and actions has led to many plot developments, such as the many losses and the insights gained through conversations between characters. A large source of tension is the marriage between Gertrude and Claudius; Gertrude is the mother of Hamlet and the widow of the King, who wrongfully married Claudius. Jealousy is another character flaw of Hamlet, who gained this imperfection from the Ghost. Hamlet was taught to hate Claudius for, in addition to murdering his father, spitefully marrying his mother and taking away the only love of the King’s life; during a long, emotional speech to Hamlet, the Ghost exclaimed that “thus was [he], sleeping, by a brother’s hand of life, of crown, of queen at once dispatched,” (1.5. 75-76). Hamlet begins to despise his uncle for not only killing his father, but for stealing his father’s wife, and perhaps winning his mother’s love.

Read More

Abuse Of Power In Elizabethan Era

1534 Words | 7 Pages

Firstly, Hamlet is a play of a man by the name of Hamlet, whose father was murdered by Claudius, his uncle. Claudius murdered the king by pouring poison in his ear to claim the throne for himself. Hamlet is then told by a ghost to murder Claudius for revenge, and he struggles within himself for the length of play whether to do it or not. When Hamlet begins to hesitate it does more damage than good and causes a chain reaction of tragic events, and makes the readers question whether Hamlet is truly sane or not. Claudius’s corruptness begins to show when he uses his authority to order those around him to rid of Hamlet.

Read More

Hamlet's Madness And Insane In Hamlet By William Shakespeare

216 Words | 1 Pages

Have you ever heard of one character in a play causing so much chaos! Well, In William Shakespeare's play Hamlet, many things have occurred to cause Hamlet to go mad. By him experiencing his father's death and killing Polonius accidentally has caused him to think he's crazy. Hamlet has been influenced by a ghost to get revenge based on his father's death. Hamlet's madness did cause him to fail the act on the avenge of his father's death.

Read More

William Shakespeare Hamlet Research Paper

697 Words | 3 Pages

Hamlet first learns about his uncle, King Claudius, killing his father from the only man who knew, his own father’s ghost. After the ghost of Hamlet’s father is done telling him of what his own brother Claudius

Read More

Why Is Hamlet's Madness Real

451 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More

Death In Hamlet Research Paper

1675 Words | 7 Pages

The ghost’s appearance has a significant impact on Hamlet’s behaviors and forms his decisions through the play. Hamlet, who is suffering from depression since he is dealing with his father’s death and the hasty marriage of his mother with Claudius, his uncle, became obsessed with the concept of life and death after seeing his father’s ghost. In the first appearance of the ghost, he reveals the truth about the how the king has been murdered, which drives Hamlet to seek revenge, and by revenge killing his uncle. The ghost establishes a dilemma and gives Hamlet time to think about his father’s request. But Hamlet has an uncertainty about the existence of the ghost as he notes “the spirit that I have seen may be the devil, and the devil hath power T ' assume a pleasing shape” (2.2.561–563) here, Hamlet is concerned that the ghost may be the devil and questions the motivation of the ghost for killing Claudius.

Read More

Fate Of Fate In Hamlet

1029 Words | 5 Pages

Hamlet: the story of a prince who solely wants to revenge his father’s murder at the hands of his uncle. In the end, Hamlet succeeds in completing his goal, but at the price of his own life immediately following Claudius’ death. Throughout the play there were several points where Hamlet could have killed his uncle without facing immediate repercussions, however, fate intervened and caused Hamlet to delay killing Claudius until the very last second. Fate also had a role in shaping Hamlet’s fatal flaw throughout the play. Because of fate’s interference in his life, Hamlet falls victim to his fatal flaw, his inability to act, thus causing him to delay in killing Claudius, ultimately creating the perfect scenario for fate to right the wrongs of Hamlet’s father through Hamlet’s own death.

Read More

More about Shakespeare's Hamlet: The Reason Behind His Madness

Related Topics

Open Document