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The Mentally Ill In William Shakespeare's Hamlet

1756 Words8 Pages

The mentally ill may feel veiled in the face of social pressure; Hamlet showcases the emergence of a society portraying corruption as sanity and love as an illness. Mournful of the past, distrustful of the present, and blinded from the future. Shakespeare draws questions about subjective perception versus objective reality left unconcluded for the tragedy to end with unsettling haste. The playwright manipulates relationships to die in toxic waste - allowing Hamlet to suffer in unclarity before his death, consciously aware of the venomous plague spreading through the royal family yet unaccepting of his own unreliable deductions. Hamlet’s distrust of family and friends and self, inability to act of to act efficiently, and lack of control of grief …show more content…

Despite Hamlet’s initial zeal for revenge, his thoughts turn self-destructive as his indecisiveness disables the royal leadership expected of him, and he doubts his fate in declaring, “ The spirit that I have seen/May be a devil” (Shakespeare 2.2.610-611). Not only does Hamlet question the validity of the ghost’s request, but he doubts his own mind and distrusts his ability to clearly identify and pursue the proper course of action in completing his dead father’s request while emotions cloud his perceptions. Being a part of the royal family of Denmark, Hamlet’s future and status remained predetermined until his uncle’s act of treachery stole the throne, creating an imbalance in Hamlet’s thought as he faces the task of reestablishing justice while testing his will. In the soliloquy that this quote derives from, Hamlet brutally denounces his own capabilities and reflects on all the weaknesses made evident in his distrust his own mind. Burden of thought resulting in obstructed and deviant communication further demonstrates Hamlet’s crowded mind. Quoting an excerpt of Michel Foucault’s Madness and Civilization, Alison Findlay elaborates on the meaning of Hamlet’s language

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