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

When evaluating a royal family, typically, a prince is a person who acts with high moral standards and considerable excellence. However, in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, the prince of Denmark is quite the opposite. Countless times throughout the play, Hamlet’s behavior is seen as irrational and mad. The progression of his madness throughout the play creates the idea that indecisiveness can lead to one’s downfall. Hamlet’s struggle with depression, questioning of suicide, and reckless actions, ultimately lead to his madness, which can be seen as reasonable since it ended his suffering. Hamlet’s mental state will be examined through multiple actions and a soliloquy. Upon learning the truth about King Hamlet’s death, Hamlet has a hard time facing

Ophelia explains her odd encounter with Hamlet to Polonius when she says, “Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbraced; no hat upon his head; his stockings fouled, ungartered, and down-gyved to his ankle; pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other; and with a look so piteous in purport as if he had been loosed out of hell to speak of horrors--he comes before me” (Shakespeare II.i 78-84). Shakespeare describes the encounter between Ophelia and Hamlet in profound imagery since it is a pivotal moment in setting the plot up for the rest of the book. By displaying the interaction in such a way, the reader can grasp the emotions that Hamlet is feeling. His lack of presentable clothing during this encounter is especially telling. It shows that Hamlet has sunken into a depressive state to the point where he can’t even sustain an appropriate appearance. In addition to his clothes, the description provides a visualization of Hamlet’s physical appearance when Ophelia discusses his pale face and trembling knees which also reflects on his poor appearance. However,

When he confronts his mother in her room after the play he hears a noise and says, “How now, a rat? Dead for a ducat, dead! (stabs his sword through the arras and kills Polonius.)” (Shakespeare III.iv 24-25). The quote itself might not be unusual or even enlightening, but the action that follows it is completely bizarre for the situation. After just hearing Polonius call for help, Hamlet thinks it is okay to stab through a curtain without even knowing who is behind it. His reckless actions in this situation lead to an irreversible outcome. This moment is what displays how he has now become exactly what he has been labeled. From the start, he was labeled mad and this action proved just that. Although there is no justification for this specific action, all of Hamlet’s actions combined can be seen as reasonable. However, just because they can be seen as reasonable, does not mean they helped his life, they actually lead to his downfall. The killing of Polonius just fueled him for the climax where the majority of the killings take place including that of his mother, himself, and finally