Shakespeare’s tragic play Hamlet has many different aspects that would indicate that his characters were, in a way, insane. Shakespeare gives various signs showing that a couple of his characters were either insane or on the verge of becoming insane. He gives the reader and/or viewer the sense that Hamlet and Ophelia have both reached a point of insanity where there is no turning back. Although Ophelia was completely insane by the end of the play Hamlet is only a possible victim of this cruel mind controlling disease.
Ophelia, a young, beautiful girl, starts the play as Hamlet’s lover; however, after the death of her father, Polonius, she been driven mad from grief. Ophelia runs rampant through the castle singing various songs about particular people in the play. Ophelia’s songs are not only strange but, in a way, true. She sings about the love that she has lost and about the King and Queen of Denmark. Ophelia gives the play a
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Once he learns that his father’s death was not accidental but actually a suicide Hamlet decides to act mad in order to find a way to kill his uncle, the new king of Denmark and Hamlet’s father’s murderer. Throughout the play Hamlet forces the King and Queen to become very concerned over his new, strange behavior. Hamlet devises a way to reenact his father’s death through a play that he knew Claudius would attend, only to find out that his speculations were correct and Claudius did kill his own brother. Hamlet not only affected the King but also his mother. Hamlet lead Gertrude to believe that he no longer loved her and that she was a terrible mother. Polonius was also affected by Hamlet’s insane actions because Polonius died due to Hamlet’s irrational thinking and behavior. Because Hamlet killed Polonius, Ophelia was driven insane. By the end of the play Hamlet’s insanity became more obvious, but still questionable, because of his confusing actions and