One definition of madness is “mental delusion of the eccentric behavior arising from it.” However, as Emily Dickinson once wrote, “Much madness is divinest Sense/ To a discerning Eye.” In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the main character, Prince Hamlet, shows apparent madness which proves to serve an important role throughout the story. This erratic behavior consists of his seemingly senseless dialogues, his loss of care for Ophelia, and his increasingly aggressive nature. Such behavior often proves justified by the play’s audience due to its convincing nature despite Hamlet’s predisposition towards insanity.
Hamlet says in an aside, “These tedious old fools” (2.2.221). Hamlet uses sarcasm to emphasize that he is just faking his madness. Hamlet also has his mother fooled into thinking that he is mad. In Act Three Hamlet is in his mother’s private room when she accuses him of being mad. “Alas, he’s mad” (3.4.110).
Hamlet has been debated by various highly regarded literary scholars over whether he was acting mad or whether he was genuinely mad throughout the play. However, there is one passage that stands out, which can clear him of any accusations that he is indeed insane. Hamlet reveals to his friends his plans to act mad when he says, “How strange or odd some’er I bear myself/(As I perchance hereafter shall think meet/To put an antic disposition on) (1.5.190-192). Once Hamlet said this, it is concluded that Hamlet’s actions and statements towards others in the play— which made him seem insane— were only utilized as a ploy to prevent Claudius and other’s from finding of his recent interaction with the ghost and the information he provided Hamlet regarding his father’s death.
William Shakespeare is one of the most recognized playwrights of all time. Shakespeare wrote numerous poems, sonnets, and plays. One of his most famous pieces is Hamlet, which is one of the most recognized plays of today's world. Insanity is a major theme in the play, and can be found in this quotation where Claudius is describing Ophelia. “...poor Ophelia / Divided from herself and her fair judgement, / Without the which we are pictures or mere beasts” (4.5.91-93).
Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, centers around Hamlet’s contemplation of killing his uncle in order to avenge his father’s death. His decisions and values determine his fate. However, Hamlet’s intended action to avenge his father’s death is continuously postponed due to his moral dilemma. However, this moral dilemma causes him to make the decisions he does, and therefore, demonstrates the theme of his uncertainty versus his faith. Not only does faith stop him from taking alternative routes to achieve his goal, but his uncertainty causes him to either delay his revenge or make the wrong decisions.
He did not want anyone knowing about his encounter with his father’s ghost. This shows that Hamlet can not be acting mad. Consequently, he believes that one should not perform a role, but actually become the person they 're pretending to be. This shows in his stunt when instead of pretending to be mad, he becomes mad in all
(1.5.172.), letting the audience know that he is going to fake his madness, but leaving the other characters in the dark. Hamlet pretends to have gone mad because he witnessed his father’s ghost and know what actually happened to him. He does not want his mother nor Claudius to know what he knows, so he act like he is going mad. It helps him mask what is going on and keeps Claudius out of his mind. He plans on assassinating the King, he has thought maybe his mother was in on it, since she moved on so quickly.
In Hamlet, Shakespeare uses many references to sanity and insanity. Throughout the play, Hamlet goes back and forth between sanity and insanity, whether pretending to be insane just to mess with those he does not like or to save himself from getting in trouble. Hamlet is actually one of the smartest characters in the play, which is why he can pull off acting crazy so well. Shakespeare uses this idea of sanity and insanity to help the plot change and take a different directions. One of the most discussed topics of the Hamlet is whether Hamlet is insane or if he was just pretending the whole time.
In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet endures a parade of losses and wittingly seeks to remedy his sorrow as his relationships deteriorate. Significantly, Shakespeare displays Hamlet’s two major arcs by juxtaposing his mindset during each of them; as a result, Shakespeare can elucidate Hamlet’s transition from muddled indecision to firm resolve near the conclusion of the play. In accordance with this change, Hamlet begins to address his situation by cursing his situation and others before he transitions into achieving a strong sense of self-acceptance as well as acceptance of his fate. When Hamlet first addresses his grief he reveals his intelligence, but also his strong emotions and morals that come with the death of his father.
Hamlet’s conditions and actions indicate that he is insane. His father dies in the beginning of the play, and such a significant loss is bound to have effects on one’s mental state. Furthermore, his mother remarries quickly and shows little grief for the death of her husband. Then, his father’s ghost visits him and tells Hamlet that he was murdered by his mother’s new husband. It is obvious, and reasonable, that these occurrences would drive Hamlet to insanity.
Insanity comes through a number of causes or events that one goes through at one point of one’s life or in several cases. These problems pile up and distort one’s mind and behavior, forcing them to move quickly on it. In most cases, it may do more harm than good, since the individual concerned can cause havoc and to innocent citizens. However, not everyone is courageous enough to confront their fears or concerns, but prefers to use manipulative means as a way to undermine the survivor. This is what happens in Hamlet, a play by Shakespeare, about a young prince, and his vengeance for his father is a killer.
Has Hamlet really gone mad? Hamlet being "mad" or pretending to be "mad" is one of the main concerns of the play. Hamlet states in tthroughout the play that he is not insane. "I essentially not in madness, But mad in craft." He plans to act insane, in order to figure out the truth behind his fathers death.
The Reality Behind Madness Madness is the most contradictory element in William Shakespeare 's, Hamlet, in IV.v.160-193 shows an act of true madness. The essential need for madness begins in Act I, when Hamlet decides acting mad is the only way to revenge his father 's death. This progresses the underlying meaning of the play, is Hamlet genuinely crazy? The argument continues when Hamlet murders Polonius with no remorse. Ophelia denies seeing Hamlet, which is the reason everyone believes is the cause of Hamlet 's madness.
A select few scholars believe that Hamlet is not pretending to be mad, but in reality is insane. Hamlet reveals his insanity through his strange behavior toward others. Dr. Simon A. Blackmore claims, “The Real or Assumed Madness of Hamlet” in Shakespearean Online that Hamlet is insane because of the fact that he is able to see a ghost while others cannot (215). Dr. Blackmore in The Real or Assumed... also asserts that in Act III, scene IV, the instance when Hamlet is in Gertrude chamber and Hamlet states to Gertrude that he see a ghost.
Throughout the play, Hamlet claims to be feigning madness, but his portrayal of a madman is so intense and so convincing that many readers believe that Hamlet actually slips into insanity at certain moments in the play. Do you think this is true, or is Hamlet merely playacting insanity? What evidence can you cite for either claim? In William Shakespeare’s classic, Hamlet, the question concerning Hamlet’s underlying sanity is a major element in the interpretation of the text.
