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Why Is Hamlet Insane

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Hamlet is sane, his madness is just a plan to confuse his uncle. A man who is insane cannot put a brilliant play together as Hamlet did. Hamlet is traumatized by several events in the book such as his father dying, mother remarrying. He is not the only person that saw the ghost of his father. His personality has changed from normal to depressed; however, this does not make him insane. Hamlet is a man of knowledge, not stupidity. In the beginning of the play, a ghost appears and reappears. The ghost finally speaks, he tells Hamlet of his murder. The ghost is Hamlet’s deceased father. In Act 1 Scene 1, “this spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him. Do you consent we shall acquaint him with it”(171-172). Moreover, this quote shows that Hamlet …show more content…

He puts together a play, The Mousetrap, to see if his uncle is guilty of his father’s murder. In Act 3 Scene 2, Hamlet asked: “Madam, how like you this play?”(239).Throughout this play, he’s ahead of everyone their his little poppets in action. The play is based on the death of Hamlet’s father. During the play, Hamlet watches Claudius closely to see his reaction towards the play. If the King is timid he’ll know that he killed his father. Hamlet only acts insane in front of certain people such as Polonius, Claudius, Ophelia, Gertrude, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern. He does not act mad with Horatio. In Act 1 Scene 5, “Here, as before, never, so help you mercy, How strange or odd soe’er I bear myself, As I perchance hereafter shall think meet To put an antic disposition on”(169-172). He tells Horatio from now on I will act mad but it is just an act. This whole insane thing is just an act. Hamlet buys himself time for his plan to prove Claudius is guilty. Also, to figure out if his mother was involved in the death of his father. If hamlet didn’t play mad, people would see him as a threat to Claudius and he would be killed. In Act 2 Scene 2, “ You cannot, sir, take from me anything that I will more willingly part withal — except my life, except my life, except my life”(218-220). Hamlet doesn’t care about anyone except his own life since he has no one to trust. He’ll only put up a fight for his life

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