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Shakespeare's Treatment Of Psychology
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Many argue that Hamlet was truly mad, but was he really? There are many scenes throughout Hamlet that push more toward the idea that Hamlet himself, is in fact mad, but the more in depth you read into Hamlet, the more you come to notice that it is all just an act. A good way to decipher this is to compare his counterfeit madness to Ophelia’s potential genuine madness. When doing this, it becomes crystal clear whether or not Hamlet is truly mad. Starting from the very beginning, Hamlet tells his friends in Act 1, Scene 5, “No matter how strangely I act (since I may find it appropriate to act a little crazy in the near future), you must never, ever let on - with a gesture of your hands or a certain expression on your face - that you know …show more content…
Many believe that Ophelia genuinely lost her mind and became suicidal towards the end of the play. This is very self explanatory due to the fact that both her father and brother died and they seemed to play a big part in her life. Ophelia’s genuine madness exposes Hamlet’s counterfeit madness because Ophelia shows signs. In Act 4, Scene 5, Ophelia is constantly singing songs about death and basically ignores anything that anyone says to her. For example, in Act 4, Scene 5, she sings, “He is dead and gone, lady, he is dead and gone. At his head is a patch of green grass, and at his feet there is a tombstone.” This continues on and on until one day she is in a meadow and she ends up drowning. She ends up dying before she can even see her brother, Laertes ever again. When Laertes finally returns, he wants to say his final goodbyes to his younger sister and while he’s doing this, Hamlet is hiding in the bushes listening and he begins to cry. This is another way that Hamlet exposes that he isn’t truly mad the way he made himself seem. He forced himself to treat Ophelia poorly so many times throughout the play and it was all just a part of his madness act. Him releasing his emotions for Ophelia in this moment showed everyone that he truly did care for her. Even if he wasn’t madly in love, he definitely cared for her. This is the last main event that shows that Hamlet wasn’t truly a mad, emotionless, heartless
Hamlet in the beginning of the play finds out about how his father truly died and begins to devise a plan to avenge his father. Just so happen his plan is to be crazy. Hamlet first begins acting crazy when he goes into Ophelia’s sewing rooms and starts sniffing her, this little act of crazy has Polonius thinking hamlet is mad with love for Ophelia and began occasionally spying on Hamlet. Hamlets friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are sent so spy on him by the king but hamlet sees through the cleaver plan and just continues to act mad around his school friends, and tells them that he is "I am but mad north-north-west" (BOOK). Polonius, the Queen, and the king come up with a plan to try and see how hamlet feels about Ophelia. They all watch while Ophelia waits for hamlet to pass by Hamlet and Ophelia speak about their relationship but hamlet say he never loved Ophelia because he knows someone is listening so he must act mad. Hamlets has rewritten a scene in a play that was being preformed in the castle to match the way King Hamlet tells hamlet he was killed. While watching the play hamlet sees that the kings reactions is just what he wants it to be. Guilt. But its at this moment in the play hamlet tries to warn someone about all the things happening. Hamlet goes up to Ophelia after the play and says "believe none of this"(BOOK). While a lot of things could have been
Throughout the play, Hamlet becomes more and more believable in his act, even convincing his mother that he is crazy. However, through his thoughts, and actions, the reader can see that he is in fact putting up an act, he is simply simulating insanity to help fulfil his fathers duty of revenge. Throughout the play, Hamlet shows that he understands real from fake, right from wrong and his enemies from his friends. Even in his madness, he retorts and is clever in his speech and has full understanding of what is going on around him. Most importantly, Hamlet does not think like that of a person who is mad.
Throughout Shakespeare?s play, Hamlet, the main character, young Hamlet, is faced with the responsibility of attaining vengeance for his father?s murder. He decides to feign madness as part of his plan to gain the opportunity to kill Claudius. As the play progresses, his depiction of a madman becomes increasingly believable, and the characters around him react accordingly. However, through his inner thoughts and the apparent reasons for his actions, it is clear that he is not really mad and is simply an actor simulating insanity in order to fulfill his duty to his father.
What drives Hamlet to his madness? How does it relate to Ophelia’s madness? Are Hamlet and Ophelia both truly mad? These are some questions that I contemplated as I read Hamlet. The main character, Hamlet feigns madness after learning of his father’s murder; however, he becomes mad later on in the play. Is it possible that Hamlet became so wrapped up in his father’s murder that he was unable to distinguish fantasy from reality?
Hamlet's behavior throughout the play, especially towards Ophelia is inconsistent. He jumps into Ophelia's grave, and fights with Laertes in her grave. He professes I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers/Could not, with all their quantity of love,/ Make up my sum [Act V, scene I, lines 250-253], during the fight with Laertes in Ophelia's grave, but he tells her that he never loved her, when she returns his letters and gifts, while she was still alive. Hamlet subtly hints his awareness of his dissolving sanity as he tells Laertes that he killed Polonius in a fit of madness [Act V, scene II, lines 236-250]
With Ophelia death, this impacted Hamlet very much because he loved her. Stated in Suicide on the Stage of Hamlet and Shakespeare, “Ophelia’s is the only one widely accepted as suicide in the play. She drowns herself in a river as a means of escaping her ever worsening circumstances. Important factors surrounding her choice to end her own life include oppression from her family based on her romantic desires toward Hamlet . . .” (Joyner). With saying this, she was the different one in her family. Also said in the same article Suicide on the Stage of Hamlet, “. . . While her father and brother are welcomed into the court of King Claudius, Ophelia is not seen as an equal in this setting, and is constantly under their watch” (Joyner). This being stated, she needed an actual man to love her for whom she was and she was so use to having a male figure looking after her. Hamlet was that person who did so. Her love for Hamlet was strong and impacted her greatly. But, once her father is dead, her whole demeanor changes in the play. Some things that happen to her is that she becomes paranoid in a way and cries more often than before, then ending her own
Hamlet, Ophelia’s lover, accidentally kills her father and “confesses” he never loved her, Hamlet toys with Ophelia's emotions intentionally and unintentionally to solidify his madness. Even though she was the who initiated the “breakup”, her sorrows of the relationship are much more public than Hamlets. Hamlet’s madness scares Ophelia away which he used as a defense mechanism to not be hurt anymore. His madness looks as though he had been "loosed out of hell to speak of horrors" (2.1.83-84) and she "truly [did] fear it"(2.1. 86). His insanity and rudeness suffocated any love she had for him. She admits that their "their perfume [has been] lost" (3.1. 99). This helped Hamlet solidify his insanity by cutting ties with the ones he loves, and having them tell others he is mad. This comes with the cost of discontinuing his relationships: especially with Ophelia. Both have hinted around in the text of an intimate affair. This makes the emotions and breakup even more difficult for both of them. Their relationship was a love, not an innocent crush or courtship. Poor Ophelia initially thought she caused Hamlet's madness due to the abrupt ending of their affair. But because of her naivety, she lacks to see his other internal struggles. Ophelia’s trust in Hamlet left her heartbroken. Hamlet’s agenda of or getting justice for his father occupied his mind more than Ophelia did. Which left her feeling
In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, an extensive debate has been developing for hundreds of years as to whether or not the madness of Hamlet, the play's protagonist, was legitimate or simulated. Hamlet may have been sane throughout the play however it may also be true that Hamlet slipped into madness due to several different factors. Hamlet may have feigned his insanity but evidence shows that his insanity was truly authentic. Hamlet tried to feign insanity as a plan but was soon led into a dark hole causing his head to spin out of control.
The question of Hamlet’s insanity is a question raised by many people, is Hamlet a great actor, or has he lost complete sense of what’s real? There is no right answer, there is no wrong answer, many readers have different perceptions on what really was going through Hamlet’s head. My perception is that hamlet comes full circle with his insanity, and at points lets it get the best of him, and brings him down to a extremely low point.
... her in a dismal state” (Maki 1). This is and when things started rolling on downhill. Hamlet had changed and with this change came to the murder of Polonuis, when Hamlet did this, this destroyed Ophelia. “…But after Hamlet kills her father, she later goes mad herself and commits suicide” (Davis & Frankforter 354-55). This no longer is considered an act of love. This is considered an act of insanity. Ophelia was a woman and during that time women did not have the right to stand there own ground they had no voice.
Ophelia’s madness is because of what she encounters throughout the play by everyone around her. Her character is often looked past, people really don’t give her a second thought, and her emotions and wellbeing are almost entirely forgotten about. When her father and brother are telling her to stay away from Hamlet, she tries to speak up and tell them that she knows that Hamlet truly loves her. She tells them her feelings, but they say no, she is not to speak to Hamlet again and must obey. They didn’t take a second to try and look things over from her perspective. After Polonius and Claudius plan for Ophelia and Hamlet to meet and talk while they hid to listened, Ophelia is verbally abused by Hamlet and her father is too caught up with Hamlet’s
William Shakespeare's character of Ophelia in Hamlet, suffers greatly, from the time she learns of her father Polonius' death, until her own mysterious death. In Hamlet, Gertrude, Horatio and Claudius refer to her state, and conclude that she is crazy1[1]. Though there is some truth to their claim, Shakespeare created Ophelia as an overly- dramatic character, who is somewhat exaggerating her emotions to give an impression of madness. Although their impression of Ophelia can be supported, evidence is not shown as much in her words, as it is shown in her actions. Ophelia's songs seem like riddles and nonsense2[2], yet they are similar to the patterns of speech by Hamlet, revealing truths and true emotions, and at times sarcasm. However, Ophelia's whimsical, and child-like behavior is quite different than the prim, reserved Ophelia at the beginning of the play. Still, this behavior is not consistent with the sad words in her grief-laden songs, nor is it consistent with a woman in grief rather Ophelia's physical behavior is the strongest evidence that Ophelia may exhibit signs of madness. Hamlet's act to convince his insanity to all that knew him influenced Ophelia to perform following Hamlet's lead with his feigned madness, eventually leading to the girl's suicide, thus implicating Hamlet in her death.
After all of the torture Hamlet has inflicted on Ophelia throughout act III, scene i and ii, it comes to no surprise how broken Ophelia is when word comes out of her father 's death in scene v. She claims that nature that "...is fine in love" (line 160) has come for the things that she loves, which are Polonius and Hamlet, and that her love for both of them was so noble that she gave up her sanity for it. To clarify, Hamlet has caused Ophelia suffering by leaving her without someone to give her guidance and protection, just like how Gertrude was when Hamlet 's father died. Tragically, her loss of sanity, also leads her to end her own life. Ophelia 's suffering is quite significant to this play since it leads to Laertes 's motif of incestuous desire, as well as, how it gives further motivation for Laertes to avenge his family, thus, adding on to the theme of the nation as a deceased
The tragedy of Hamlet by William Shakespeare is about Hamlet going insane and reveals his madness through his actions and dialogue. Hamlet remains one of the most discussed literary characters of all time. This is most likely due to the complex nature of Hamlet as a character. In one scene, Hamlet appears happy, and then he is angry in another and melancholy in the next. Hamlet’s madness is a result of his father’s death which was supposedly by the hands of his uncle, Claudius. He has also discovered that this same uncle is marrying his mom. It is expected that Hamlet would be suffering from some emotional issues as result of these catastrophes. Shakespeare uses vivid language, metaphors, and imagery to highlight how Hamlet’s madness influences several important aspects of his life including his relationships and the way he presents himself.
...ed her horribly and degraded her by saying she was unfit and promiscuous. The confusing relationship she had with Hamlet and death of her father led to Ophelia’s madness and soon after suicide. He was the cause of the murder this is the deterioration of his character and see it when he confesses his love for Ophelia at her funeral that its too late.