Hayanny Silva
Coach Hansen
Brit Lit
December 13, 2013
Shakespeare Hamlet Insanity VS Sanity
The Tragedy of Hamlet
In the Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, by William Shakespeare, Hamlet an intellectual prince switches from sanity and insanity throughout the entire play. You can see that during the play when madness seems right, he puts on an "antic disposition (I.V.173). Nevertheless when Sanity proves to be the answer Hamlet returns to being logical. Hamlet claims he is "mad north-north-west" (II.ii.376), meaning he is mad sometimes and sane other times. Therefore, to reach his goals, Hamlet switches between sanity and insanity.
In the poem, Hamlet switches to insanity to achieve some of his goals. Hamlet uses his insanity to conquer his obstacles. Hamlet is only insane towards his enemies and his enemy’s allies. For example, Hamlet attacks Gertrude verbally and physically, because she is an obstacle to Hamlet. Also, Hamlet kills Polonius and assures that Polonius is "dead, for a ducat, dead" (III.iv.25).When hamlet kills Polonius he feels nothing, no sympathy, no sorrow, and no fear. His insanity overcame him to the point that he would kill someone with not a hence of pity nor feelings. Hamlet gradually harms Gertrude with his words of insanity, while killing Polonius with his insanity. All of these two people, Gertrude, and Polonius, are Claudius' allies, and by harming Claudius' allies, Hamlet is harming Claudius, which is Hamlet’s goal.
Death of his [Hamlet] father caused a fault in Hamlet's logic, and that fault forced the madness on him. Hamlet believes that Gertrude his mother has had an affair with his Uncle and actually aided in the slaughter of his beloved father. On top of that, Hamle...
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... ideas that Hamlet is mad and that Hamlet is not mad. Readers and critics can agree that Hamlet is not a "man of action," but is instead a "man of reflection"-reflection that is concentrated on both himself and the world (Schucking 31).I believe it is Shakespeare's anger towards corruption and religion that makes Hamlet to fall into madness. “Finding a character in real life of a person endowed with so delicate as to border on weakness with sensibility too exquisite to allow of determined action “(Sylvia 13).While it’s difficult to point out the exact cause in Hamlet's life that lead to his insanity, one thing is for certain; he went mad, and the madness did to him what it does to everything that holds madness; it destroys whatever it touches. Insanity in The tragedy of Prince Hamlet over powered sanity which concludes that the entire play revolves around insanity
In Shakespeare's tragedy, Hamlet, there is much debate over whether Prince Hamlet is truly mad or feigning madness. Based on his actions and context clues, one can see that Hamlet is perfectly sane, if not a prodigy. His intellect, philosophical ideas, quick wit, and clever strategies makes it clear to readers that his "madness" is merely a masquerade.
death when his mother and the king enter the room and question him on his
Throughout William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Hamlet undergoes a transformation from sane to insane while fighting madness to avenge his father’s death. The material that Shakespeare appropriated in writing Hamlet is the story of a Danish prince whose uncle murders the prince’s father, marries his mother, and claims the throne. The prince pretends to be feeble-minded to throw his uncle off guard, then manages to kill his uncle in revenge. Shakespeare changed the emphasis of this story entirely, making Hamlet a philosophically minded prince who delays taking action because his knowledge of his uncle’s crime is so uncertain. To begin with, Hamlet portrays himself as sane.
In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet the main character Hamlet experiences many different and puzzling emotions. He toys with the idea of killing himself and then plays with the idea of murdering others. Many people ask themselves who or what is this man and what is going on inside his head. The most common question asked about him is whether or not he is sane or insane. Although the door seems to swing both ways many see him as a sane person with one thought on his mind, and that is revenge. The first point of his sanity is while speaking with Horatio in the beginning of the play, secondly is the fact of his wittiness with the other characters and finally, his soliloquy.
There is a great controversy amongst those who have read and studied Hamlet by Shakespeare. People argue whether or not Hamlet had gone mad or not. Many people believe that Hamlet had actually lost his mind, while others believe that it was all just an act. Since Hamlet is the most widely published book in the world, besides the Bible, this question has been asked and analyzed many times to little avail. The answer is open to whatever one wants to believe, which may intrigue some and bother others. Throughout the play, Hamlet’s personality changed after certain events. The play starts with him very upset over his father’s death. Then, after he saw his father’s ghost, he became full of vengeance. He seemed to have completely
“I plead guilty by reason of insanity,” is Hamlet’s plea if he was sitting in a modern courtroom. In Hamlet by William Shakespeare, it is evident that Hamlet himself is indeed out of his mind. The reader understands the reason for his anger and frustration, but how he “fixes” the situation is beyond a sane mind. To be fair, his madness deals more with emotional instability referred to as melancholy or madness than a person who is incoherent. Hamlet’s madness becomes clear in his actions and thoughts, in his erratic relationship with Ophelia, and in the murder of Polonius.
Logan Gaertner Mrs. Amon English IV 1 March 2014 Is Hamlet’s Insanity Real? Is Hamlet truly insane? While the play is not extremely clear on the matter and often contradicts itself, many of Hamlet’s wild ramblings and words of nonsense seem to be not the true words of a madman. Hamlet says that he is merely “putting on an antic disposition” (Act 1, Scene 5, Line 181). He admits very early on in the play that his insanity will be nothing more than a ruse to fool those around him.
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.
Throughout the Shakespearian play, Hamlet, the main character is given the overwhelming responsibility of avenging his father’s "foul and most unnatural murder" (I.iv.36). Such a burden can slowly drive a man off the deep end psychologically. Because of this, Hamlet’s disposition is extremely inconsistent and erratic throughout the play. At times he shows signs of uncontrollable insanity. Whenever he interacts with the characters he is wild, crazy, and plays a fool. At other times, he exemplifies intelligence and method in his madness. In instances when he is alone or with Horatio, he is civilized and sane. Hamlet goes through different stages of insanity throughout the story, but his neurotic and skeptical personality amplifies his persona of seeming insane to the other characters. Hamlet comes up with the idea to fake madness in the beginning of the play in order to confuse his enemies. However, for Hamlet to fulfill his duty of getting revenge, he must be totally sane. Hamlet’s intellectual brilliance make it seem too impossible for him to actually be mad, for to be insane means that one is irrational and without any sense. When one is irrational, one is not governed by or according to reason. So, Hamlet is only acting mad in order to plan his revenge on Claudius.
You can see this when Hamlet says, “I am mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw” (2.2.368-369). This is an example of the “wing and whirling words” which Hamlet uses a few times throughout the play, with which Hamlet hopes to persuade people he is crazy. These words show that behind Hamlet's antic disposition, he is in fact very sane.... ... middle of paper ...
Shakespeare 's play "Hamlet" is about a complex protagonist, Hamlet, who faces adversity and is destined to murder the individual who killed his father. Hamlet is a character who although his actions and emotions may be one of an insane person, in the beginning of the book it is clear that Hamlet decides to fake madness in order for his plan to succeed in killing Claudius. Hamlet is sane because throughout the play he only acts crazy in front of certain people, to others he acts properly and displays proper prince like behavior who is able to cope with them without sounding crazy, and even after everything that has been going on in his life he is able to take revenge by killing his
To put an antic disposition on” (1.5.58-60) but his sane mental state began to decay over time leaving him actually insane. As the play goes on, the role of madness becomes much larger and more crucial, and begins to sweep the spotlight from the other themes within it. Hamlet’s intentions of appearing “mad” did have an advantage in the play, which automatically impacted it. He basically simulated madness as a strategy to direct the suspicion of his plotted revenge elsewhere. It does not sound very complex, but his performance of madness ended up slightly distracting him from his plot rather than benefitting him.
Shakespeare's play "Hamlet" is about a complex protagonist, Hamlet, who faces adversity and is destined to murder the individual who killed his father. Hamlet is a character who although his actions and emotions may be one of an insane person, in the beginning of the book it is clear that Hamlet decides to fake madness in order for his plan to succeed in killing Claudius. Hamlet is sane because throughout the play he only acts crazy in front of certain people, to others he acts properly and displays proper prince like behavior who is able to cope with them without sounding crazy, and even after everything that has been going on in his life he is able to take revenge by killing his father's murderer. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare Hamlet is sane but acts insane to fulfill his destiny of getting vengeance on his father's murderer.
During parts of the play one can argue, Hamlet is no longer feigning madness and has already crossed onto the side of insanity. For instance, during his meeting with his mother in her bedchamber, he begins to yell at her, scaring her in the process causing her to believe her own son is about to kill her (III, iv, 22). In that same scene he stabs and kills Polonius without the slightest hesitation (III, iv, 24-26), and then he essentially mocks Claudius and plays games with him when asked where he has taken the body. However, one can also conclude his erratic behavior only surfaces in the presence of these specific characters. When in the presence of other characters, specifically Horatio he is sane, calm, rational, and in complete control of his behavior. His word exchanges with Horatio are not from a madman, but rather
HAMLET Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet, is one of the most analyzed plays in existence due to its vivid dramatization of melancholy and insanity. There is sufficient evidence displayed in the play that Hamlet deliberately feigns his fits of madness. He puts on this act to deceive people such as the King and his attendants into thinking he was no threat. Hamlet needed to distract attention from the investigation concerning his father’s death so he could baffle those who intended on preventing him in his quest for revenge. In light of the fact that Hamlet had claimed to “put an antic disposition on” (1.5.180), his choice to do so actually led to his downfall.