An Analysis of Hamlets antic disposition Is Hamlet mad? A close analysis of the play reveals that Hamlet is straightforward and sane. His actions and thoughts are a logical response to the situation in which he finds himself. However, he assumes antic-disposition to undercover the truth of his fathers death. In the first act, Hamlet appears to be very straightforward in his actions and thoughts. When questioned by Gertrude about his melancholy appearance Hamlet says, Seems, madam? Nay it is know not seems (I, ii, 76). This is to say, I am what I appear to be. Later he makes a clear statement about his thoughts of mind when he commits himself to revenge. Hamlet says, Ill wipe away all trivial fond records, All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past, That youth and observation copied there, And thy commandment all alone shall live Within the book and volume of my brain (I, iv, 99-103). With this statement, the play makes a transition. Hamlet gives up the role of a student and mourning son, and commits himself to nothing else but the revenge of his fathers death. There is no confusion and certainly no sign of madness in Hamlets character. In Chapel Scene, when Claudius is praying alone for his guilt, Hamlet accidentally sees him. He realizes that this is the perfect opportunity to perform the revenge. Seeing the opportunity, Hamlet says, Now might I do it pat, now a is a-praying; And now Ill do it, and so he goes to heaven, And so am I revengd. That would be scannd; A villain kills my father, for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send To heaven. O, this is hire and salary, not revenge. (III, iii, 73-79). This shows, Hamlet has a sound mind and is not mad. He knew that if he killed Claudius, he would go to heaven upon death whereas his fathers soul was unprepared for death and so went to purgatory. He has said earlier that he is what he appears to be, and there is no reason to doubt it. When Hamlet appears again in Act Two, it seems that he has lost the conviction and shows a puzzling duplicitous nature. He has yet to take up the part assigned to him by the ghost. He spends the act walking around, reading, talking with Polonius, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and the players. It is not until the very end of the act that he even mentions vengeance. If he had any of the conviction shown earlier, he would be presently working on his vengeance. So instead of playing the part of vengeful son, or dropping the issue entirely, he hangs out in the middle, pretending to be mad. This is shown when he says to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, I know not lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercise (II, ii, 298-299). Later he tells them that he is just feigning madness when he says, I am but mad north-north-west, when the wind is southerly, and I know a hawk from a handsaw (II, ii, 380-381). Admitting so blatantly that he is only feigning madness would imply that he is comfortable with it. He also seems to be generally comfortable with acting. This is evidenced when he says, there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so (II, ii, 250-251). Hamlet is saying that thought shapes our perception of reality. It is puzzling that Hamlet is comfortable with his antic disposition at this point but not with the role that he said he would play earlier. Ever since the death of King Hamlet, young Hamlet has been in what has appeared to be in a state of melancholy. In a discussion with Polonius, Hamlet questions Polonius by asking him have you a daughter (II, ii, 182). In this discussion Hamlet mocks Polonius when Hamlet would usually show great respect for him because of he age and of his high position in court. This sudden question to Polonius has causes him to believe that Hamlet has a form of love-sickness sees as a form of madness. Hamlet knows Polonius is sure to tell Claudius of his condition. Hamlet also accuses Polonius of being the Jephthah, judge of Israel,(II, ii, 399) meaning that Polonius would put his country in front of his daughter. Hamlet has now convinced Polonius that he is in a state of madness because he knows that Polonius cares for his daughter very much. Hamlets above actions of pretended madness and thoughts are justified to the situation he finds himself. The purpose of Hamlet feigning madness is to undercover the truth about the events leading up to and involving the death of his father. Hamlet says to Horatio, How strange or odd soeer I bear myself, As I perchance hereafter shall think meet To put an antic disposition on (I, v, 169-171). This play-acting allows Hamlet to determine if his uncle has played any part in the scheme. By pretending he is insane, he is able to get more information about the death of his father. Play goers are shocked when Hamlet burst into his mothers bedroom. This action is generally interpreted as a sign of his discourteous nature. In the Queens closet scene, Hamlet also acts crazy in front of his mother imagining that there is a ghost in her room. He tries to make her feel guilty enough to confess her sins. He says to his mother, Why, look you there! Look, how it steals away! My father, in his habit as he livd! Look, where he goes, even now out at the portal! (III, iv, 132-136). I believe another reason for Hamlet to feign madness in front of Claudius is as for her mother, he wanted to drive Claudius to the breaking point of confession and he was successful. In Chapel Scene, Claudius gives way to the guilt which is beginning to torment him despite all his practical efforts to protect himself. He says, O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven. It hath the primal eldest curse upont, A brothers murder (III, iii, 36-38). From the foregoing analysis it can be concluded that Hamlet is quite a sane person. His depression, the hopeless note in his attitude towards others and towards the value of life, his reference to ghost, his self accusations, his desperate efforts to get away from the thoughts of his duty are just a logical response to the circumstances in which he finds himself. This ambiguity is demonstrated by his alleged madness for he does behave madly to become perfectly calm and rational and instant later. He assumes antic-disposition only to undercover the truth and events relating to the death of his father.
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
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.
In act three, he even admits that his actions are insane, horrible and evil. He says, “I essentially am not in madness, but mad in craft” (3.4.191). For Hamlet to admit that his actions are mad or insane, is the most insane trait of Hamlet. For him to openly admit that he is fully aware that his actions are mad, only ignites the flame of his insanity. This quote seals the deal for the reader that Hamlets mind is a wasteland of madness, but also of planned insanity and horrible actions.
Throughout Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the main character, Hamlet, must seek revenge for the murder of his father. Hamlet decides to portray an act of insanity, as part of his plan to murder Claudius. 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 if going on around him. Most importantly, Hamlet does not think like that of a person who is mad. Hamlet decides to portray an act of insanity, as part of his plan to seek revenge for his fathers murder.
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
William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night In the last act of the play the plot entanglements and confusions are not only sorted out but, also reach their climax. To do this all the plots that have been occurring throughout the play are brought together in one final conclusion. The various plot entanglements are sorted out in what is generally thought to be a happy ending, for instance:- Viola, who is under the mistaken identity of Caesario, finally reveals her true identity because Sebastian has appeared therefore everyone else thinks they are seeing two Ceasario's. By Viola doing this, she can finally reveal to Orsino that she loves 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.
...ing madness to sanity are reminiscent of a bi-polar disorder such as manic depression. It is possible that Hamlet put on his antic disposition to allow himself freedom from the usual constraints and etiquette of the court so that he could use different means to discover Claudius' guilt without being discovered himself. Or his feigned madness may have been a reaction to the stress of his predicament, because in doing so he frees himself from having to make decisions on courses of action and he effectively becomes a spectator in the running of his own life.
Duke's love for Olivia in Act 1 Scene 5. At the start of the scene
The character of Hamlet in William Shakespeare’s play of the same name is one of the more complex and interesting characters in the Western canon – in attempting to take revenge on his uncle Claudius for his alleged murder of Hamlet’s father, the young prince feigns insanity in order to get the man’s guard down and keep him off balance until finding the right time to strike. However, the question remains – by the end of the play, just how much is Hamlet pretending to be insane? Is it really an act, or has Hamlet really taken on an “antic disposition” as Hamlet vows to put on (Iv.172)? While it can be confirmed that Hamlet’s insanity is more or less a ruse, his own dedication to his task, as well as the uncertainty he has about following through with it, lead to several moments of true insanity for the character of Hamlet. The character purports to put on a veneer of madness merely as a simulation, but his own grief and the weight of his intended plan leads him to go down a path that clouds his mind with sadness and into insanity at various points.
If you were to put yourself in his shoes you would probably go insane too. One piece of evidence that Hamlet is completely in sane is his famous “To be or not to be” speech where he contemplates suicide(3.2.57). This is a for sure sign that he is losing his mind. This shows that that the depression
Hamlet’s madness is questionable through Hamlet’s actions of real madness, feigned actions, and the reactions and opinions others have towards his madness. Throughout the play Hamlet’s acts antic dispositions progressively lead his downfall from feigned actions to real madness and the reactions of others to his actions further prove his state of mind as being unstable. .His madness becomes his overall reality throughout his journey to avenge the death of his father.
Sir Toby: “What a plague means my niece to take the death of her brother thus? I am sure cares an enemy of life”. (Act 1, Scene 3, Lines 1-2)
Olivia. His servant goes to ask her wether or not she would like to go out with