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Hamlet and mental health essay
Interpretive Lit. Analysis of Hamlet
Madness and Insanity in Shakespeare's Hamlet
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Hamlet
Hamlet wants to wipe his memory clean, as one would erase a slate. All of the images he has of his mother and uncle are insignificant to him now in the face of their betrayal. He will erase those images in his memory so as to not be deceived again. With his memories erased, Hamlet will be able to properly avenge his father's murder.
There are many images of sickness, disease, wickedness, blemishes on the body, and other loathsome things that are metaphorically descriptive or the unwholesome condition of Denmark. Examples of this are on most pages. A few examples are found in the following places:
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ACT IV, SCENE 4, LINES 28-30
"This is th' impostume of much wealth and peace, That inward breaks and shows no cause without Why the man dies."
Hamlet is talking to Fortinbras' captain about the land, which has been symbolically given to Norway to prevent them from invading Denmark. This statement is however, also descriptive of Hamlet's own condition. The events that have caused his madness fester inside him like an abscess or tumor. The cause is unseen by others though it is destroying him inside.
THEME ANALYSIS
The true nature of Hamlet's madness has been an issue of debate for scholars over the centuries. One theory is that Hamlet's madness was for his own protection. In the time period in which Hamlet would have lived, governments functioned through the usage of intricate spying networks. In Hamlet's Denmark, no one is permitted to go unwatched. Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Polonius are all sent to spy on Hamlet at various times. Polonius meets his death in the process. When Hamlet discovers the atrocity committed by his uncle, he wishes for revenge. In that time, it would have been quite natural to take matters into his own hands. In order to keep his plans secret; he cannot let on that he knows of the crime. Since he is constantly being spied upon and having his actions and words reported to Claudius, he must act enigmatically.
Shakespeare puts Hamlet into a situation in which he must deal with the betrayal and murder of his father by his own family members. Communication of feeling is done solely in monologue or through the reports of a third party, or spy. Hamlet must use the player's performance to observe the reaction of Claudius because the topic of the death of King Hamlet is not acceptable discussion material.
The Sumero-Babylonian version of the epic of Gilgamesh, after two and a half millennia of dormancy, was resurrected by British archaeologists in the nineteenth century. Amid the rubble of an Assyrian palace, the twelve clay tablets inscribed the adventures of the first hero of world literature – King Gilgamesh, whose oral folk tales go back to at least 3000 years before Christ (Harris 1). Tablet XI contains the story of the Flood. In this essay let us compare this flood account to the more recent Noah’s Flood account in Genesis of the Old Testament.
Shakespeare’s iconic play Hamlet is about a crown prince named Hamlet who is distraught about the death of his father, King Hamlet. Hamlet is further driven deeper into his pit of despair by the quick remarriage of his mother, Gertrude, to his conniving uncle, Claudius. Not long after, Hamlet quickly learns the truth about his father’s death by the hands of Claudius from the ghost of King Hamlet. He is then determined to seek evidence to confirm that the words of the ghost were true and not simply a hallucination. This leads to Hamlet feigning insanity in order to spy on Claudius and uncover the truth. Therefore, espionage plays a pivotal role in the play as it drives the very plot of it. One way that spying heavily influences the story is the fact that it leads to the discovery of the truth about how events occurred. Another significant aspect that spying brings into the play is that it is used as a
As well as Hamlet is giving clues to Claudius, that Hamlet knows who killed his father. Hamlet asks for a play that gives the same story line to scare his uncle. This is a tactic to send not only Hamlet into insanity but also Claudius. The tactic of the play works Claudius is fearful of what Hamlet knows about the murder of King Hamlet. Prince Hamlet is now fearful of everyone that is proximate to him. Hamlet cerebrates that everyone is out to get him. Hamlet even endeavors to verbalize to his mother to convince her that Claudius killed King Hamlet. Even when Hamlet tells Gertrude, it is as though she thinks Hamlet is making it up. Claudius is victualing into Hamlet 's suspicion by sending people to Hamlet and ascertain what he knows. This makes Hamlet not trust anyone that he knows.
However, the question whether such an effect is universal remains unanswered. In a study by Kierkus & Hewitt, (2009) they examined the link between non-traditional family structures and delinquency based on several variables such as gender, race, age, SES, family size and place of residence. They made an interesting finding that age and family size impacts the relationship between family structures, crime, and delinquency (Kierkus & Hewitt, 2009). More specifically, the old adolescents and those from larger families were at a significant risk for participating in juvenile
The premises that race and gender are social constructs mobilized anti-racism and feminist movements, including education and research, to counter the issues encompassed within these two forms of discrimination. However, while there are many arguments supporting the problems surrounding white supremacy as well as the sexual oppression of women, the combination of both race and gender lacks examination in comparison. Racialized women are commonly associated with being sexually available and exotic, despite feminist movements against the objectification of women. Because women are underrepresented in arguments against race, and issues of race are underrepresented in arguments against the sexualization of women, racialized women are marginalized and continue to face both racism and gender inequality.
Hamlet, a young prince preparing to become King of Denmark, cannot understand or cope with the catastrophes in his life. After his father dies, Hamlet is filled with confusion. However, when his father's ghost appears, the ghost explains that his brother, Hamlet's Uncle Claudius, murdered him. In awe of the supposed truth, Hamlet decides he must seek revenge and kill his uncle. This becomes his goal and sole purpose in life. However, it is more awkward for Hamlet because his uncle has now become his stepfather. He is in shock by his mother's hurried remarriage and is very confused and hurt by these circumstances. Along with these familial dysfunctions, Hamlet's love life is diminishing. It is an "emotional overload" for Hamlet (Fallon 40). The encounter with the ghost also understandably causes Hamlet great distress. From then on, his behavior is extremely out of context (Fallon 39). In Hamlet's first scene of the play, he does not like his mother's remarriage and even mentions his loss of interest in l...
Hamlet is Shakespeare’s most famous work of tragedy. Throughout the play the title character, Hamlet, tends to seek revenge for his father’s death. Shakespeare achieved his work in Hamlet through his brilliant depiction of the hero’s struggle with two opposing forces that hunt Hamlet throughout the play: moral integrity and the need to avenge his father’s murder. When Hamlet sets his mind to revenge his fathers’ death, he is faced with many challenges that delay him from committing murder to his uncle Claudius, who killed Hamlets’ father, the former king. During this delay, he harms others with his actions by acting irrationally, threatening Gertrude, his mother, and by killing Polonius which led into the madness and death of Ophelia. Hamlet ends up deceiving everyone around him, and also himself, by putting on a mask of insanity. In spite of the fact that Hamlet attempts to act morally in order to kill his uncle, he delays his revenge of his fathers’ death, harming others by his irritating actions. Despite Hamlets’ decisive character, he comes to a point where he realizes his tragic limits.
The reason for the lack of sufficient changes in juvenile delinquency is that the problems that leads to juvenile delinquency starts in the home and there has not been enough attention paid to the family dynamics which causes delinquency. Parents are the first relationship chi...
The flood story that is told in The Epic of Gilgamesh has the same principle as the story of Noah told in the book of Genesis in the Bible, but there are some major differences. In the epic, Utnapishtim is immortal and, although Noah was extremely old when he died, he wasn’t immortal. Utnapishtim was a human, but because he saved mankind, Enlil said, “Hitherto Utnapishtim has been a human, now Utnapishtim and his wife shall become like us gods.” (Gilgamesh 11.206-207) In the Biblical story, God told Noah that he was going to send a flood and asked him specifically to make the ark in order to save mankind. In Genesis 6:13-22, God tells Noah why he’s flooding the earth and exact instructions to build the ark. “13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress[a] wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.[b] 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit[c] high all arou...
In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the main character, Hamlet, is often perceived by the other characters in the play as being mentally unbalanced because he acts in ways that drive them to think he is mad. Hamlet may very well be psychotic; however, there are times when he “feigns insanity” in order to unearth the truth surrounding his father's death. This plan seems to be going well until Hamlet's mental state slowly begins to deteriorate. What began as an act of insanity or antic disposition transitions from an act to a tragic reality. After studying Hamlet's actions, one will notice that as the play progresses, his feigned insanity becomes less and less intentional and devolves into true mental illness.
Hamlet’s mourning about the death of his father and the remarriage of his mother drives him to madness. This is the main characters inner tragedy that Shakespeare expresses in the play. First he considers suicide but the ghost of King Hamlet sends him on a different path, directing him to revenge his death. Shakespeare uses Hamlet to articulate his thoughts about life, death and revenge. Being a moral character he must decide if revenge is the right thing to do. Shakespeare relays many scenarios of reasoning to the audience about mankind His hero sets the wrongs on mankind right again.
Generally speaking, the relationship between family conflict and delinquency is significant. There are many types of family conflict but the absence of communication and the inability to solve problems are two of the most fundamental forms relative to future delinquency. The nature of these conflicts is cyclical in that communication and problem-solving breakdowns increase the incidences of delinquency which in turn increase the stress and conflict levels within the family leading to more instances of deviant behavior (Smith & Stern, 1997).
This “circle” may include family and friends. Over the years, the constituents of a typical household have evolved. Extended families are increasing and the probabilities of a child growing up with one or no parent are more likely to happen now than they did years ago. Studies have found that families with both parents involved in a child’s life are less likely to have delinquent juveniles than families with one or no parent as long as the parents displayed healthy communication and lifestyles among themselves and their children. Furthermore, extended families seem to have a healthier lifestyle than that of nuclear families. The main point focuses on the idea that the happier and healthier a family is, the less likely the children will grow to commit offenses. Bad parenting falls under this idea. Parents who abuse, neglect, and communicate poorly with their children will more likely raise a child who will be involved in criminal acts. Household abuse also tends to work in a cycle. If a child is abused then he or she will more likely be at risk of abusing his or her future children. Studies also show that parents who are involved in criminal offenses are more likely to have juvenile delinquents because children learn from their parents. Thus, abuse and delinquent behavior correspond with each other. Additionally, if the child has a delinquent sibling, that also
There has been a mass increase of juvenile delinquency in the United States, which has made a notable change in our society as a whole. It also directly affects parents, teachers, families, the perpetrators themselves, and of course, the victims. Law enforcement agencies in the United States have made an estimated 2.11 million arrests of minors. These perpetrators who were arrested have either been placed in confinement or they are under court supervision. Juvenile delinquency is described as illegal or immoral behavior, generally among young people under the legal age of eighteen. In order to reduce these high rates of delinquency, parents, and other adult figures, must first ask themselves, what is causing this? What external and internal
Hamlet is one of the most often-performed and studied plays in the English language. The story might have been merely a melodramatic play about murder and revenge, butWilliam Shakespeare imbued his drama with a sensitivity and reflectivity that still fascinates audiences four hundred years after it was first performed. Hamlet is no ordinary young man, raging at the death of his father and the hasty marriage of his mother and his uncle. Hamlet is cursed with an introspective nature; he cannot decide whether to turn his anger outward or in on himself. The audience sees a young man who would be happiest back at his university, contemplating remote philosophical matters of life and death. Instead, Hamlet is forced to engage death on a visceral level, as an unwelcome and unfathomable figure in his life. He cannot ignore thoughts of death, nor can he grieve and get on with his life, as most people do. He is a melancholy man, and he can see only darkness in his future—if, indeed, he is to have a future at all. Throughout the play, and particularly in his two most famous soliloquies, Hamlet struggles with the competing compulsions to avenge his father’s death or to embrace his own. Hamlet is a man caught in a moral dilemma, and his inability to reach a resolution condemns himself and nearly everyone close to him.