Depressive disorder, sometimes known as depression, is a mental health illness marked by persistent feelings of melancholy, hopelessness, and a loss of interest or pleasure in activities. It can have an impact on how you feel, think, and handle daily tasks, frequently resulting in issues with sleep, food, energy levels, and attention. William Shakespeare, the author of Hamlet, depicts Hamlet's depressed condition, which is caused by a series of traumatic events, as well as suicidal ideations and a lack of energy. One of the most common reasons for depression is a history of trauma. Hamlet first shows signs of depression when he refers to his father’s death, he also mentions his mother’s remarriage. Particularly, he is dismayed by her capacity …show more content…
According to Claudius, “Hamlet’s transformation” to madness occurred after his father’s death (2.2.5). Throughout the play, Hamlet displays multiple events of suicidal ideations due to little value of life or death. In addition to considering suicide, Hamlet even goes as far as comparing “sleep” to “death” (3.1.62). Hamlet also wishes his “flesh would melt,/Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew” (1.1.131). Despite all of his flaws, Hamlet still possesses enough Christian morality to know that he cannot, in good conscience, end his own life — no matter how much he might want to. Rather, he longs to simply melt away and not be composed of solid flesh. Depressive disorder, sometimes known as depression, is a mental health illness marked by persistent feelings of hopelessness, and a loss of interest or pleasure in activities. Individuals with depression disorders frequently exhibit low energy levels throughout everyday tasks. They will just cease talking to people and will not participate in any activities. Throughout the play, Hamlet frequently lacks energy, especially when he is dealing with the guilt of his father's murder and his duty to exact
Instead of denial and isolation, which is the first stage according to Kubler-Ross, Hamlet dwells in a state of depression. The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Department of Psychiatry states “Depression occurs as a reaction to the changed way of life created by the loss. The bereaved person feels intensely sad, hopeless, drained and helpless” (www.uams.edu). Hamlet’s depression is revealed in his fourth soliloquy. “Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer/ Or take arms against a sea of troubles,/ And by opposing them? To die, to sleep;” (Shakespeare III.i.57-60) Meditative and weary Hamlet gives up on any hope for the future. He contemplates suicide making obvious his profound state of despair. Hamlet’s thoughts of suicide continue in this painful speech, “His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! Oh God! God!/ How weary, stale flat and unprofitable,/ Seem to me all the uses of this world!/ Fie on’t! Ah fie! ‘tis an unweeded garden” (I.ii.132-135) Here are a sickness of life, and even a longing for death, that strengthens Hamlet’s intense depression.
In the playwright Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Hamlet often shows many signs of depression. It is argued whether he is putting on the act, or if he is actually severely depressed. I believe after the death of his father, Hamlet becomes very emotionally unstable. Three things affect Hamlet, the death of his father, the remarriage of his mother, and Ophelia. Hamlet contemplates death, and becomes prepared to die near the end of the play.
To begin with, Hamlet starts off his speech asking, “Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer/ The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune/ Or to take arms against a sea of troubles/ And by opposing end them” (Shakespeare 3.1.57-60). He wonders if he would be more noble if he took his own life and end his sorrows than if he continued to endure him. This question shows the pain and grief that Hamlet has experienced since the death of his father. According to Ophelia, later in Act 3 Scene 1, she reveals that Hamlet was once the obvious successor to the throne since he was charismatic and admired by the people. Clearly, in this part of the play, he is suicidal, and he is uncertain about many of the big decisions in his life. This extreme change in Hamlet’s behaviors makes the audience worry about Hamlet’s mental health. Is his feigned madness transforming into true insanity? However, his comparison to death and sleep suggests that Hamlet is in a state of reflection and learning. Hamlet’s analogy between death and sleep is the musings of an ordinary man who wonders what happens to a soul once its body dies. Just as no one knows what dreams they will experience when they lay in bed, no knows what they will experience when their body is finally laid in a grave.
Mental illness can be a virus. It attaches to those with wild thoughts, actions, and comprehensions of a world known and unknown. It hits the soul, pulling at once a kind being into anxiety, pain and loss. In Shakespeare's play Hamlet, his main character, Hamlet, comes down with the illness. It enters him through actions by friends, enemies, and even his own family. The hardest thing to understand is whether Hamlet's insanity is completely real, or an act put on to win revenge. However, no matter what the reality of his psychotic mind is, the real question is what brought this whole thing on. In 1601 when Shakespeares Hamlet was written, Hamlet would be diagnosed with suffering from melancholy, but with today's high technology and knowledge he would of been diagnosed with bipolar I disorder. In Shakespeare’s time there was no concept of depressive illnesses, although melancholy was well known during his time.
Hamlet shows signs of depression starting after his father’s death. In the beginning of Hamlet, Hamlet is grieving over his father’s death and resents his new father, Claudius. Hamlet says, “She married. O, most wicked speed to post/ With such dexterity to incestusous sheets!/ It is not, not it cannot come to good./ But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue” (I.ii.158-161.). Hamlet is unable to escape from his depressive state because of his continuing grudge towards Claudius. Hamlet now not only loathes his new father, but his mother as well for remarrying so quickly and to his father’s, her late husband’s, brother. Hamlet mourning is prolonged and extreme as he continues to wear a dark wardrobe long after his father’s death, unable to accept what has happened and move on with his life. Hamlet’s depressive mood swings are a symptom of his bipolar disorder. According to The Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders, the mood swings associated with bipolar disorder range from mania (elevated or irritable mood) to depression (a mood characterized by loss of interest and sadness). Symptoms of a depressive episode include, persistent sad, anxious, or empty mood and feelings of irritability, hopelessness, or negativity (Basile)....
Hamlet’s madness whether actual or simulated, shows through his actions toward other main characters who threaten his revenge against Claudius. In proof of his diminished state Hamlet says, “O, that this too too solid flesh would melt / that and resolve itself into a dew! / Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d / his canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! O God! O God! / How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, / seem to me all the uses of this world!” (1.2. 129–158). From the very beginning Hamlet is already reacting to the deaths of his father and his parents’ marriage. Hamlet registers some clear suicidal and or mental (emotional) depression. Hamlet’s madness starts out inconspicuous, with the soiling of his parents’ marriage apparent and the death of his father, he continues throughout the whole story to grief.
It’s clear that the characters in Hamlet are suffering from some kind of mental illness. Some more serious than others, but given all of their backgrounds, it’s clear to see why. Having to deal with things like murder, your uncle becoming your father, and the girl you love killing herself becomes a lot to handle. The story begins with King Hamlet’s funeral where we later find out that Prince Hamlet’s uncle is marrying his mother and claiming the throne as his own. Months pass and Hamlet is still noticeably upset about his father’s passing and he’s been acting very strange. He’s then visited by the ghost of his late father, when he learns that his uncle killed his father. Prince Hamlet swears to his father that he will get revenge for his untimely
Hamlet prince of Denmark, an astute young man whose character seems to be experiencing sadness, mixed with grief and anger due to recent events. He is also a student attending the University of Wittenberg who is being pressured in to dropping out of university by his mother, Queen Gertrude, and his uncle Claudius (Shakespeare 1.2.110-119). Hamlets mother soon marries his uncle Claudius, shortly after the death of his father King Hamlet (Shakespeare 1.2.175-183), whose ghost is now being seen by Hamlet himself and urges him to defend his death by killing his uncle Claudius who he claims to have murdered him (Shakespeare 1.5.30-43).
There are various hardships that are managed in life; hardships, for example, losing friends and family may cloud one’s judgment, rational soundness, or considerations. These hardships are something that the characters in Hamlet need to manage, and it is likewise something the audience might recognize with. In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, there are numerous segments in the play that focuses on the Elizabethan audience. The struggles, agony and clashes that occur in the play, are something that the audience can identify with. The audience cannot resist the opportunity to demonstrate some inclination towards the characters, for example, Hamlet and Ophelia. All through the play, Hamlet puts on a show acting to be mad to conceal his true emotions
One of the primary inquiries that arises from Shakespeare’s famous work,Hamlet, is whether the protagonist is truly insane or whether he is just pretending to be so. Unlike some of Shakespeare’s other work such as Macbeth where the “discerning eye” can determine whether the character is actually insane or not and where the madness was born, Shakespeare leaves Hamlet’s madness up to interpretation. In the play, Hamlet’s madness can be viewed as rational or viewed as completely crazy. Hamlet’s madness is shown through his rash decisions, mood swings, and his “nutty as a fruitcake” speeches. The method behind his madness can be reasoned through the fact that in his madness he is protected by the king, he makes fools of king and everyone around him, and he gets plenty of time to plot his revenge against Claudius for the murder of his father.
Hamlet, a Shakespearean character, constantly struggles in a battle with his mind. He leads a very trying life that becomes too much for him to handle. Hamlet experiences hardships so horrible and they affect him so greatly that he is unable escape his dispirited mood. In speaking what he feels, Hamlet reveals his many symptoms of depression, a psychological disorder. While others can move on with life, Hamlet remains in the past. People do not understand his behavior and some just assume he is insane. However, Hamlet is not insane. He only pretends to be mad. Because Hamlet never receives treatment for his disorder, it only gets worse and eventually contributes to his death.
After a death, we find ways of overcoming grief in this painful world. Some people binge eat their way out while others find the easy way out, which is suicide.In the play Hamlet, Shakespeare portrays mortality in the image of death and suicide.Shakespeare develops hamlet as a man who is sensitive and uncontrolled by his actions. Hamlet faces challenges that mess with his subconscious making him feel vulnerable to making decisions that will affect his life.We can say that Hamlet was very indecisive of living or not. He showed many signs of suicidal thoughts. Many can argue and say that Hamlet was depressed. Coming back home from school to attend his father's funeral in Denmark made him discover many things, such as, his mother Gertrude remarried to Hamlet's uncle Claudius who is the dead king's brother. To Hamlet he finds it loathsome for his
Defining the Problem Coach Bobby Knight has always been an extremely polarizing figure. As coach of the Indiana University basketball team from 1971-2000, he achieved great professional success. He won over 800 games, including three NCAA championships. Underlying his tremendous achievement on the court was Coach Knight’s authoritarian style of leadership. He ruled with an iron fist and behaved in many ways like an aggressive, unrelenting tyrant.
Major life changes bring about the rise of Hamlet's insanity. The play begins with Hamlet returning home to Denmark to discover that his father had died. Aside from his father's death, Hamlet also had to accept that his mother was now married to his father's brother, Claudius. In Hamlet's first soliloquy preceding his father's death, he tells the audience “O that this too, too solid flesh would melt. Or that the Everlasting had not fixed, His canon 'gainst self-slaughter!”(Act 1. Scene 2. lines 130-133) This gives us a brief preview of Hamlet's mental state in the beginning of the play. Hamlet is extremely depressed and admits that but says it would be a sin to kill himself. Hamlet goes on to describe the world as "weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable" and compares it to an "unweeded garden” (Act 1. Scene 2. lines 133-135). Hamlet shows red flags for depression; however, he seems to be reacting as a normal person would to the death of a loved one, losing a sense of understanding and love fo...
The only characters to soliloquize in Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet are King Claudius and Prince Hamlet, the latter delivering seven notable soliloquies with much psychological content. However, the psychological dimension of others is presented.