Hamlet Insanity Analysis

An act of revenge isn’t insanity, it is merely an act of purely benevolent love that is thoroughly thought out. Hamlet must patiently wait for the precise moment to fulfill his revenge plot as the last act of love for his deceased father, Old King Hamlet. Out of the many Shakespearean plays that are analyzed punctiliously, the play Hamlet has had continuous scrutinization over Hamlet’s sanity. I believe he is feigning madness and that he is sane. At the beginning of the play Hamlet clearly, tells Horatio he will be acting strangely. An individual who is to be proclaimed insane should not have the level of self-control that Hamlet has. If Hamlet was insane, he would not have had the mental capacity to formulate his cunning maneuver to expose Claudius as the perpetrator. Furthermore, showing his love for his family and willingness to vindicate should not be deemed as insanity.

Hamlet had to be cautious in the ways he went about avenging his father.

His plan to make himself be seemingly insane is the only exposed to his closest companion, Horatio. “How strange or odd some’er I bear myself / As I perchance hereafter shall think meet/To put an antic disposition on)” (67). Hamlet is explaining to Horatio that if he is to act crazy in his ways, that it is simply an act to fool. “ His plan to act insane provides him with the means with which to act and speak in ways which would, under normal circumstances, not be tolerated” (1). The author is arguing that the reason for Hamlet’s act of insanity is to depict an image of himself that will be unsuspecting to Horatio, in order to pull off his plot of revenge. Hamlet primarily tells his most loyal asset that the insanity is a lie.“That I essentially am not in madness, but mad in craft” (183). It is suggested through this quote that Hamlet is saying his plan is so far fetched, it may seem like madness but it is not he that is mad. Moreover, it can then be assumed his act is only one his friend knows

about.
A very common trait among the mentally ill, is impulsiveness, “but in our circumstances and course of thought/ Tis heavy with him. And am I then revenged/ To take him in the purging of his soul,/ When he is fit and season'd for his passage?/ No” (167). Hamlet reproaches from taking Claudius’ life when Claudius is most vulnerable, confessing to God his sin. The Prince of Denmark is capable of restraining himself from doing what he has planned to do, execute Claudius. “The king wants to kill Hamlet indirectly by sending him to England and he orders the king of England to kill him immediately. Whereas Hamlet waits for the perfect chance to kill his uncle and fulfill his task, the revenge.” (???). Hamlet was seen as desperate to spill his treacherous uncle’s blood, instead he is seen as sensible in the aspect of proper revenge. To kill Claudius while he is repenting will ultimately aid in his uncle escaping purgatory and eternal suffering. Hamlet wishes Claudius to endure purgatory for his crimes, as well as avoiding recklessness.”The play’s the thing/ Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king” (119). Hamlet represented the backside of impulsiveness, he was a strategist. He was precise and deliberate in making decisions. Although he is acting insane, he still sustains self-control.