Hamlet Sociopaths In Hamlet

1760 Words4 Pages

Are sociopaths born or are they created? Did they go insane because they are mourning the loss of their loved ones or are they hell bent on vengeance? In this tragic tale, Hamlet, prince of Denmark, is visited by a ghost that appears to be Hamlet’s dead father, the old king. The ghost tells him, he was murdered by his brother, Claudius to claim his throne and encourages hamlet to take revenge. This task causes Hamlet to take on the personality of another and is constantly trying to wreak havoc upon his uncle. This new personality formed from the trauma of his father’s death has emerged a shadow that has consumed Hamlet and taken control, playing him like a puppet in its sick game. As suggested by Carrasquillo, “Our light side, our conscience, …show more content…

Sociopaths ideas are usually very disorganized and not planned out well. Since sociopaths have a lack of regret, then tend to do the things that are unexpected and make more rash decisions. One of the rash decisions that Hamlet makes is when he first kills Polonius behind the curtain in his mother’s room. He didn’t even bother to see who it was, it could have been anyone but he immediately thought it was Claudius trying to spy on his conversation with his mother. As if the two were plotting against him and he’d be dead like his father. As Shakespeare describes in his play, Hamlet yells “A bloody deed! Almost as bad, good mother, as kill a king, and marry with his brother.” (3.4.27-28). He is still rather upset by the fact that his mother has moved on and does not see the consequences of his actions and he compares the murder of his father to how he killed Polonius. He believes that everyone is against him and begins to act rashly about how to resolve it. Sociopaths feel the need to be the winner of the “game” called life and in order to win, you have to take risks that no one else will take to be on top. Another one example of Hamlet acting impulsively is when he jumped into Ophelia’s grave to show that he loved her more than Laertes even though it was disrespecting her dead body by fighting over her while she’s dead. As Shakespeare explained, Hamlet “loved …show more content…

These traits that are compared to sociopath shed some light to Hamlet’s situation and proved how he was able to produce a play that was filled with such tragedy. Things such as manipulation, impulsiveness, and even showing no remorse are all factors in become a sociopath and how his mind was affected by it due to his father’s death. Some may say he’s just joking around others an insane man trapped within those castle walls. I believe he was sociopathic genius waiting to take his revenge, but that’s just me. No one really knows the people who surround them or what they do. Maybe the person next to you is a killer

Open Document