Hamlet's State of Mind in Act III Scene i of William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Hamlet's State of Mind in Act III Scene i of William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Works Cited Missing

Throughout Act III Scene i, Hamlet's appearance to the audience is one

of carefully crafted madness, not completely artificial, but

manufactured for the purpose of members of his family and the court.

He uses this madness tactfully, and to his advantage. By acting as if

mad, he can pursue explicit issues under the disguise of madness. For

example, whilst talking to Ophelia he can criticise her father and his

uncle, while she is under the impression that he does not know what he

is saying. It acts as an alibi if something is taken in the wrong way,

but everything that he says is careful, as to avoid pitfalls, and all

of his statements are witty, and poised. His madness has a purpose,

and is focused, so it illustrates his intelligence. The audience would

be able to see how Hamlet's madness is not random or obscene, but

drives a point forward, striving for a goal.

It is suggested that Hamlet knows that he is being watched, and so the

scene can be read in a way that he suspects Claudius and Polonius are

watching him, and so he must continue the pretence of madness, for the

benefit of his watchers, even though they think that he thinks he is

alone. In the Branagh version, he performs his soliloquy ("To be or

not to be…) in front of the mirrored door where Polonius and Claudius

are spying. Under the guise of madness, Hamlet also appears to be

paranoid, he doubts people, and fears a conspiracy against him; he

feels that the court is in league together against him. With an

audience that has never seen or read the play, they would be wondering

wh...

... middle of paper ...

... about Hamlets character and shows that his

speeches are predominated by subtle connotations which control his

mind; these connotations are good indicators of when he has changed

his mind and would change the way he would be seen by an audience. The

overall impression that the audience would be left with, is that

Hamlet wants certain unobtainable things in his life, and strives to

get them, but there are several obstacles in his way. His thoughts

mainly reside on the weakness of women, to avenge his father's death,

and the betrayal of anyone he has let close to him (Ophelia, his

mother, etc.). His state of mind is disorderly and can be

misinterpreted if it is not carefully dissected. For a 'new' audience,

it would have been hard to understand, but the twists in the scene and

in Hamlets actions would have been riveting.