How Does Shakespeare Use Ophelia's Treatment Of Mental Illness In Hamlet

Great authors can develop the same idea in different ways. Shakespeare introduces the characters of Hamlet and Ophelia to mental illness throughout “Hamlet”. Hamlet a Depressed, Monomaniac, Psychopath runs off of the vengeance of his father without fail. Ophelia a hysterical depressed victim cannot function without the support of her father and lover. Shakespeare uses metaphors, gender, tone, and word choice to develop the progression of Mental illness in his characters throughout “Hamlet”.

Shakespeare uses metaphors and tone to stress the development of mental illness in the character Hamlet throughout “Hamlet”. Mental illness defines as a conditions that affect mood, thinking, or behavior. Hamlet represents a character affected by mental

illness. Hamlet in his first lines describes his pain and suffering simulating signs of depression, a form of mental illness. Early in his introduction Hamlet describes his feelings regarding the death of his father and sudden marriage of his mother and uncle. His mother asks Hamlet to stop his mourning. Hamlet responds by explaining his morning contains truth “I know not seems tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, Nor customary suits of solemn black nor windy suspiration of forced breath” (I, ii, 76-79). Shakespeare uses words like black and inky cloak, to develop a dark and solemn tone; furthermore, this tone allows the character of Hamlet to develop a dark and depressed attitude thus reflecting his internal depression. Shakespeare also uses metaphors to develop the idea of Hamlet’s depression. Hamlet conveys multiple symptoms of depression, like thoughts of suicide. Hamlet often debates about his death and what the effects his death would bring. Hamlet also debates life after death and questions religion. Hamlet describes death as “ this too too sallied flesh would melt, thaw and resolve itself into dew” (I, ii, 129-130). Shakespeare compares flesh melting to the resolving of dew; this comparison reflects Hamlet’s thoughts on death. Hamlet believes after death, life fades away into nothingness. Hamlet’s constant thoughts of death and life after death (or a lack thereof) reflects his mental instability. Shakespeare establishes an early lack of mental stability in the character of Hamlet and cultivate it throughout the play. Hamlet’s constant obsession with revenge further stresses his apparent mental illness. After Hamlet discovers Claudius holds responsibility for the murder of Hamlet’s father, Hamlet focuses on nothing but revenge. Hamlet's obsession with one singular idea describes a common nineteenth-century mental illness known as monomania. Monomania became popular nomenclature for a form of insanity in the early nineteenth century, While past the lifespan of Shakespeare, Monomania as described by French psychologist and author Jan E. Goldstein in Console and Classify: The French Psychiatric Profession in the Nineteenth Century is “a single pathological preoccupation” (Goldstein, 155-156). Goldstein’s definition of monomania describes Hamlet's single-minded obsession with revenge. Furthermore, Hamlet’s preoccupation with revenge forms from the seed imbued by the ghost of his father, Hamlet realizes he must act quickly to remove his father from fiery purgatory, “Haste me to know't, that I, with wings as swift As meditation or the thoughts of love, May sweep to my revenge. (I,v,29-31). From this point on Hamlet centralizes all action on the revenge of his father; however, he acts slowly and meticulously to ensure Claudius’ guilt and confirm Claudius ends up like Hamlet’s father. During the dialogue between Hamlet and the Ghost, Shakespeare uses an absolute and exclamatory tone. His tone stresses Hamlet’s transformation of state of mind and sole obsession with revenge. Furthermore the concept of monomania further develops Hamlet’s mental illness by providing an understood diagnosis to his actions. Through the final actions of Hamlet, Shakespeare drives Hamlets mental illness to the level of murder. Hamlet, in an effort to extort a confession from Gertrude, interrogates her, forcing her to cry out for help. Polonius hears her cries, and then reveals himself, thus causing Hamlet to murder him. To commit murder, an individual must cross a boundary that requires a lack of mental stability.in an article published by the Atlantic Elaine Sharp, a defense attorney describes the mental state of a murderer.

"You see, I truly believe that murderers are mentally ill," she explains.
"Their brains don't work like the rest of ours do. To deliberately kill someone
requires crossing a profound boundary. Most of us couldn't
do it. We couldn't even think about it. But they can. They do. Why?
Because they're mentally ill. (Sharp, 5).

Sharp explains that to murder an individual requires mental illness, therefore after the murder of Polonius Hamlet by definition carries mental illness. Hamlet after showing no remorse for the murder of the otherwise innocent Polonius develops into a psychopath. Psychopaths by definition show no remorse for their actions. After murdering Polonius, Hamlet proceeds to insult Polonius “thou wretched rash intruding fool farewell” (III, iv 33). Shakespeare's use of an aggressive tone when addressing the murder of Polonius shows the final progression of Hamlet’s Mental illness. Rather than show empathy and remorse for his actions, Hamlet shows aggression towards Polonius and places blame on him for eavesdropping. This is a common trait shown by Psychopaths which further ties Hamlet to such. Shakespeare develops Hamlet's mental illness from Depression caused by the death of his father to Monomania caused by the need for revenge to psychopathy after the murder of Polonius. Shakespeare's use of tone and metaphors further develops the progression of Hamlet's mental illness The progression becomes further apparent through the base definitions of each mental illness Hamlet suffers from and supporting information from knowledgeable individuals like Goldstein and Sharp.
Shakespeare uses gender and word choice to stress the development of mental illness in the character Ophelia throughout “Hamlet”.

Ophelia’s mental illness comes to fruition later in the play, but comes in a very strong form, Hysteria. Hysteria, as defined in Shakespearean times, by a sickness of the womb. This diagnosis was given to females and usually occurred after some form of psychological abuse. Ophelia’s symptoms point to a diagnosis of hysteria over the death of her father Polonius. Furthermore, according to “Mental illness in Shakespeare case study #2” Ophelia is incapable of individuation, or the separation of one's self from others. Her lack of individual self-causes her to become dependent on others, such as Hamlet and Polonius. With Hamlet's abandonment and the death of her father, Ophelia spirals into madness. Shakespeare uses Ophelia's gender to create her mental illness by shaping her mental illness around the diagnosis of a woman. The establishment of Ophelia's Mental illness allows Shakespeare to further develop it through the tone of which she speaks. Ophelia begins to sing songs after the death of her father that other characters interpret as her mourning. However, in delving into the songs Ophelia sings her madness becomes apparent. The first song Ophelia sings refers to her marital status. Ophelia “ by gis and by saint charity alack and fie for shame young men will do’t if they come to’t by cock they are to blame quoth she before you tumbled me you promised me to wed” (IV, v 57-62). Ophelia refers to Hamlet and her father in this song, she addresses her father's wishes that she keeps her virginity and keep it for the sanctity of marriage; furthermore, she refers to Hamlet who promised to wed her, however, Hamlet leaves her and claims he never loved her. Ophelia's obsession with the most important men in her life, even after they leave her reflects her dependency on man. This dependence further drives her mental illness after the loss of

Polonius and Hamlet. Shakespeare uses gender when referring to Ophelia's desire for marriage and dependence on her father and lover. The use of gender further develops her mental illness by describing certain symptoms of hysteria, like uncontrollable fits of emotion. The final progression of Ophelia’s mental illness comes to fruition through her death in the form of suicide. Ophelia does not carry the ability to distinguish herself therefore, after the people she depends on the most leave her, she has no reason to live. This lack of a will to live further develops her mental illness. In scenes leading up to Ophelia’s death Ophelia sings songs that reflect her actions. The last song she sings a song of death

“And will’ a not come again? And will ‘a not come again? No, no, he is dead,
go to thy death-bed, He never will come again. His beard was as white as
snow, all flaxen was his poll; he is gone, he is gone, and we cast away moan: god-a-mercy on his soul! And of all christian souls, I pray god, God buy you.” (IV, v, 183-193).

Shakespeare puts emphasis on words like “death” and “come again” to foreshadow the death of Ophelia; Furthermore, the last words spoken by Ophelia take on a change of language, Ophelia says “buy” as meaning “by” in the last line, this refers to her future intentions to lie by god. Shakespeare's word choice develops Ophelia’s mental illness by stressing words like death to refer to her future suicide. Shakespeare develops Ophelia's mental illness through gender by developing her with a female diagnosis; and word choice by stressing certain words that foreshadow her death. Her illness is further developed by supporting articles that explain the definition of Hysteria and why it applies to Ophelia.
Using supporting evidence and definitions, Shakespeare's ideas become clear. Hamlet and Ophelia’s mental illness develop further with the addition of psychological definitions and symptoms. Shakespeare uses metaphors, gender, tone, and word choice to develop the progression of Mental illness in his characters throughout “Hamlet”.