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Recommended: The imagery of hamlet
Reynaldo is attempting to find out about Laertes naturally, indirectly asking people around Paris about him.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were acting unnaturally when conversing with Hamlet; and while claiming they were there to see him, Hamlet sensed something suspicious, and a result, confronted them on the matter, and consequently learned that they were sent to see him by the King and Queen.
Hamlet plans on trying to get Claudius to confess to the murder of his father by having the actors do a play involving murder, in an attempt to get Claudius to confess, naturally rather than if Hamlet had burst through the palace doors in a fit and demand that Claudius had killed his father. If, however, Claudius did admit to the murder of King Hamlet, it would’ve been unnatural since Claudius would’ve felt pressured into confessing. Toward the conclusion of Act II, Hamlet is quoted as saying “…I have heard that guilty creatures sitting at a play have, by the very cunning of the scene, been struck so to the soul that presently they have proclaimed their malfunctions”, reassuring the idea that the play could guilt Claudius into confessing the murder of Hamlet’s father.
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Unnatural also ties into Sanity vs. Insanity because an insane person wouldn’t be able to act naturally. An example of this can be shown when Hamlet introduces his antic disposition, going from both sane and natural to suddenly being insane and
that they had seen a ghost during the night watch. Hamlet was shocked at the
Throughout William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, “insanity” is exposed by the main character, Hamlet. Although it is depicted, Hamlet’s intelligence allows him to mask his true sanity. Prince Hamlet falls into a state of emotional turmoil due to his father’s death and his lost love for Gertrude and Ophelia, but he is never insane. To avoid separation from his family and friends, Hamlet appears to waver between sanity and madness. He also plans on revenging his father’s death under the guise of madness. Hamlet feigns insanity, and he does so to state his emotions towards the two closest women in his life, to influence the opinions of those around him, and to avenge his father’s death.
death when his mother and the king enter the room and question him on his
A consideration of the madness of the hero Hamlet within the Shakespearean drama of the same name, shows that his feigned madness sometimes borders on real madness, but probably only coincidentally.
“I plead guilty by reason of insanity,” is Hamlet’s plea if he was sitting in a modern courtroom. In Hamlet by William Shakespeare, it is evident that Hamlet himself is indeed out of his mind. The reader understands the reason for his anger and frustration, but how he “fixes” the situation is beyond a sane mind. To be fair, his madness deals more with emotional instability referred to as melancholy or madness than a person who is incoherent. Hamlet’s madness becomes clear in his actions and thoughts, in his erratic relationship with Ophelia, and in the murder of Polonius.
Here we can see that Hamlet had told Ophelia earlier in the scene how deeply he
Topic 3: An Analysis of Hamlet’s Insanity in “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” by William Shakespeare
Riddled with ambiguity by its very nature, the text of William Shakespeare's Hamlet has been a commonly debated subject in literary circles since its first performance. The character Hamlet undergoes intense physical and emotional hardship in his quest for revenge against his despicable uncle. This hardship, some argue, leads to an emotional breakdown and, ultimately, Hamlet's insanity. While this assessment may be suitable in some cases, it falls short in others. Since Hamlet is a play, the ultimate motivation of each of the characters borrows not only from the text, but also from the motivations of the actors playing the parts. In most respects, these motivations are more apt at discerning the emotional condition of a character than their dialogue ever could. Thus, the question is derived: In Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of Hamlet, does the character Hamlet suffer from insanity? Giving halt to the response, this paper will first endeavor to establish what insanity is and will then provide sufficient examples both from the text, film, and Branagh's own musings on his motivations as proof that Hamlet's character, at least in Branagh's version of the play, is not insane.
Shakespeare's tragic hero, Hamlet, and his sanity can arguably be discussed. Many portions of the play supports his loss of control in his actions, while other parts uphold his ability of dramatic art. The issue can be discussed both ways and altogether provide significant support to either theory. There are indications from Hamlet throughout the play of his mind's well being.
During the first act, Prince Hamlet meets the ghost of his father, King Hamlet. His father's ghost tells Hamlet that Claudius poured poison in his ear while he slept. The spirit also explains that he wishes for Hamlet to avenge his death, but not to punish Queen Gertrude for marrying Claudius. He tells Hamlet that she will have to answer to her conscience, and eventually God for her incestuous actions (absoluteshakespeare.com 1 of 4). It was believed during these times that when a person died, especially in such a tragic fashion, that their spirit lingered about while suffering in Purgatory. This could cause a normally virtuous person's spirit to become filled with malevolence and begin to meddle in living men's affairs (en.wikipedia.org 4 of 9). This belief caused Prince Hamlet to want to investigate his father's spirit's claims to ensure that they were indeed true. In order to do this, Prince Hamlet feigns madness in order to remain hidden from members of the court's suspicions while he plots his revenge on King Claudius (www.sparknotes.com 1 of 3). He also takes advantage of a group of actors who come to Elsinore Castle to perform by rewriting a play to recreate the scene of his father's murder. He does this with the hope of flushing a confession out of Claudius' guilty conscience. When Claudius sees the play, he stands up and leaves the room (en.wikipedia.org 5 of 9). After many more events, Claudius' guilt becomes more obvious. Claudius then begins to change his focus towards killing Hamlet, as he is beginning to become aware of the Prince's plans to kill him. Claudius then arranges a fencing match between Hamlet and Polonius' son Laertes and has Laertes poison the blade of one of his swords to be used in the match (Hamlet).
Hamlet's public persona is a facade he has created to carry out his ulterior motives. The outside world's perception of him as being mad is of his own design. Hamlet is deciding what he wants others to think about him. Polonius, a close confidant of the King, is the leading person responsible for the public's knowledge of Hamlet's madness. The idea that Hamlet is mad centers around the fact that he talks to the ghost of his dead father. He communicates with his dead father's ghost twice, in the presence of his friends and again in the presence of his mother. By being in public when talking to the ghost, the rumor of his madness is given substance.
The thoughts of Guildenstern and Rosencrantz present the reader with one possible factor for the cause of Hamlets supposed madness. The two men believe that the cause for Hamlets madness is his lack of “advancement” or thwarted ambition. In a conversation with Hamlet in Act II scene II, Guildenstern and Rosencrantz come upon this idea:
In Lewis Carol’s, Alice in Wonderland, he tells of the meeting between two of his characters, Alice, and the Mad Hatter. Carol writes about the struggles the young girl Alice has with him due to the fact that he appears to be entirely crazy, though the question stands if there is some method to his madness. Playwright and actor, William Shakespeare, uses this controversial connection between real madness and loss in his play Hamlet, portrayed in his characters Hamlet, and his crazed actions towards his loved ones, in Ophelia and her reaction to the death of her father, and lastly, in his character Laertes and his quick, rash reaction to act upon his desire for revenge.
Hamlet, knowing that he will get into difficulty, needs to feign madness for the purpose of carrying out his mission. He rehearses his pretended madnesss first with Ophelia, for even if he should fail there in his act of simulation, that failure will not cause him any real harm. The manifestations of insanity that Hamlet will show become predictable - a sure sign that it is a simulated and not a real insanity.
Hamlet’s revenge mission begins when he is visited by his father’s ghost who commands “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder” (Shakespeare 1.5.31) after his father recounts the cause of his murder. From this point on, Hamlet begins to act mad in order to put his revenge mission into action. In fact, pretending that he has gone mental is all part of Hamlet’s plan to ultimately murder King Claudius. Furthermore, “Hamlet 's madness is an act of deception, concocted to draw attention away from his suspicious activities as he tries to gather evidence against Claudius…” (Mabillard). Therefore, Hamlet feigns a mental disorder so that he can prove that King Claudius is guilty and can therefore murder King Claudius. Hamlet seeks his revenge on the behalf of someone else, unlike Laertes who seeks revenge for himself. Nevertheless, Hamlet’s act of madness causes everyone around him to see him as having gone insane. Hamlet’s false insanity successfully convinces everyone that they should not worry about him because of his mental state and they are not concerned about him. Although few people concern themselves with Hamlet, King Claudius does after what King Claudius had observed in Act 3, Scene 2. Hamlet instructs the actors in a play that everyone is going to see to reenact the murder of King Hamlet. While that play is taking place, he is watching