To Be Mad or Not To Be?
Throughout the play, the characters in Hamlet are constantly facing themes of tragedy, betrayal, and most importantly, madness. The main character Hamlet is the poster child for all of these themes, especially madness. After his father is brutally murdered and a ghost comes to say that it was indeed Hamlet’s uncle who did the crime, Hamlet is full of both melancholy and angst. Many people debate over Hamlet was actually mad or if his strange behavior was just an act the whole time. Who decides what is mad and what is not? Better yet, what makes a person mad?? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines madness as “a state of severe mental illness; behavior or thinking that is very foolish or dangerous”. Hamlet does a great
…show more content…
Once the ghost of his father appears, Hamlet is furious and automatically begins to make plans to avenge his father’s death.“Here, as before, never, so help you mercy,/ How strange or odd soe 'er I bear myself/ (As I perchance hereafter shall think meet/ To put an antic disposition on), (1.5. 170-73). In these lines of the play, Hamlet is talking to his two friends Marcellus and Horatio about his future behavior. He is making sure they never speak of his future actions no matter how crazy he gets as he tries to get revenge. In my opinion, this supports the fact that Hamlet is indeed mad because he is predicting his future sanity and behavior and decides to warn his friends because he knows that he is mad and they need a …show more content…
Although he does have a right to be angry, his emotions often time mix with his mental state, leaving other characters confused. He questions his mother on many of her recent decisions and he feels as if she has completely betrayed him by jumping into a marriage with his uncle. Because of these betrayals, Hamlet disregards, or so it seems, all of his recent feelings for Ophelia. When he sees her outside, he appears to have no feelings for her and even lashes out at her. Not everyone is upfront and blunt about their romantic feelings however lashing out against someone you claim to love is never the rational thing to do, is it? While outside Hamlet tells Ophelia that she should check herself into a nunnery and continues to insult her. “ This was sometime a paradox, but now the time gives it proof. I did love you once. (3.1. 116-17), Hamlet continues, “You should not have believed me, for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it. I loved you not.” (3.1. 119-21).In these lines, Hamlet’s madness is on full display as he tells Ophelia that he only used to love her and that she should not have believed his love for her. This comes only after many attempts to confess his love to her so the abrupt change of heart takes Ophelia by storm and she cries out to God to help Hamlet and return him to normal. If that incident does not clarify
Throughout the play, Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, the unclear representation of the protagonist’s actions is present. The protagonist, Hamlet, conducts the idea that he is turning mad. Although, there are many indications which support that this so-called “madness” is part of an act that Hamlet portrays. The other characters within the play try to understand the reasoning behind Hamlet’s madness, but cannot figure out the truth behind it. The main cause of Hamlet’s madness is the realization of his father’s death and the numerous influences his father’s death has on his life. Hamlet can control his actions of madness and specifically acts differently around certain characters. The characters who are more concerned
death when his mother and the king enter the room and question him on his
In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet the main character Hamlet experiences many different and puzzling emotions. He toys with the idea of killing himself and then plays with the idea of murdering others. Many people ask themselves who or what is this man and what is going on inside his head. The most common question asked about him is whether or not he is sane or insane. Although the door seems to swing both ways many see him as a sane person with one thought on his mind, and that is revenge. The first point of his sanity is while speaking with Horatio in the beginning of the play, secondly is the fact of his wittiness with the other characters and finally, his soliloquy.
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.
Logan Gaertner Mrs. Amon English IV 1 March 2014 Is Hamlet’s Insanity Real? Is Hamlet truly insane? While the play is not extremely clear on the matter and often contradicts itself, many of Hamlet’s wild ramblings and words of nonsense seem to be not the true words of a madman. Hamlet says that he is merely “putting on an antic disposition” (Act 1, Scene 5, Line 181). He admits very early on in the play that his insanity will be nothing more than a ruse to fool those around him.
At times, Hamlet must be rude and act insane towards her, but it is simply a mask to cover his true emotions instead of showing weakness. He doesn’t want anyone to use Ophelia against him and he desires for her to stay
Throughout the Shakespearian play, Hamlet, the main character is given the overwhelming responsibility of avenging his father’s "foul and most unnatural murder" (I.iv.36). Such a burden can slowly drive a man off the deep end psychologically. Because of this, Hamlet’s disposition is extremely inconsistent and erratic throughout the play. At times he shows signs of uncontrollable insanity. Whenever he interacts with the characters he is wild, crazy, and plays a fool. At other times, he exemplifies intelligence and method in his madness. In instances when he is alone or with Horatio, he is civilized and sane. Hamlet goes through different stages of insanity throughout the story, but his neurotic and skeptical personality amplifies his persona of seeming insane to the other characters. Hamlet comes up with the idea to fake madness in the beginning of the play in order to confuse his enemies. However, for Hamlet to fulfill his duty of getting revenge, he must be totally sane. Hamlet’s intellectual brilliance make it seem too impossible for him to actually be mad, for to be insane means that one is irrational and without any sense. When one is irrational, one is not governed by or according to reason. So, Hamlet is only acting mad in order to plan his revenge on Claudius.
Hamlet's behavior throughout the play, especially towards Ophelia is inconsistent. He jumps into Ophelia's grave, and fights with Laertes in her grave. He professes I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers/Could not, with all their quantity of love,/ Make up my sum [Act V, scene I, lines 250-253], during the fight with Laertes in Ophelia's grave, but he tells her that he never loved her, when she returns his letters and gifts, while she was still alive. Hamlet subtly hints his awareness of his dissolving sanity as he tells Laertes that he killed Polonius in a fit of madness [Act V, scene II, lines 236-250]
Hamlet truly loved Ophelia, In my eyes, and I do believe that if his mind was not clouded with anger, he would’ve done nothing to ever harm her. Hamlet without even realizing, because of his insanity used Ophelia as a release for his anger, and eventually drove her mad. He basically tortured Ophelia without even knowing, not only by the progression of anger and rejection towards her, but also by killing her own father.
Throughout Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the main character, Hamlet, must seek revenge for the murder of his father. Hamlet decides to portray an act of insanity, as part of his plan to murder Claudius. Throughout the play, Hamlet becomes more and more believable in his act, even convincing his mother that he is crazy. However, through his thoughts, and actions, the reader can see that he is in fact putting up an act, he is simply simulating insanity to help fulfil his fathers duty of revenge. Throughout the play, Hamlet shows that he understands real from fake, right from wrong and his enemies from his friends. Even in his madness, he retorts and is clever in his speech and has full understanding of what if going on around him. Most importantly, Hamlet does not think like that of a person who is mad. Hamlet decides to portray an act of insanity, as part of his plan to seek revenge for his fathers murder.
Hamlet chooses to go mad so he has an advantage over his opponent and since he is the Prince of Denmark certain behavior is unacceptable, so by faking madness he is able to get away with inappropriate sayings and actions. We can see this when he talks to Claudius, Polonius, Ophelia and his mother. When Hamlet talks to Horatio in the first act he says how he is going to "feign madness" and that:
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.
This is part of his initial plan for revenge that is first mentioned when he state, “As I perchance here after shall think meet to put an antic disposition on” (1.5.179-180). Here, Hamlet is saying that if he finds it necessary to behave as a mad man, they should not in any way by word or gesture reveal that they know the real reasoning behind this act. Hamlet behaved this way hoping that by acting in such a way others would become bolder around him and reveal something in their actions and speech that he can employ as justification for avenging his father’s
Madness is a condition that is difficult to distinguish between true and false. As in the encounter of the ghost of Hamlet 's father with Hamlet, Hamlet is asked to avenge his father 's death. To accomplish this task in a less apparent manner, Hamlet decides to feign madness. In the long run, Hamlet truly does go insane. Consequently, his behavior thereafter is frequently unfathomable. William Shakespeare, the writer of the tragic play, Hamlet, leaves Hamlet 's sanity up to interpretation. Throughout Shakespeare 's Hamlet, Hamlet 's questionable madness is explored through his real madness, feigned actions, and the reactions of others towards his madness.
The tragedy of Hamlet by William Shakespeare is about Hamlet going insane and reveals his madness through his actions and dialogue. Hamlet remains one of the most discussed literary characters of all time. This is most likely due to the complex nature of Hamlet as a character. In one scene, Hamlet appears happy, and then he is angry in another and melancholy in the next. Hamlet’s madness is a result of his father’s death which was supposedly by the hands of his uncle, Claudius. He has also discovered that this same uncle is marrying his mom. It is expected that Hamlet would be suffering from some emotional issues as result of these catastrophes. Shakespeare uses vivid language, metaphors, and imagery to highlight how Hamlet’s madness influences several important aspects of his life including his relationships and the way he presents himself.