Madness In Hamlet's Sanity

Hamlet 's Sanity

Madness is defined as a condition of the mind which eliminates all rational thoughts leaving an individual with no proper conception of his or her surroundings. Madness is normally a result of an experience or event that the mind to a certain degree cannot cope with. People who are mad are not in tact with their senses and fail to follow their conscience. They lack the ability to tell right from wrong. In Shakespeare’s play Hamlet the main character, is flooded with emotions. Hamlet endures a personal struggle following the death of his father since he witnesses his mother’s remarriage and even the appearance of his father in the form of a ghost. Knowing all that Hamlet’s been through people wonder if he still has his sanity

Likewise, rather than automatically assuming that the ghost was of his deceased father, he considered it could be of the devil. He felt that the devil could be trying to mess with him because he was in such a bad state. Hamlet also does not allow others to take advantage of him. Rather than letting himself be used, Hamlet uses the players as a way to watch Claudius’s reaction. Hamlet says, “I’ll have grounds more relative than this. The play’s the thing/Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king,” (II, ii, 591-592). His sanity is shown by how well thought out his plan is and how he consistently does not fall in the devils trap. Hamlet 's plan to prove that the king killed his father, is far too intricate to be considered one of a mad man. If he was truly insane, then he would have just listened to the ghost, and without having any evidence would have just killed

He asks himself if it better be suffer the pains of life or rather just to be asleep forever. He goes over the idea that when we are dreaming what if you have such a bad dream and you cannot do anything to help you get up from it. It is almost as if you are trapped and there is no exit. Hamlet questions if he should suffer his sorrows since he dreads something after death. He claims he is used to suffering his sorrows, but is afraid of the so called unknown. Hamlet believes in the idea that a conscience is bad and its only useful to prove a coward of all people. He looks beyond his thoughts and believes that he is one of high intelligence. Hamlet wonders why we chose to live with so much misery and pain when death is such an easy option. As human beings why we allow ourselves to go through so much when there are so many simple solutions we can take advantage of. If hamlet was truly insane, these thoughts would truly not run through his mind. He is going through a hard time having lost his father and learning that his dearest uncle was behind it. Hamlet is fully cognizant of the world around him, proving he is well witted and understand what he must do. Some characters themselves also come to see that Hamlet is in fact not insane. For instance, Polonius admits that Hamlet’s so called actions have a method to them and seem to be of logical nature.