Hamlet: Is He Insane?
The term insanity means a mental disorder, whether it is temporary or
permanent, that is used to describe a person when they don't know the difference
between right or wrong. They don't consider the nature of their actions due to
the mental defect.(“Insanity”, sturtevant) In William Shakespeare's play “
Hamlet” Shakespeare leads you to believe that the main character, Hamlet, might
be insane. There are many clues to suggest Hamlet is insane but infact he is
completely sane.
Throughout the play Hamlet makes wise decisions to prove he is not
insane. He knows exactly what he is leading up to. He just delays to act due
to his indecisiveness. An example of this is in Act III, section III, line 73,
Hamlet says “Now might I do it pat, now 'a is a-praying, and now I'll do it-and
so ‘a goes to heaven, and so am I revenged that would be scanned. A villain
kills my father, and for that, I, his sole son, do this same villain send to
heaven. Why, this is hire and salary, not revenge.” He says here that he has
his chance to kill his father's murder but, he is praying. By killing him while
he's praying his soul goes to heaven and this wouldn't be revenge. This is not
a thought of an insane person. An insane person would have completed the murder
at this opportunity. In Act III, scene I, line 55, “To be or not to be...”,
Hamlet displays his indecisiveness by thinking about suicide because of the
situation he is in. He would rather be dead than live with the thought of his
father's death going unavenged. He is scared to get revenge because he found
out from a ghost and he doesn't know what to do. In line 83,” Thus conscience
takes a major part in the thought and action of murder. This is why he delays
so long to commit the murder. An insane person would not wait. They would be
more apt to act in impulse.
Hamlet's madness only existed when he was in the presence of certain
characters. When Hamlet is around Polonius, Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia,
Rosencrantz, and Gildenstern, he behaves irrationally. For example in Act II,
section II, Polonius asks Hamlet,” Do you know me, my Lord?” Hamlet replies,”
Excellent well, you are a fischmonger”. Hamlet pretends not to know who
Polonius is, even though he is Ophelia's father. When Hamlet is around Horatio,
Bernardo, Fransisco, the players and the Gravediggers, he behaves rationally.
In Act I, section V, lines 165-180, Hamlet says “How strange or odd some'er
“This, by his voice, should be a Montague. Fetch me my rapier, boy. What dares the slave come hither, cover’d with an antic face, To fleer and scorn at our solemnity? Now, by the stock and honour of my kin, To strike him dead I hold it not a sin.” (Shakespeare, page 54).
to take revenge, in that process I will kill another person whose family will want revenge; then
Shakespeare, William, and John Wilders. "Act 1, Scene 7." Macbeth. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Page 2. Print.
and lying as means to achieve an end. This is evident in Act III, scene I, lines 49-51, when
invisible hand cancel and tear to pieces that great bond which keeps me pale”(Act III,
In Pablo Neruda’s love poems, ‘Body of a Woman’ and ‘Sonnet 89’ the theme is about a woman who Neruda loved. This essay will analyse how Neruda uses imagery and metaphor, amongst others, to reflect on how much Neruda has matured over time.
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.
(Act IV Scene I Lines 150-153) Macbeth shows the insignificance of his morals and responsibilities by his actions, he shows that becoming king is of much more importance.
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.
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.
Macbeth’s soliloquy in Act 3 Scene 1, after he has bid farewell to Banquo and Fleance, cap...
This quote is spoken by Hamlet to Horatio and the watchman. Hamlet warns Horatio that he is going to behave oddly. Hamlet’s actions do not match his passion. Hamlet makes his friends to swear an oath to not to tell anyone about his encounter with the ghost, no matter how he behaves. This quote is important to prove that Hamlet’s tragic flaw is procrastination. Hamlet speaks passionately about getting his revenge quickly, but then decides to act insanity, which delays his revenge for two
Shakespeare's play "Hamlet" is about a complex protagonist, Hamlet, who faces adversity and is destined to murder the individual who killed his father. Hamlet is a character who although his actions and emotions may be one of an insane person, in the beginning of the book it is clear that Hamlet decides to fake madness in order for his plan to succeed in killing Claudius. Hamlet is sane because throughout the play he only acts crazy in front of certain people, to others he acts properly and displays proper prince like behavior who is able to cope with them without sounding crazy, and even after everything that has been going on in his life he is able to take revenge by killing his father's murderer. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare Hamlet is sane but acts insane to fulfill his destiny of getting vengeance on his father's murderer.
Act 2 Scene 1 Page 297 Line 69-70: "Whiles I threat, he lives: / Words to the
Secularization is a controversial form of social change in modern day society. Secularization is a concept derived from a Latin word meaning “the present age,” the term is generally associated with modern, technologically, and advanced societies. “Secularism is a political tradition that has been evolving for eighteenth centuries. It shares important relationships with other traditions, sustaining complex ties with Judeo-Christianity, and maintaining a long-standing relationship with Islam” ( Hurd, 2004). The term secular has taken on many different meaning through history. The earliest references can be traced to the 13th century, when the notion of the saeculum arose in reference to a binary opposition within Christianity. Priests who withdrew from the world (saeculum) formed the religious clergy, while those living in the world formed the secular clergy (Casanova, 1994). The notion of the ‘secular’ has taken on a range of different meanings over the past eighteen centuries. In today society, the world secular is used to describe a world thought to be in motion, the moving away from religious influence in everyday life.