In William Shakespeare 's Hamlet, Charlotte Gilman 's “The Yellow Wallpaper”, and Ken Kesey 's One Flew Over the Cuckoo 's Nest, the poor treatment of primary characters labeled insane by secondary characters results in the deterioration of the primary characters mental state. All three of these works take place in a time where mental instability is frowned upon. The way in which society views those with mental instabilities influences the view and treatment of the mentally unstable by the people around them. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the poor treatment of Hamlet by Claudius in his feigning of madness leads to the deterioration of Hamlets true mental state. After hearing the news of the murder of his father, Hamlet devotes …show more content…
Nurse Ratched has such a control on the ward that she has gotten he patients to believe that their conditions are a lot worse than they actually are. The patient’s ultimate goal is to leave the hospital mentally stable and healthy, being told that their conditions are worse than they were before only strikes a panic. McMurphy is desperate for an escape from the ward but he knows the only way out is through Nurse Ratched. He knows that she can keep him in the ward for as long as she pleases, and he worries that will be a very long time. “Doctor—do I look like a sane man?” (Page 30). McMurphy has been set up to believe that he is extremely mentally unstable. This forces him to seek confirmation in his doctor. McMurphy does not let it show, but he deeply fears that is mental state will deteriorate during his time in the ward. Asking the doctor whether he thinks that he looks sane is McMurphy’s way of admitting that he is desperate for a release from the hospital and from Nurse Ratched’s controlling ways. “You seem to forget, Miss Flinn, that this is an institution for the insane."(Page 19). The way in which Nurse Ratched addresses the mental institution resembles her dehumanization of the patients in the ward. Nurse Ratched speaks of the mentally ill as if they should be ashamed and punished for something they have no control over. The nurse inflicts pain onto those whom are mentally ill as a way of treatment. McMurphy, who is originally the most mentally stable of the patients, is given pain treatments prescribed by Nurse Ratched. The treatment, in which Nurse Ratched gives McMurphy, is a punishment for not being in the right mental state. Because McMurphy’s mental state has not yet deteriorated tremendously, the pain treatment does nothing but make him internally fight with
Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest explores the dysfunctions and struggles of life for the patients in a matriarch ruled mental hospital. As told by a schizophrenic Native American named Chief Bromden, the novel focuses primarily on Randle McMurphy, a boisterous new patient introduced into the ward, and his constant war with the Big Nurse Ratched, the emasculating authoritarian ruler of the ward. Constricted by the austere ward policy and the callous Big Nurse, the patients are intimidated into passivity. Feeling less like patients and more like inmates of a prison, the men surrender themselves to a life of submissiveness-- until McMurphy arrives. With his defiant, fearless and humorous presence, he instills a certain sense of rebellion within all of the other patients. Before long, McMurphy has the majority of the Acutes on the ward following him and looking to him as though he is a hero. His reputation quickly escalates into something Christ-like as he challenges the nurse repeatedly, showing the other men through his battle and his humor that one must never be afraid to go against an authority that favors conformity and efficiency over individual people and their needs. McMurphy’s ruthless behavior and seemingly unwavering will to protest ward policy and exhaust Nurse Ratched’s placidity not only serves to inspire other characters in the novel, but also brings the Kesey’s central theme into focus: the struggle of the individual against the manipulation of authoritarian conformists. The asylum itself is but a microcosm of society in 1950’s America, therefore the patients represent the individuals within a conformist nation and the Big Nurse is a symbol of the authority and the force of the Combine she represents--all...
“He is far gone, far gone” (2.2.8). The play Hamlet written by William Shakespeare is the story of young Hamlet whose father was killed by his uncle, Claudius, then his uncle took the throne and married Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, which ultimately caused hamlet to become melancholic or ‘mad’. In the essay ‘Madness and Melancholy in Hamlet’ written by Kate Flint she explores the idea of madness and melancholy in the Elizabethan time in reference to the actions of Hamlet. She states that Hamlet is neither mad nor melancholy but does display symptoms of each. Flint states that to categorize Hamlet as either mad or melancholy the characters would have to be viewed as real people which they cannot be. She shows that Hamlets madness is only an excuse to expose the truth and teach the audience a lesson. The essay takes the position that hamlet’s strange behaviour was neither madness nor melancholy because those are human emotions but that they were a way to break the barrier between player and audience.
In Ken Kesey's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, the author refers to the many struggles people individually face in life. Through the conflict between Nurse Ratched and McMurphy, the novel explores the themes of individuality and rebellion against conformity. With these themes, Kesey makes various points which help us understand which situations of repression can lead an individual to insanity. These points include: the effects of sexual repression, woman as castrators, and the pressures we face from society to conform. Through these points, Kesey encourages the reader to consider that people react differently in the face of repression, and makes the reader realize the value of alternative states of perception, rather than simply writing them off as "crazy."
Throughout the mid-twentieth century, America withstood a period of revolutions as younger generations started to challenge society’s standards and beliefs. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest takes place during the end of the 1950s and in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement, a time when many citizens began to challenge conformity. This novel was set among patients and workers of a mental institution. The mental institution is designed to cure patients who are deemed “insane” as a result of lack of submission within society. However, the institution is controlled by society and operates in the same manner as the Outside world. Although the facade of the mental institution makes it appear to be successful through major advancements, the patients still suffer the consequences of being unique and not fitting perfectly into society. Ken Kesey uses black humor in order to expose the horrendous treatment that citizens endure within mental institutions when they do not conform to the deranged idealistic beliefs of an inhumane society.
Throughout William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Hamlet undergoes a transformation from sane to insane while fighting madness to avenge his father’s death. The material that Shakespeare appropriated in writing Hamlet is the story of a Danish prince whose uncle murders the prince’s father, marries his mother, and claims the throne. The prince pretends to be feeble-minded to throw his uncle off guard, then manages to kill his uncle in revenge. Shakespeare changed the emphasis of this story entirely, making his Hamlet a philosophically minded prince who delays taking action because his knowledge of his uncle’s crime is so uncertain.
Throughout Shakespeare?s play, Hamlet, the main character, young Hamlet, is faced with the responsibility of attaining vengeance for his father?s murder. He decides to feign madness as part of his plan to gain the opportunity to kill Claudius. As the play progresses, his depiction of a madman becomes increasingly believable, and the characters around him react accordingly. However, through his inner thoughts and the apparent reasons for his actions, it is clear that he is not really mad and is simply an actor simulating insanity in order to fulfill his duty to his 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.
Intense rage alters Hamlet’s frame of mind after he realizes that his uncle, Claudius, attributes to King Hamlet’s death. The situation quickly
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
This book explores the idea of what it means to be sane or insane, and, perhaps most importantly, who gets to define what qualifies as sane or insane. Kesey's portrayal of the characters in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest within the psych ward further explains how the characters in the book use their mental illness as a source of power.
(Act 1, Scene 2 – Act 1, Scene 5) William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, with a reputation as the greatest of all writers in the English language, as well as one of the world's pre-eminent dramatists. Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most analysed plays. The play is about Hamlet, Prince of Denmark who hopes to avenge the murder of his father.
Hamlet, a Shakespearean character, constantly struggles in a battle with his mind. He leads a very trying life that becomes too much for him to handle. Hamlet experiences hardships so horrible and they affect him so greatly that he is unable escape his dispirited mood. In speaking what he feels, Hamlet reveals his many symptoms of depression, a psychological disorder. While others can move on with life, Hamlet remains in the past. People do not understand his behavior and some just assume he is insane. However, Hamlet is not insane. He only pretends to be mad. Because Hamlet never receives treatment for his disorder, it only gets worse and eventually contributes to his death.
A movie is usually more entertaining than a book, and engages the public into the thoughts of the film director. In the case of One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, we should evaluate the effectiveness of the movie to quicken transformations in the psychiatric field. In the first place, we must note that the movie is efficient in giving voice to a concealed environment: The psychiatric hospital is not a place most people know well in the 1970s, and most of the public's knowledge on it has arised from watching movies like One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. As one Telegraph journalist ill say "It gave voice, gave life, to a basic distrust of the way in which psychiatry was being used for society's purposes, rather than the purposes of the people
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.
Hamlet is a scholar, speaker, actor, and prince. For some reason, Hamlet is not able to avenge his father's death without considerable delay. There is one major flaw in Hamlet's character which causes him to postpone the murder of Claudius. I believe that this flaw is Hamlet's idealism. While his idealism is a good trait, in this case, Hamlet's environment and his...