Paranoid Personality Disorder is about behaviors of distrust and suspiciousness of other people and believe others’ motives are malevolent. As Shakespeare writes, “And thus do we of wisdom and of reach, With windlasses and with assays of bias, By indirections find directions out. So by my former lecture and advice, Shall you my son” (Shakespeare, 2.1.71-75). Polonius is talking to one of his servant, because Laertes is in France, and Polonius doesn’t trust his son and wants the servant to supervise Laertes. Instead of asking directly to Laertes about his life, Polonius chooses to let the servant “By indirections find direction out” which means let the servant to find how Laertes’ life is. According to the psychology disorder book DSM-V,
one of the diagnostic criteria is “preoccupied with unjustified doubts about the loyalty or trustworthiness of friends or associates” (649). Polonius suspects Laertes of not focusing on his studying, Polonius even let the servant to spread out some rumors about Laertes, such as drinking， fencing, swearing, and quarrelling, some of these might not be true. Polonius’ action shows his “unjustified doubts” about his son’s trustworthiness. Polonius’ Paranoid Disorder also is shown in the next Act, Shakespeare states, “My lord, he’s going to his mother’s closet. Behind the arras I’ll convey myself To hear the process. I’ll warrant she’ll tax him home” (3.3.29-32).
Paranoia can be identified by symptoms of mistrust, hypervigilance, difficulty with forgiveness, and a defensive attitude. While suffering from paranoia, people often become delusional and irrational. In William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Shakespeare portrays a vindictive prince whose pessimistic mindset causes a domino effect of death and distress in the country of Denmark, leaving the whole royal family slain and Hamlet’s mental state to blame.
In the play, The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, he introduces Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Macbeth is an ambitious nobleman who becomes thane of Cawdor, thane of Glamis, and King of Scotland. Lady Macbeth is his wife who plays a major role in Macbeth becoming king. In doing so, her mental state rapidly declines and it is evident that Lady Macbeth is mentally ill. With support of Lady Macbeth’s destructive thoughts and actions, she could properly be diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder.
character Polonius in Shakespeare’s Hamlet fits the description of one who tries to deceive others
after meeting his father’s ghost, and learning of his horrific death incited by his uncle, Hamlet becomes both enraged and delusional by both his uncle and his mother betrayal of his father. Hamlet’s paranoia is most evident when he kills Polonius; Hamlet was under the impression that his uncle was spying on him and his mother, out of rage and delusion he decides to kill him before he even realizes who it was. “What’s this, a rat? I’ll bet a buck he’s a dead rat now. (he stabs his sword through the tapestry and kills Polonius)” This flagrant behavior can most closely be related to the symptoms of psychotic depression. “Psychotic depression patients typically display anhedonia (cannot experience pleasure), psychomotor retardation, loss of interest, poor concentration, delusions of guilt, disease, and feelings of impending disaster or worthlessness. Apart from the psychotic features, PD has a distinct symptomatology that sets it apart from non-PD cases, which involves rumination, psychomotor disturbances in the form of agitation or retardation, insomnia, perplexity and cognitive dysfunction.” (Rattue). By act three of the play it is revealed that the visions Hamlet has of his father’s ghost are merely lucid visions created out of his own imagination. He claims to see the ghost, yet his mother cannot see it; “...Look, he’s going out the door right now!” “This is only a figment of your imagination. Madness is good at creating hallucinations.” The ghost of Hamlet’s father is not only merely a figment of his imagination, but also is the driving force behind Hamlet seeking revenge on Claudius. Research has shown that psychotic depression often causes people to experience delusions that push them towards certain actions.”The delusions or hallucinations of people who have psychotic depression often involve beliefs, voices, or visions telling them that they are worthless or evil. In some cases, people
As the plat goes on it shows that Hamlet is not the only one trying to appear to be doing one thing but has another motive. "Polonius appears to be a loyal councilor to Claudius, honest trusting man and a caring father to Laertes and Ophelia when in reality,
Similarly, in another scene, he is able to tell Polonius his true feelings through his guise. Upon Polonius deciding to ?take leave? of Hamlet, Hamlet replies, ?You cannot, take from me anything that I will more willingly part withal (2.2.233).? Furthermore, Hamlet uses his madness as almost an excuse, and definitely part of his apology, towards Laertes for his murdering of Polonious. Would a madman be able realize he was mad and call his actions uncontrollable? Were it not for his ?madness? he would have been reprimanded rather than feared, pitied, or ignored. Hamlet?s madness redirects attention away from what he is thinking about his father?s death, and puts it on why he has gone insane. This allows only himself to know what he is truly thinking, does not require him to answer any questions as to why he might be acting strange, a...
The question asked by Hamlet “To be, or not to be?” (III.i.57.) analyzes the deeper thoughts of the young prince of Denmark. In Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the battle between living life or dying runs repeatedly through Hamlet’s head. In this famous soliloquy, Hamlet ponders the feelings going through his head, during his monologue, on whether he should live with the disruptions in his life or end it all at once. Hamlet’s life, both fulfilling and depressing, made him act out more when it came to interacting with other people. With all the people who admired him, he still managed to push everyone away using his sarcastic antics to degrade them intentionally. Not only does he portray this type of personality to people, but the change in so
Polonius, the lord Chamberlain, a counsel to the king, is the first character to be killed. As the play opens up, Polonius is depicted as a rather good person, with noapparent flaws. However, as the play progresses, Polonius possess a flaw in his character, which becomes increasingly evident throughout the play; he is extremely nosy and scrutinizing. Many times during the play Polonius is either seen spying on other characters, or arranging for characters to be spied upon. The first such incident of this occurs when his son Laertes is going off to Paris. He instructs his servant Reynaldo to spy on his while in Paris. Polonius tells him:
After reviewing all of theories of personalities throughout this course, I have found Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory to be my favorite theory of personality because it focuses on the three component parts of the mind: the id, ego and superego. This “structural theory” of personality places great importance on how conflicts among the parts of the mind shape behavior and personality. These conflicts are mostly unconscious. Romans 12:2 new living translation version states, “Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” This scripture is relevant because the mind needs to be renewed.
Who was Sigmund Freud? He is most commonly known as the father of psychoanalysis. His work sparked a chain of thinkers who can still be found today. The modern views on the brain and its workings can be traced back to Freud. How did he achieve such an accredited title and reputation? What influenced him? These questions can be answered through a look at Freud's childhood, adult life, and death.
“That he, as 'twere by accident, may here/ Affront Ophelia:/ Her father and myself, lawful espials/ Will so bestow ourselves that, seeing, unseen” (III.i.29-33). One of the more difficult tests he was encountered with was brought to him early on when Claudius and Polonius sends Ophelia with rejection of Hamlet’s love. This enabled Hamlet to build up a sense of paranoia against Polonius and Claudius but at the same time Ophelia who was first an ally to Hamlet is now seen as an enemy. The National Institute of Mental Health stated on their website that “Often psychotically depressed people become paranoid” and that “ those with psychotic depression are usually aware that these thoughts aren’t true”. Now it is clear that Hamlet’s suspicion was correct but he did result to targeting Polonius without fully understanding his position within the plot and his true motive, ultimately leading to the stabbing and death of Polonius. His obvious mental illness however does not lead him to forget about his goal of avenging his
Psychopaths have been around since the dawn of man we just never really knew what to label these certain individuals. But now with the rise of technology we have begun to understand psychopathic behavior and what traits you need to have to be labeled a “Psychopath”. It all started with the founding father of modern psychiatry Philippe Pinel. In 1801 Pinel had a group of patients in which he believed had “insanity without delirium”. He then went on to believe that these individuals who had no known intellectual issues but rather antisocial defects as well as very cruel type behavior.
One example of Hamlet’s madness is how he mocks Polonius. He would not do so normally because Polonius is older than he is so he would normally treat him with a certain amount of respect which he does not do following the sighting of the ghost of Old Hamlet. The Ghost tells Hamlet of his murder, and to test the truth of what he is told, Hamlet puts on “an antic disposition”. Hamlet manages to convince Polonius that he is inconsiderate of others, knowing that with seeing this odd change i...
Before Laertes is about to go to France, Polonius talks to him and tells him all of his good advice. While Polonius tells Laertes all of his good advice, he says, “My blessing with thee'; (I.iii.61). This statement shows that Polonius really wants Laertes to be successful when he goes to France. Polonius says, “Beware of entrance to a quarrel';, (I.iii.69) because he wants him to be safe. Polonius wants Laertes to stay out of trouble, and to be friendly with everyone he meets. Another point Polonius wants to make is that it is better to listen than to talk. “Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice'; (I.iii.72). Polonius believes that it is better to listen too much than to talk too much, because sometimes people who talk too much get into trouble, and others don’t like them. Whereas, people who listen more than they talk rarely have others who don’t like them and they don’t get into much trouble. Another way Polonius tells Laertes to stay out of trouble is when he says, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be'; (I.iii.80). This is important because sometimes when things are borrowed, the lender will get mad that the borrower didn’t return when it was needed or the borrower ruined part of it. Even when it is an accident, it is still better to not borrow or lend anything from anyone just in case one person has a short temper. Polonius lastly and most importantly tells Laertes, “This above all to thine own self be true';. This is good advice because if people are not true to themselves, then they can’t really be true to anyone else. Polonius believes that Laertes should have enough self-respect to be true to himself.
Hamlet and Lear are the only two of Shakespeare’s tragedies with double plots. [. . .] The story of Polonius’s family works analogously in Hamlet. Each member of the family is a fairly ordinary person who serves as a foil to some aspect of Hamlet’s extraordinary cunning and discipline. Polonius imagines himself a regular Machiavel, an expert at using indirections to find directions out, but compared to Hamlet he is what the prince calls him, a great baby. Ophelia, unable to control her grief, lapses into madness and a muddy death, reminding us that it is one of Hamlet’s achievements that he does not go mad but only plays at insanity to disguise his true strength. And Laertes, of course, goes mad in a different fashion and becomes the model of the kind of revenger that Hamlet so disdains. (125)