Prince of Paranoia: A study of Hamlet?s Personality Disorder

When we first meet Hamlet, he is a sad, dark, loathsome figure; the loss of his father and the whoring of his mother have upset him indefinitely. Like a ticking time bomb, Hamlet’s noticeable temper reflects the storm of emotions and thoughts brewing in his head, and then like a catalyst, his meeting with the Ghost of King Hamlet brings his anger to a boil. With revenge in mind, Hamlet plans to fake his madness so that he may be free to pursue his father’s killer. Everyone, except his close friend Horatio, seems convinced that he is mad. Claudius however, fearful that someone will discover his evil deed, has also had his perceptions heightened by his guilt and he experiences chronic paranoia throughout the play as a result. He is doubtful as to whether Hamlet is really mad, as we find him telling Polonius, “...what he spake ...Was not like madness. There's something in his soul O'er which his melancholy sits on brood, And I do doubt the hatch and the disclose Will be some danger” (3, 1, 157-161). On the contrary, I believe that Hamlet, lost in his soliloquies and vengeful thoughts, actually becomes mad. Ironically, his form of madness is paranoia.

In a Mental Health Forum created by Med Help International, an anonymous doctor describes paranoia as a “personality disorder characterized by long-standing suspiciousness and mistrust of people.” He continues by saying that “suspicion, without sufficient basis, that others are exploiting, deceiving, or harming the person” is a common condition. Also, “persistently bearing grudges, i.e., being unforgiving of insults, slights, or injuries” easily describes a person afflicted with paranoia. As if the doctor couldn’t describe Hamlet any better, he continues to state that another condition of this disorder includes “perception of attacks on the person's character or reputation that is not apparent to others, with quickness to react angrily” (med help). Throughout the play, Hamlet is being watched and he feels that he is being watched; the tone of paranoia is very present. Constantly on his guard, and constantly in a state of agitated unrest, Hamlet wrestles with obsession, suspicion, and irritation. A product of this mental overload is his quickness to react angrily.

The death of Polonius is a prime example of Hamlet’s paranoid and volatile mental state. Moments after sparing Claudius’s...

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...The death of Hamlet’s father and the whoring of his mother probably caused great amounts of stress. Hamlet could also be considered a prisoner of war in some ways. In a conversation between Hamlet, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern, Hamlet regards Denmark a prison.

Guildenstern: “Prison, my lord?”

Hamlet: “Denmark’s a prison.”

Rosencrantz: “Then is the world one.”

Hamlet: “A goodly one, in which there are many confines, wards, and dungeons, Denmark being one o' th’ worst.”

I think that it is very clear that Hamlet is mad. Everybody in the play, except for Horatio, believes him to be mad, and I believe he is from the beginning to the end. Throughout the play he shows signs of madness typical of an insane person. The angry flurries, the loss of reason, the hallucinations, and the incessant rambling are all substantial indications of Hamlets paranoia. His madness defines who he is during the play.

Works Cited

Andrews, Richard, and Rex Gibson, ed. Hamlet. Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress, 1998.

Med Help International. 19 Dec. 2004 .

"Paranoia--The World." National Institute of Mental Health. 15 Dec. 2004 .