“Hamlet” by Shakespeare is an incredible play but what stood out to me was Hamlet's mental state.
Hamlet is the son (prince) of the old king Hamlet and also the nephew of Claudius.(old king Hamlet’s brother) and Hamlet has recently found out that his father has passed away and Hamlet came from college at Germany to Denmark where his father was the king there. Hamlet went there to pay his respects to his deceased father. After his father’s death Hamlet sees in the night the ghost of his father and tells him that his brother Claudius killed him. Which drives Hamlet to go “insane” according to the people of Denmark. Thus leads me believe that Hamlet is not insane and has a reason be in a mental state. First of all, after the death of king Hamlet his son prince hamlet was mourning for him, but his uncle became king and his stepfather which made hamlet upset with
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After the encounter hamlet had seen he tells the patrolmen “But now listen to me. No matter how strangely I act ( since I may find it appropriate to act a little crazy in the near future) you must never, ever let on-with a gesture of your hands or certain expression on your face-that you know anything about what happened to me here tonight.” on act 1 scene 5 which leads Hamlet to go “insane” after the death of his father. Furthermore, there is more reasons to believe Hamlet has not lost his mental state because, his deceased father has told him that Claudius has poisoned him by pouring it in his ear. Now Hamlet has to murder him told by his father to avenge his death. But, that makes Hamlet question life and what it’s worth. Charles Boyce says on his review of hamlet that “Hamlet’s troubled mind demonstrates the development of an acceptance of life despite the existence of human evil, and this is the dominant theme of the play.” What this means is that Hamlet accepts that take life for what it’s worth even if there’s evil people and that his mind of that dominates the entire
Throughout the play, Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, the unclear representation of the protagonist’s actions is present. The protagonist, Hamlet, conducts the idea that he is turning mad. Although, there are many indications which support that this so-called “madness” is part of an act that Hamlet portrays. The other characters within the play try to understand the reasoning behind Hamlet’s madness, but cannot figure out the truth behind it. The main cause of Hamlet’s madness is the realization of his father’s death and the numerous influences his father’s death has on his life. Hamlet can control his actions of madness and specifically acts differently around certain characters. The characters who are more concerned
Hamlet: Is He Insane? & nbsp; & nbsp ; The term insanity means a mental disorder, whether it is temporary or permanent. 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 of the person.
As the reader, we are to know that Hamlet is only acting crazy so that when he kills Claudius his insanity can be to blame. Also, when Hamlet talks to the actors that will perform the play about his father's death, he acts completely crazy. He says bizarre things and acts not like himself when he is in front of everyone. To the characters they only see him being crazy, but as the reader we see Hamlet talking to Horatio making complete sense. We know that Hamlet was just pretending because he could act crazy then completely know what was going on around him with in the next minute.
To begin with, Hamlet portrays himself as sane. Hamlet sanity can be recognized when mourning for his dead father
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.
There is a great controversy amongst those who have read and studied Hamlet by Shakespeare. People argue whether or not Hamlet had gone mad or not. Many people believe that Hamlet had actually lost his mind, while others believe that it was all just an act. Since Hamlet is the most widely published book in the world, besides the Bible, this question has been asked and analyzed many times to little avail. The answer is open to whatever one wants to believe, which may intrigue some and bother others. Throughout the play, Hamlet’s personality changed after certain events. The play starts with him very upset over his father’s death. Then, after he saw his father’s ghost, he became full of vengeance. He seemed to have completely
Is Hamlet truly insane? While the play is not extremely clear on the matter and often contradicts itself, many of Hamlet’s wild ramblings and words of nonsense seem to be not the true words of a madman. Hamlet says himself that he is merely “putting on an antic disposition” (Act 1, Scene 5, Line 181). He admits very early on in the play that his insanity will be nothing more than a ruse to fool those around him. This is further proven by the fact that when he is around Horatio he shows no signs of mental illness. He speaks calmly and everything he says makes sense.
In order for Hamlet to carry out his goal of revenge, he had to be totally sane. In Act I, he is warned by the ghost not to go mad and not to harm his mother. If Hamlet were truly mad, he would have done many unorthodox acts, which would only wreck his plan of getting revenge. There can be no such thing as restrained insanity. Hamlet’s sanity is displayed when he does not harm his mother. Gertrude has hurt Hamlet. She betrayed his father by having an affair with Claudius and eventually marrying him. Since Hamlet does not kill her, it shows he is in full control of his mental state and that he is not controlled by his feelings like most mad people.
It’s clear that the characters in Hamlet are suffering from some kind of mental illness. Some more serious than others, but given all of their backgrounds, it’s clear to see why. Having to deal with things like murder, your uncle becoming your father, and the girl you love killing herself becomes a lot to handle. The story begins with King Hamlet’s funeral where we later find out that Prince Hamlet’s uncle is marrying his mother and claiming the throne as his own. Months pass and Hamlet is still noticeably upset about his father’s passing and he’s been acting very strange. He’s then visited by the ghost of his late father, when he learns that his uncle killed his father. Prince Hamlet swears to his father that he will get revenge for his untimely
In the beginning of the novel that Hamlet’s spirits aren’t all there, and his soul is disturbed, by the death of his father. He seems to be looking for answers and meaning to explain the unexplainable death of his father and his mother’s abrupt marriage to his uncle, this is where I believe his insanity started. Given that this happened to anyone normal person, they’re mind would be a mess and bitterness and anger would play a huge part in their thoughts. So, yes in a way, I do believe that Hamlet was diseased with temporary insanity.
‘ “To be or not to be” -- “that is the...” soliloquy. “Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to...” agree, the question that no one knows. To think, to know, to know perchance to understand, the truth behind it all... ’ Was it, or was it not true that Hamlet was faking his insanity, really suffering, or perhaps even both. First, this is what insanity is; insanity is acting peculiar, but not knowing that they are. Also, it is going through a lot of stresses at the same time causing you to not think straight. Hamlet was not completely suffering from insanity. It wouldn’t make sense.
He was truly a victim of a fatal situation that led him to his insanity. People who suffer from Borderline Personality Disorder are “considerably more likely to the victim of violence, including rape and other crimes,” (“What is BPD?”1). Although Hamlet is a casualty if the disorder, it is completely justified by the occurrences in his life. The traumatic event of losing his father really did affect the way he will live on throughout the play. In conclusion, Hamlet may not be completely psychotic, but he does suffer from Borderline Personality Disorder, that he exhibits when interacting with other
After this scene Hamlet acts insane and he often criticizes his mother for remarrying and even insults her, but gets away with his actions because at this point those around him are starting to believe there is something wrong with Hamlet. He is not crazy but if he were truly crazy then he would not internally realize that he is mad, a crazy person usually doesn 't realize they are going crazy, but it is others who realize because of his or her actions. In Hamlet 's case, Hamlet knows he is "crazy" and his acting is beneficial for him because he is able to talk freely without having to hold anything back. If Hamlet were truly insane it would have caused him his own death, because usually when an individual is insane they are unaware of what they are saying and their actions are usually always made hastily, a quality that Hamlet does not seem to
According to the article “9 Signs You Might Be Going Insane” by Mamapedia, Hamlet falls into several categories of mental illness ( Mamapedia). One of the mental ilness's that show Hamlet is insane schizophrenia. Hamlet can be considered to be schizophrenic due to his paranoia that everyone is on claudious's side and his his hallucination of his father's ghost in his mother's chambers as well as his delusion for revenge of his father's murder. In act 3, scene 4 Hamlet talks to his father's ghost in front of his mother but the ghost is completely imaginary to his mother Gertrude and she even calls him mad because hamlet seem to be talking to some kind of a hallucination (3, 4, 105-7).Therefore, this supports the argument that Hamlet is actually insane in Shakespeare's play Hamlet.
Hamlet throughout the play seems insane but in reality it is only an act to achieve his goal of killing his father's murderer. Hamlet chooses to go mad so he has an advantage over his opponent and since he is the Prince of Denmark certain behavior is unacceptable, so by faking madness he is able to get away with inappropriate sayings and actions. We can see this when he talks to Claudius, Polonius, Ophelia and his mother. When Hamlet talks to Horatio in the first act he says how he is going to "feign madness" and that: