The theme of madness is seen in various places throughout Hamlet. According to Merriam Webster, madness is “a state of severe mental illness”, “intense anger”, and “behavior or thinking that is very foolish or dangerous” (Merriam Webster). In every Act, there is much controversy over who is mad and why. This confusion over who is mad and why leads many characters to their deaths. In William Shakespeare's drama, Hamlet, Hamlet pretends to be mad, Ophelia is truly mad, and the kingdom reacts to their madness in various ways.
The question that the characters in Hamlet commonly ask themselves is, “Why is Hamlet mad?” Rather, the question should be, “Is Hamlet truly mad?” After Hamlet speaks with his father, who is in the form of an apparition,
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Her mental downfall occurred after Hamlet accidentally murdered her father. Even though Polonius was not always wise and sometimes made her do silly things such as rejecting Hamlet, she loved her father. It seems like the whole country mourns for Ophelia’s loss of mind. A kind gentlemen says, “Her mood will needs be pitied...She speaks much of her father, says she hears there’s tricks i’ th’ world, and hems, and beats her heart, spurns enviously at straws, speaks things in doubt that carry half sense. Her speech is nothing, yet the unshaped use of it doth move the hearers to collection.” (Act 4:5, lines 2, 4-9). This gentlemen describes Ophelia’s speech as not making sense, that she gets mad at inconvenient matters, and has many unnecessary conspiracies. Some have compared Ophelia’s madness to another one of Shakespeare’s plays, The Tempest. A writer previously mentioned, F. Hyatt Smith, says that “Her mind disintegrates like Prospero’s vision” (Smith). Smith says this to point out that Ophelia is drowning in her problems instead of trying to get herself out of them (Smith). The sad thing is that Ophelia’s insanity brings her to her death. Ophelia falls off of a tree into the water below and drowns because of her thick clothing. Some, such as the gravedigger, claim that this was an act of suicide, but it was …show more content…
Hamlet is viewed as a threat to the throne. Claudius means to execute him for this reason. Claudius says, “The terms of our estate may not endure hazard so dangerous as doth hourly grow out of his lunacies” (Act 3:3, lines 5-7). In contrast, Ophelia is pitied and many people wish that her sanity was back again. When she dies, Hamlet and Laertes fight over who loved her more. Also, Laertes is so upset that he says, “By heaven, thy madness shall be paid by weight, will our scale turn the beam” (Act 4:5, line 157-158). By this, he means that he will surely take revenge for his once beautiful sister. Gertrude even says as she is putting flowers into her grave, “Sweets to the sweet” (Act 5:1, line 227). The likelihood of anybody throwing flowers onto Hamlet’s grave in that moment would be very slim. Actually, it is very interesting that Hamlet and Ophelia’s mad behaviors are seen so differently because the reason they both showed signs of madness was because of their father’s deaths. Also, the only person who feels truly threatened by Hamlet is Claudius, the one who murdered his father in the first place. Similarly, Hamlet feels sad that he caused Ophelia to deteriorate although he doesn’t really miss Polonius. In the end, the kingdom definitely feels differently about Hamlet and Ophelia’s madness although the cause of their behaviors was the
Ophelia in the fourth act of Hamlet is demonstrably insane, but the direct cause of her slipped sanity is something that remains debatable, Shakespeare uses the character Ophelia to demonstrate how women during this time were unable to break away from social norms. While it is evident that Ophelia is grieving over the death of her father, Polonius, as Horatio says of her “She speaks much of her father, says she hears / There’s tricks in the world, and hems, and beats her heart” (4.5.4-5), as lines from one of her many “songs” points towards grieving over an aged relative, “His beard as white as snow / All flaxen was his poll” with flaxen indicating a white or grayed head of hair (4.5.190-191).
Hamlet, Ophelia’s lover, accidentally kills her father and “confesses” he never loved her, Hamlet toys with Ophelia's emotions intentionally and unintentionally to solidify his madness. Even though she was the who initiated the “breakup”, her sorrows of the relationship are much more public than Hamlets. Hamlet’s madness scares Ophelia away which he used as a defense mechanism to not be hurt anymore. His madness looks as though he had been "loosed out of hell to speak of horrors" (2.1.83-84) and she "truly [did] fear it"(2.1. 86). His insanity and rudeness suffocated any love she had for him. She admits that their "their perfume [has been] lost" (3.1. 99). This helped Hamlet solidify his insanity by cutting ties with the ones he loves, and having them tell others he is mad. This comes with the cost of discontinuing his relationships: especially with Ophelia. Both have hinted around in the text of an intimate affair. This makes the emotions and breakup even more difficult for both of them. Their relationship was a love, not an innocent crush or courtship. Poor Ophelia initially thought she caused Hamlet's madness due to the abrupt ending of their affair. But because of her naivety, she lacks to see his other internal struggles. Ophelia’s trust in Hamlet left her heartbroken. Hamlet’s agenda of or getting justice for his father occupied his mind more than Ophelia did. Which left her feeling
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
Ophelia could not take losing her only father, and not being able to see her love, young Prince Hamlet. Ophelia father’s death had her mopping around the castle singing very sad old hymns, and her with relationship young Prince Hamlet made it even harder. As Ophelia was dealing with more and more despair, she became more and more insane. She became insane because she was “torn between …influential men in her life” (Antonio) and she didn't know how to handle all of that pressure builded up on her. She became very hopeless and depressed; she didn't care about life after she lost those two men. When she was drowning in the swamp “she sang bits of old hymns” (4.7.172) because she didn't want to live anymore. The death of sweet Ophelia was a very bad tragedy, but it wasn't an accidental death, it was a suicide
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.
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.
Hamlet's madness could easily be doubted. When Hamlet visited Ophelia before Act II, Scene I, his madness was actually that of love. He burst into her room with "knees knocking each other" and with a "look so piteous in purport as if he had been loosed out of hell to speak of horrors." According to Ophelia, she isn't positive his madness was out of love, but she admits, "...truly I do fear it." Hamlet later plays the part of the lunatic, acting contemptuous, witty, and sarcastic when he meets Polonius in the lobby in Act II, Scene II. Hamlet is completely incapable of organized speech and of understanding the most forthright questions. This type of madness is entirely unlike that which he displayed when he visited Ophelia. Later again, when he meets up with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet switches from the deranged act to the depressed one. He tells them of his weariness and misery, but says that he doesn't understand the cause of it. These three different types of madness within only a couple of hours and the impression that Hamlet is unable to uphold a performance of consistent madness is very odd. Perhaps he was doing this on purpose, but when he acts mad and gets his life deeply involved in acting mad, where is the line drawn that Hamlet is acting, or that he is acting so well that he begins to adapt to the madness and he is actually mad?
... her in a dismal state” (Maki 1). This is and when things started rolling on downhill. Hamlet had changed and with this change came to the murder of Polonuis, when Hamlet did this, this destroyed Ophelia. “…But after Hamlet kills her father, she later goes mad herself and commits suicide” (Davis & Frankforter 354-55). This no longer is considered an act of love. This is considered an act of insanity. Ophelia was a woman and during that time women did not have the right to stand there own ground they had no voice.
There are many reasons that can contribute to one’s decease. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare many situations and known people can be a possible connection to Ophelia’s mysterious death. Followed by the play Ophelia has been a common victim throughout. The last and ultimate downfall of Ophelia was due to her father's murder done by her lover Hamlet. Realizing that the person she outmost loves and trusts has done such a reckless and an unforgivable act.
In Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, the principal character, Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark, uses a charade of madness in order to further his plot of revenge. However, his mind is not able to justify murder for any reason; therefore, he truly goes insane before he is able to fulfill his scheme. In contrast, Ophelia is openly mad and is used by Shakespeare to show the various forms of insanity.
Shakespeare’s Hamlet assesses the consequences of losing self-hood, morality and integrity. Ophelia’s repressed desires never allow her to find her essence. Instead, she loses her integrity once she obeys Polonius and Laertes who emotionally and mentally repress her. In the play, Ophelia is warned by Laertes of Hamlet and later told by Polonius that she cannot be with Hamlet because he thinks the cause of his madness is their love and “From this time / be somewhat scanter of your maiden presence. / Set your entreatments at a higher rate / than a command to parley.” Act 1, sc 3 She has to give less time for him and she replies to her father "I shall obey, my lord" Act 1, sc 3, she remains as an obedient daughter although it risks her own selfhood and the chance to genuinely express herself. Her inability to display either her emotional or sexual desires for Hamlet causes her to be hysterical and be in a melancholic state.
Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most esteemed pieces of literature, which has been studied in depth by many scholars. The plot of Hamlet follows a strain of madness that begins when Claudius murders King Hamlet and ends with the tragic deaths of almost every main character of the play. Hamlet is a unique revenge tragedy in its behavior of madness because Hamlet’s madness is equivocal. Whereas in other various revenge tragedies the protagonists are unequivocally insane. For some unknown reason, Hamlet plays with the idea of insanity putting on an “antic disposition” as he says. Madness in Hamlet is one of the many central themes in which Shakespeare depicts the chaotic turmoil in Hamlet’s family and the court of Denmark.
Ophelia was a pawn, nothing more, which was used by those that supposedly loved her for their own purposes. She was used by her father to drive Hamlet to madness, as he thought. Hamlet used her to convince Polonius and others that he was mad. Ophelia eventually looses both of these men, which is what drives her to insanity, possibly because the two biggest "influences" of her life have disappeared.
In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, one of the most evident and important themes is the theme of madness. The theme is apparent throughout the play, mainly through the actions and thoughts of Hamlet, Ophelia, and Laertes. Madness is defined as the quality or condition of mental illness or derangement (being insane). Madness is at the center of the conflicts and problems of the play and is conveyed through Shakespeare’s elaborate use of manipulation and parallels between Hamlet, Ophelia, and Laertes to contribute to Hamlet’s tragic character.
In spite of the fact that, he has reason to believe that Hamlet is indeed mad, the king is not fully convinced. He instructs his henchmen to "Get from him why he puts on this confusion" (II. i. 2). He knows that his son is not actually mad, he knows that he is just putting up a front but he does not know the reason behind it. He soon decides that Hamlet's actions and words don't demonstrate franticness but they demonstrate sadness.