Hamlet's Madness In Hamlet

Ophelia suspecting the cause of Hamlet’s madness to be his love for her is a clear example of dramatic irony as it shows her not grasping what is the real reason for him acting in that way. The conversation between Ophelia with Laertes and later on Polonius in Act 2 scene 1, leaves the audience with tension as Polonius says “This is the very ecstasy of love, / Whose violent property fordoes itself / And leads the will to desperate undertakings / As oft as any passion under heaven / That does afflict our natures.” (2.1. 102-106) The audience knows that the real reason of his madness is to distract attention from his investigation of the murder by leaving everyone concerned about his mental state.

One definition of madness is “mental delusion of the eccentric behavior arising from it.” However, as Emily Dickinson once wrote, “Much madness is divinest Sense/ To a discerning Eye.” In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the main character, Prince Hamlet, shows apparent madness which proves to serve an important role throughout the story. This erratic behavior consists of his seemingly senseless dialogues, his loss of care for Ophelia, and his increasingly aggressive nature. Such behavior often proves justified by the play’s audience due to its convincing nature despite Hamlet’s predisposition towards insanity.

A thing a lot of psychologist people forget that hamlet is a character acting inside the play. During the entire play it is very easily noticed when he is acting as an insane person. The way he speaks and the words he chooses is evidence towards the idea of Hamlet being sane. Most modern day men act like Hamlet when he is insane but the modern men are not always seen

Polonius explains Hamlet 's madness to Claudius and Gertrude, “Mad call I it, for, to define true madness. What it 't but to be nothing else but mad? But let that go (Act 2, Scene 2, lines 93-94). Polonius then goes on to describe his ides of the stages of Hamlet 's madness and his inability to sleep, “And he, repelled-a short tale to make- Fell into a sadness, then into a fast, Thence to a watch, thence into a weakness, Thence to a lightness, and by this declension Into the madness wherein now he raves, And all we mourn for” (Act 2, Scene 2, lines 146-151).

Madness is often a symptom, and in the case of Hamlet this may be the reason behind his actions. The death of Hamlet’s father is the catalyst for Hamlet, causing him to see the ghost and ultimately become obsessed with the idea of revenge. A common theme for shakespeare is to explore a character’s mind and reasonings, and Hamlet’s character being mad was a perfect opportunity to continue this theme. Hamlet’s debatable madness, Ophelia being truly mad and the death of every character involved with Hamlet or his father is a prime example of tragedy, which Shakespeare is known for. While Hamlet’s madness is not certain, it is indisputable that the play Hamlet was built off of the idea of what is madness, and how does it affect one’s

In Hamlet, Shakespeare uses many references to sanity and insanity. Throughout the play, Hamlet goes back and forth between sanity and insanity, whether pretending to be insane just to mess with those he does not like or to save himself from getting in trouble. Hamlet is actually one of the smartest characters in the play, which is why he can pull off acting crazy so well. Shakespeare uses this idea of sanity and insanity to help the plot change and take a different directions. One of the most discussed topics of the Hamlet is whether Hamlet is insane or if he was just pretending the whole time.

The differences in their madness strongly support the assertion that Hamlet is, in fact, not truly mad. "The mad role that Hamlet plays to perfection is certainly a proof of Shakespeare's genius, but by no means a surety of the insanity of the prince, unless we be prepared to maintain that no one saves a madman can simulate dementia" (Blackmore). As Blackmore points out, his crazy behavior is such that only someone who is not mad could play the part so well. Again, a truly mad person would not have so much control over his actions and

Insanity is an idea that has been examined for a long time in numerous mediums such as films, music, plays, and even works of literature. William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” is no exception to that rule. Hamlet is one of Shakespeare’s most complex characters, and many scholars have been debating for centuries whether or not Hamlet is truly insane, or whether there is a particular reason for his odd behavior. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet merely pretends to be mad but in reality is sane.

What would you do if you were to be given great authority and power? There are those who would be responsible and treat such power with the utmost care, and yet there are those who would use their authority for personal gain as if it were a child ’s play toy. Corruption is everywhere; there is no limitation to where or when it can happen. One of the most notable examples of the abuse of power, and the catastrophe that can occur from the aftermath is during the Elizabethan era in England.

He did not want anyone knowing about his encounter with his father’s ghost. This shows that Hamlet can not be acting mad. Consequently, he believes that one should not perform a role, but actually become the person they 're pretending to be. This shows in his stunt when instead of pretending to be mad, he becomes mad in all

He uses his deception of madness to make this sound like mad ramblings to everyone else, but he is truly asking these questions and wondering about the ins and outs of how life truly works, and what it all means. So Hamlet basically acts insane to cover up the seriousness of these questions he is seeking the answers to. “But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,/Could force his soul so to his own conceit,/That from her working all his visage wann’d,/ Tears in his eyes, distraction in’s aspect,/ A broken voice, and his

In the play, Hamlet, William Shakespeare reflects the common early modern beliefs and perspectives about madness by using the character development of the protagonist who feigns madness throughout the play. Given Hamlet 's status as a prince, current knowledge of madness during the time period, and the contrast of the different types of madness of other characters in the play, Elizabethan audiences would have found it plausible that Hamlet feigns madness as part of his plot to avenge his father 's death. This new historicist perspective steers the modern reader away from anachronistic psychological interpretations of the play. Hamlet’s status as a prince gives the character certain roles and expectations to fulfill, such as avenging his father’s

In the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, the main protagonist, Prince Hamlet, is tangled with the theme of death. During the play, he presents how his life is surrounded with death after his father, King Hamlet, dies. Death theme is the most occurring theme Shakespeare writes about in his plays, which most of his plays have a very dramatic death ending and involve the death of the main protagonist. Throughout the play, Shakespeare presents the idea of life, which is the never ending cycle of revenge and death. Shakespeare starts the death theme with the death of King Hamlet, which stimulates Hamlet to seek for revenge with his various soliloquies considering death from various points of view and certainly leads to a dramatic ending.

Hamlet is sane because he only acts mad in front of certain people, he told his friends of his plan of revenge, and the fact that many people continuously doubted his insanity. Hamlet only acted insane in front of the king and his chairmen. In other times, he acted completely normal. This is because to get revenge for the death of his father, he needs to buy time distracting King Claudius so that he can kill him. He admits to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that he is “but mad north-north-west.

He calls him a murderous villain, heartless, disloyal, and lustful. Hamlet’s insanity can be seen in this soliloquy because his mind is so caught up with everything and anything. He is so distressed with insignificant things as well as his desire for revenge. Hamlet’s mind is racing and he is filled with several emotions which he feels one after another, from distress and confusion to self-pity