Hamlet's Madness and It's Effects

Amanda Orive- Phipps
Matt McGuiness, Hamlet
Short Response Essay (Opinionated)

Hamlet’s Madness; and its effects on those around him In the beginning, Hamlet is merely distraught and sad for the loss of his father. Many would suggest that his madness begins here, and then is pushed further on by the ghost. On this point I disagree. I would say that his madness begins with the death of his father, then is pushed forward by the union of his mother and his uncle; and then spirals when he meets the ghost of his Father. However, his madness does not stop there. When Hamlet meets the ghost of his father, he has mixed emotions. Unsure of whether or not he is happy, angry, or sad; the ghost does not give him much time to think about how he feels. All that the Dead King wishes to tell Hamlet is that he was murdered and that the murderous, villainous, evil man that stole not only the throne-- but his wife as well. Hamlet immediately thinks of his mother and how she was stolen and may have been a part of this plot. But how can Hamlet know that this Ghost is not evil? How can he be sure that this is truly his dear, and dead, Father?? Well, for a majority of the play, he is confused and focused on this main point. He stops worrying about his clothes. He stops eating. He does not ‘hang out’ with his friends. He avoids his lover Ophelia. Why was Hamlet so upset? What was he feeling? Whom was he affecting? All of these questions, and more, buzz through his mind and send him on a rampage. Whilst this is going on, he cannot be distracted by anything. He pushes himself away from everyone and refuses to trust anyone; thus appearing insane. Because of this, his lover Ophelia, along with her Father and brother, believe that Hamlet wishes to only seduce her and that he does not truly love her. Ophelia returns the love letters to him and refuses to see him anymore. This sends him off the edge, now he has no sense of stability. I believe that when you are going through grief, sometimes you only have one thing to support you. Hamlet is emotionally distraught in this part of the play and the only normal thing in his life is Ophelia. So when that is taken away from him, he may have lost it just a little more. “You can have small things not affect something. But when some large catastrophe is happening, any small action will throw it just over the edge.” (–Catheryn Phipps Orive, 2011) What I mean by this is that Hamlet had so much going on in his mind, he had so much to deal with emotionally, that when another small thing exploded in his face, it was too much for him. She sees fear and sadness in his eyes. Not knowing the source of those emotions, she assumes that it is because of her rejection towards him. We can assume that he may have been emotionally distraught, but due to the circumstances, does not hold a grudge. Not only does he have to worry about the treachery in the Kingdom, but now also his personal life. Not to mention the fact that his father (ghost) wants him to kill the king.