Hamlet And A Beautiful Mind Essay

Mental illnesses prohibit many individuals from accomplishing their goals. They are seen as unstable or incapable. Illnesses like depression and schizophrenia impair judgment and reduce self worth. Shakespeare's "Hamlet" shows the lead character, Hamlet, suffer after the loss of his father, becoming excessively moody and suicidal. Sylvia Nasar's book A Beautiful Mind, gives a look into the great mathematician, John Nash's spiral into schizophrenia almost ruining his work. Both characters must overcome their illness to achieve their grand goals. In Shakespeare's play, Hamlet suffers from constant depression. Throughout the play, Hamlet shows a "general feeling of sadness... a sense of worthlessness... or suicidal thoughts" (Harris and Turkington
John Nash was a genius mathematician at a young age, and taught at Princeton. Even with these accomplishments, his peak was still yet to come. His schizophrenia started to become more erratic and forced him to stop teaching. His schizophrenia was an illness that caused hallucinations that involved "ridicule, criticism, and threats" (Nasar 328). These hallucinations tormented him, but he balanced them out through mathematics. He used math to find his way past these hallucinations, and even contribute to his goals. Nash relentlessly worked to get past his schizophrenia, although his wife (terrified of her husband hearing voices) pressured him into hospitals. Nash believed that he was "cast out... and ostracized" (Nasar 327) from his peers and wife. The struggle with schizophrenia slowly came to an end, and Nash showed "a willingness to make connections with the community at large" (Nasar 335). The schizophrenia had begun to stabilize in John's life, giving him back his courage. After his return to reality, he was rewarded with the Nobel Prize for his contributions in Game Theory. His struggle was finally over, and with it, he had achieved his goal along with