Hamlet's Madness

William Shakespeare is widely known as the world’s greatest writer, author, and playwright. Shakespeare is particularly known for his written tragedies, like Hamlet, which explore themes of darkness, revenge, betrayal, morality, etc. The storyline follows main protagonist (Hamlet), seeking revenge after discovering his father was murdered by his uncle (Claudius). In the beginning of the play, Hamlet pretends to act mad as a means of distraction while attempting to expose Claudius. As the plot develops, readers can see a progressive change in Hamlet’s behaviour, as he quickly becomes obsessed, erratic, and paranoid. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, it is clear that Hamlet’s madness is the main cause of tragedy in the play. This can be seen through
Even though Hamlet created a plan to only “act” mad, his actions speak otherwise. When planning to confront or even kill an enemy, a rational, level-headed person typically does not hesitate to take action when the time is right. Throughout the play, Hamlet internally struggles between his conscience and desire to seek revenge; “To be, or not to be? That is the question— / Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, / Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, / And, by opposing, end them?” (Shakespeare, trans. 2005, 1.3.57-61). It is clear that Hamlet’s inability to make a firm decision is where his irrational behaviour stems, leading to his eventual psychological troubles. According to sociologist Branimir M. Rieger (2011), writers like Shakespeare create mad characters like Hamlet in order to showcase truths most people of a “sane society” would never observe or verbalize. With this being said, Shakespeare uses Hamlet’s madness as a means of freeing the kingdom from treason, deceitfulness, and dishonesty when he kills the entire royal
Of these themes, madness is what ultimately contributed to the tragedy in the play, as it was the underlying cause to all of Hamlet’s behaviours. Hamlet’s inability to make important decisions, insensitive treatment to Ophelia, and disregard for other people is all evidence of Hamlet’s growing insanity throughout the play. Furthermore, Hamlet creates a series of mixed feelings in its readers, something Shakespeare surely intended to do. The brilliantly written play goes down in history as one of the most tragic works of art – which can only be attributed to the main character’s growing