The story of Hamlet is undoubtedly one of the most famous stories in the whole wide world of literature. It features everything one would wish for in a tale: death, love, injustice, revenge, doubt, and eventually, (in)sanity. How is it with the latter, though? Was the main protagonist of Shakespeare’s most famous play a real madman? Was he faking lunacy to baffle the others? Or did periods of sanity and insanity fluctuate throughout the course of the story? These are the questions that will be looked at and answered in the following paragraphs, and perhaps the enigma of Hamlet’s mental health will finally be resolved.…
In the play Hamlet is he really insane or is he faking? Hamlet has a plan from the beginning and that is to find out answers about his fathers death, and his suspicions lead him to his uncle. He decides to act like he was going insane to hopefully get answers revealed from his uncles. In the play he is so used to acting like he is insane he eventually becomes insane.…
Hamlet’s behavior makes everyone worry about his insanity, but his sagacious thinking shows his actions are thought out, and his depressive state of mind. Hamlet does not appear to be suffering from insanity or from the disabling mental illness, schizophrenia. The National Institute of Mental Health describes the illness, “People with positive symptoms often ‘lose touch’ with reality” (“What is Schizophrenia” 2). With schizophrenia, just like with insanity, someone might lose their understanding of what’s right and what’s wrong. In the play, Hamlet states his plan, “As I perchance hereafter shall think meet / To put an antic disposition on” (I.v.172-173). Hamlet clearly confesses to Horatio he will have to act erratic behavior. Through this…
There are many ways one could argue whether or not Hamlet is insane or that he really is a psycho killer. Along those lines, I believe that Hamlet did in fact go completely bonkers and everything that happened that was not in the presence of the king or queen was just a figment of his imagination. After contemplating this I've made up a conclusion why exactly I think he is insane.…
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the ghost of Hamlet’s father reveals to him that he has been murdered by his brother Claudius, the man who also married Hamlet’s mother after he died. After finding out that Claudius killed his father, Hamlet makes it his mission to avenge his father by killing Claudius. Many believe that Hamlet went mad after seeing the ghost and planning his revenge, but really it was just part of the process that came with his revenge on Claudius.…
“Great wits are sure to madness near allied, and thin partitions do their bounds divide”. Although this quote by John Dryden was not directed towards Hamlet, this quote relates well to the argument of whether or not Hamlet was insane. The character of Hamlet in Shakespeare’s play The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is perhaps one of the most complex tragic heroes and possibly the most analyzed in all of English literature. Whether Hamlet was actually insane, or simply acting mad depends on the reader’s interpretation of the play. Hamlet is a complex character, he is the direct result of his psychological disorders. He is capable of quickly changing his emotions and state of mind from being happy, to being sorrowful, to being seemingly…
The dead king has told Hamlet that Claudius killed him while he was asleep in the garden. Hamlet’s confusion and feeling of honor leads him to swear in behalf of his dead father to revenge on the present king. Shakespeare starts the play by bombarding Hamlet’s thinking process and leaving him with tons of weights on his shoulders. The whole aspect of the play revolves around character’s vows to fulfill their honor. The idea of honor in this play is portrayed far more advanced than any other Shakespearean play. Reta. A Terry is an author of “Vows to the Blackest Devil”: Hamlet and the Evolving code of honor in early modern England. She agrees that honor is substantial and goes another level with this idea. She diagrams in which Shakespeare used characters of Hamlet, Laertes, and Horatio to demonstrate the England’s notion of honor switching to the chivalric code of the medieval period’s idea of honor. She concludes that the shift of honor or the evolution of honor was visible in Hamlet.…
Shakespeare’s hero, Hamlet, and his insanity is shown and is demonstrated in the different parts of the play. Many parts in the play points out his madness and his loss of control. Hamlet shows many mood swings throughout the play that makes him act mad and speaks like an insane. Hamlet illustrates many unclear emotions to show his insanity. We can see that there are two versions of Hamlet in the play because of the different actions. Sometimes he acts as a perfect prince and sometimes he acts as he is mad. There is a shift in the different personality Hamlet image, he therefore shows us that he in fact insane, with many example shown throughout the play.…
In the play, Hamlet, he was believed to have feigned his madness. I believe he did this as a way to get away with murder. The entire time Hamlet knew what was coming for him if he succeeded at getting revenge for his father’s murder. Overtime, Hamlet begins to cross the line into madness. Ophelia, also feigned her madness just to get Hamlet’s head back in the game. She was on a mission to figure out why Hamlet has gone mad.…
Early on in the play the reader is shown that Hamlet is going to act insane in order to figure out the murder of his father. Therefore, at random moments throughout the play, Hamlet will act insane in so that he can in turn retrieve more information about the death of his father. Although young and handsome Hamlet says he is feigning his madness many readers have called into question whether or not he is genuinely mad. The fact that he is indeed going mad at times is true. It is true for many reasons. Reasons such as questioning his existence, showing true evidence of insanity not achievable by a sane person and at times using consequentialism in his train of thought. There are many factors that play into…
Throughout the play Hamlet has seemed to slip in and out of madness, but it was all a plan towards his goal. He was planning to avenge his father’s death. He had been scheming from the beginning of the play. Hamlet is very careful of the people he lets know of this true state of mind. Also, he is always planning ahead of everybody else.…
You can push my buttons, but you can’t play me for a fool” (Shakespeare 3.2.336-40). Hamlet means he is not a pipe that can be played whenever, and he is the person who can see the tricks and lies and can’t be fooled easily. Also, that's when Hamlet found out they were not true friends, they were fake, but nothing will stop Hamlet either way. Another quote from Hamlet’s point of view, stating he isn’t crazy is “Madness? My heart beats just as evenly as yours does. There’s nothing crazy in what I’ve just uttered. Put me to the test. I’ll rephrase everything I’ve just said, which a lunatic couldn’t do” (Shakespeare 3.4.143-55). This quote tells you he is faking being insane as well because Hamlet is saying he could recall what he says, which a lunatic wouldn’t be able to do. People around Hamlet think he is going crazy, although it could be everyone else. For instance, Hamlet should be able to speak his mind and be straight forward because he is trying to tell the truth but no one will listen. Also, someone like Hamlet has time to plot out his revenge and knows what he is going to do. A lunatic would have no clue to do something like…
In Shakespeare's "Hamlet", Hamlet, the main character, displays a very indecisive and uncertain demeanor throughout Hamlet. This recurrent behavior is displayed when: Hamlet first encounters the Ghost of his father, to learn that Hamlet's Uncle, the King, killed Hamlet's Father, also in Shakespeare's most prolific monologue of Hamlet and lastly when Hamlet stabs one of the King's confidants, Polonius. Hamlet's wavering decision making as well as his uncertainty in everything leads to Hamlet's apparent insanity; although he is not completely insane, just to a certain degree that allows him to be somewhat sane.…
Hamlet was too “assiduous” and “methodical,” (Firkins 631)to be psychotic. His mind was not affected by all of the affairs that took place, it was his character that was affected. Hamlet saw much to be gained by feigning his madness, and because of this he did many things that the persons of the play construed to be insanity. Another key factor that favors his sanity, is his madness around certain characters. Around Polonius, Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern he behaves completely irrational, but around Horatio he is completely civil. He only lapses into prose when he is fabricating insanity. Hamlet is simply a man dealing with a futile plight. His diction was so cleverly composed…
The play entitled The Tragedy of Hamlet by William Shakespeare is all about the life of Prince Hamlet, beginning with his father’s unexpected death and ending with his very own catastrophic death. One of the main themes of the play is Hamlet’s sanity. There is controversy about whether Hamlet eventually becomes insane towards the end of the play or he is simply pretending to be insane the entire time. Prince Hamlet is not crazy; however, the difficulties he is faced with cause him to appear crazy.…