Insanity of Hamlet and Ophelia Essay Example
Insanity of Hamlet and Ophelia
Hamlet’s insanity comes from his passion to get revenge and grief over his fathers death, while Ophelia has true and justified insanity. Hamlet has reason behind his madness, he is saddened by his father’s death, planning on how to kill his uncle, and his mind is in a fragile place throughout the play. Ophelia is very naive, defenseless, and loyal to the men in her life. She cannot contend with difficulties that occur during the play such as, her father dying, Hamlet’s attitude towards her, and her lack of judgement. The are both insane yet have different reasons and ranging motives behind their insanity.
Hamlet is in a unique situation where he his mother has married his uncle, Claudius, and his father has been murdered by his uncle. He wants nothing but revenge for his father. Hamlet is obsessed with proving Claudius guilty. Hamlet receives a lot of pressure from the ghost of his father to achieve revenge and feels like he has some sort of responsibility to get revenge for his father. Hamlet is hasty, erratic, and does not really think about his actions. When he stabs Polonius thinking that it is Claudius hiding behind the curtains, he does not even bother to look behind the curtain he just does it. His wild elocution and deranged actions upset other characters and set them up for other actions. When Hamlet repetitively acts nastily towards Ophelia she winds up committing suicide . When Hamlet says, “ Get thee to a nunnery!” to Ophelia she even questions Hamlet’s sanity at that point and may have been a contribution to Ophelia’s suicide. Hamlet is also upset with his mother, Gertrude, for marrying Claudius so fast after his fathers death. Hamlet feels betrayed by his mother and is enraged with her. In the play Hamlet tells Gertrude how much better his father was than Claudius and tries to make her promise how much better his father was than Claudius. Hamlet says to Gertrude in Act 3 Scene 4, “Mother, you have my
Hamlet’s insanity comes from his passion to get revenge and grief over his fathers death, while Ophelia has true and justified insanity. Hamlet has reason behind his madness, he is saddened by his father’s death, planning on how to kill his uncle, and his mind is in a fragile place throughout the play. Ophelia is very naive, defenseless, and loyal to the men in her life. She cannot contend with difficulties that occur during the play such as, her father dying, Hamlet’s attitude towards her, and her lack of judgement. The are both insane yet have different reasons and ranging motives behind their insanity.
Hamlet is in a unique situation where he his mother has married his uncle, Claudius, and his father has been murdered by his uncle. He wants nothing but revenge for his father. Hamlet is obsessed with proving Claudius guilty. Hamlet receives a lot of pressure from the ghost of his father to achieve revenge and feels like he has some sort of responsibility to get revenge for his father. Hamlet is hasty, erratic, and does not really think about his actions. When he stabs Polonius thinking that it is Claudius hiding behind the curtains, he does not even bother to look behind the curtain he just does it. His wild elocution and deranged actions upset other characters and set them up for other actions. When Hamlet repetitively acts nastily towards Ophelia she winds up committing suicide . When Hamlet says, “ Get thee to a nunnery!” to Ophelia she even questions Hamlet’s sanity at that point and may have been a contribution to Ophelia’s suicide. Hamlet is also upset with his mother, Gertrude, for marrying Claudius so fast after his fathers death. Hamlet feels betrayed by his mother and is enraged with her. In the play Hamlet tells Gertrude how much better his father was than Claudius and tries to make her promise how much better his father was than Claudius. Hamlet says to Gertrude in Act 3 Scene 4, “Mother, you have my