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Hamlet: What Causes Someone To Go Mad?

840 Words4 Pages

Has one wondered what causes someone to go mad? Throughout the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, characters Hamlet and Ophelia experiences contribute to their madness. Hamlet's character has experiences of the death of his father, his uncle remarrying his mom, and finding out that his uncle killed his father. Ophelia's character finds out her boyfriend does not love her and her father is stabbed to his death. Hamlet and Ophelia's experiences hurt them emotionally and mentally. In Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, madness creates an escape from a corrupted society. Hamlet's experience of the death of his father and a ghost telling him that his uncle killed his father left Hamlet very distraught. Hamlet pretends to go mad to find out information …show more content…

Forth at your eyes your spirits wildly peep; And, as the sleeping soldiers in the alarm, Your bedded hair, like life in excrements, Starts up, and stands on end. O gentle son, Upon the heat and flame of thy distemper Sprinkle cool patience. Whereon do you look? (Shakespeare Act III Scene 4).
Gertrude is frightened because she can not see the ghost that Hamlet is looking at. This leads the audience to believe that Hamlet is not faking his madness, but has truly gone mad. When Hamlet begins talking to the ghost the Queen questions his sanity. Hamlet's madness distracts him from the effects of his fathers death on his life. Throughout the play Ophelia experiences many hardships. The death of her father and the rejection of Hamlets love take a toll on Ophelia mentally and emotionally. In the play Hamlet kills Polonius by stabbing him in the chest. When Ophelia found out about the death of her father she slipped into a depressive madness state of mind. The audience can see Ophelia singing about her fathers death: Ophelia: He is dead and gone, lady, He is dead and

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