In this play Hamlet definitely puts on his own little show. He makes it seem like he is truly crazy. He makes it so everyone around him believes that he is mad. The only people who know that he is faking it, is Horatio and Marcellus. He tells him at the beginning to not turn his back on him. At some points in the play it's really hard to tell if he is faking his madness, or if he is actually starting to go crazy. The reason he acts crazy is because he knows his father was murdered by his uncle. He thinks that if he acts mad, he will have a better chance at getting revenge on Claudius. In the beginning of the play the ghost of Hamlet's father visits him. He tells him that he was actually murdered by his uncle, Claudius, who is now the king. After Hamlet received this news he makes Horatio and Marcellus swear to him that no matter what he does or says they will know he is not mad. “Here, …show more content…
There's a couple times throughout where he is out of control with the things he's saying and doing. “Now to my mother. O heart, don't lose thy nature. Let not ever The soul of Nero enter this firm bosom; Let me be cruel, not unnatural. I will speak daggers to her, but use none. My tongue and soul in this be hypocrites.”(page 180 lines 375-379) In this quote he is praying that god doesn't let him hurt his mother. It makes it seem as though he doesn't even know if he's faking it anymore. He had actual fear that he was going to hurt his mother, which is something he didn't want to do. He says in the quote to “Let me be cruel, not unnatural” which means he doesn't want to kill her. It's not natural to kill your own mother, he only wants to hurt her with his words, but why would he have to pray to help not to kill her? He fears that he is going to lose control of himself, which proves that he might actually be a little mad. He doesn’t exactly know what he is going to do and it scares
Hamlet is a play that is largely about a prince, Hamlet trying to get revenge on the man who commited his father 's murder. A question is raised however, which is that of whether or not he is sane or crazy. There are many scenes throughout the play in which he displays an almost crazed state of mind which cause many to question his sanity throughout the play. And so the question becomes was he faking it to see if his uncle truly murdered his father, or was he truly insane? It is my firm belief that he is faking it and is only using his facade to ensnare his uncle into a trap so that he can kill him.
Also the way that he went from character to character exploiting his insanity, being very careful going to this person first then to another, and acting insane in front of them, all to make everyone think he was insane, including the most important character, Claudius. Once Claudius thought Hamlet was insane, he thought he was safe, and that he could carry out the rest of his plan. With the soliloquy, “To be...” Hamlet knew that the King was overhearing him, henceforth continuing on with his insane act. A great example is Hamlet’s “To be...” speech, when he was talking to Ophelia.
There is much speculation surrounding the mental wellbeing of Prince Hamlet of whether he himself is mad, not mad, or a combination of sanity turning into insanity. Throughout the book though there is evidence of Hamlet being sane, and from this it can be drawn that Hamlet is not mad. In the beginning of the played there is a ghost of the late King Hamlet who is introduced and discovered by the guards of the castle at night. The guards tell Prince Hamlet’s best friend, Horatio, of the ghost which in turn leads to him telling Hamlet about the ghost.
Plus how can we even trust whatever Hamlet has to say, if he is in fact such a good actor. He could have just been acting when he said he is not mad; or he could have just believed he was not mad because he was doing such a good job of acting he believed that he was sane. Have you never seen people do something so insane and for them to say "Hey, I'm not crazy" would you take their word for
The Reality Behind Madness Madness is the most contradictory element in William Shakespeare 's, Hamlet, in IV.v.160-193 shows an act of true madness. The essential need for madness begins in Act I, when Hamlet decides acting mad is the only way to revenge his father 's death. This progresses the underlying meaning of the play, is Hamlet genuinely crazy? The argument continues when Hamlet murders Polonius with no remorse. Ophelia denies seeing Hamlet, which is the reason everyone believes is the cause of Hamlet 's madness.
Madness is often a symptom, and in the case of Hamlet this may be the reason behind his actions. The death of Hamlet’s father is the catalyst for Hamlet, causing him to see the ghost and ultimately become obsessed with the idea of revenge. A common theme for shakespeare is to explore a character’s mind and reasonings, and Hamlet’s character being mad was a perfect opportunity to continue this theme. Hamlet’s debatable madness, Ophelia being truly mad and the death of every character involved with Hamlet or his father is a prime example of tragedy, which Shakespeare is known for. While Hamlet’s madness is not certain, it is indisputable that the play Hamlet was built off of the idea of what is madness, and how does it affect one’s
Hamlet’s madness is definitely a concern in the play. Though he says himself that he is not, in fact, insane, his performance in some scenes is convincing to tell that he is insane. Whether he is crazy or not or even if he is faking is a big controversy, an I argue to say that Hamlet is indeed just plain crazy. Whats really important is how Hamlet is “being insane”. Some scenes show Hamlets Insanity as a way to achieve goals, but some definitely indicate some sort of madness.
When the play first began Hamlet did not seem crazy but more depressed and suicidal after his father’s death, he did not begin to act crazy until learning about his father’s murder. ”How strange or odd soe’er I bear myself, to put an antic disposition on...”, here Hamlet tells Horatio that he will start to act crazy but for them to just ignore it. After this when Hamlet only acts mad around thoses who he does not trust but when
There are many examples of times where Hamlet seems truly insane. We have the time when he is talking with Polonius in the castle, after the King, the Queen, and Polonius were discussing the love letter that Hamlet wrote to Ophelia. Hamlet walks in reading a book, and Polonius asks “What do you read, my lord?” Hamlet replies with “Words, words, words.” “What is the matter, my lord” “Between who?”
Hamlet’s false madness affects how other people view his behavior. Hamlet knew that people would write off his actions as madness over his father’s death, and he used this to his advantage. His act allowed him to essentially recreate his whole personality. It was the perfect cover for his plan to murder Claudius. In fact, acting is so important to Hamlet, he uses it throughout the play.
Hamlet is a horrible heir to the throne: not because he dithers too much, but because he has almost no impulse control. If he has a thought, it is going to come out of his mouth. I believe a major reason he feigns madness is because he knows this about himself. He knows he won 't be able to help giving himself away and getting out of control. So he covers it with "Don 't mind me.
After encountering his father’s ghost, who reveals the truth behind his death, Hamlet comes up with a plan in order to avenge his father, King Hamlet. He pretends to act crazy in order to fool people around him into believe that he really has gone crazy; “How strange or odd soe’er I bear myself (As I perchance hereafter shall think meet To put an antic disposition on)” (I, 5, 190-200); however only certain people whom he trust know that he is simply acting and perfectly sane, at least at first he is. The whole purpose of his actions was to reveal Claudius’s guilty for the murder of his father.
Hamlet is sane because he only acts mad in front of certain people, he told his friends of his plan of revenge, and the fact that many people continuously doubted his insanity. Hamlet only acted insane in front of the king and his chairmen. In other times, he acted completely normal. This is because to get revenge for the death of his father, he needs to buy time distracting King Claudius so that he can kill him. He admits to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern that he is “but mad north-north-west.
There are many reasons for Hamlet to truly go mad including the death of his father, his mother’s remarriage and the relationship he holds with Ophelia, leading many away from the fact that he is “not
In order to execute his plan, Hamlet pretends he is going crazy, so Claudius would not suspect of him. Claudius is not completely if Hamlet is faking his insanity or not, so he sends people to watch Hamlet 's every move while Hamlet watches him simultaneously. Gertrude calls Hamlet to her room in order to figure out what is wrong with him and they have a heated discussion which included briefly discussing her sexual life. In this scene, Hamlet kills Polonius thinking it was Claudius behind a curtain. Hamlet feels no remorse whatsoever after killing Polonius, even though he never had any proof about Polonius ' involvement in his father 's death.