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Free Hamlet Essays: Insanity In Shakespeare's Hamlet

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Insanity: A Hamlet Analysis Insanity in medical terms, is described as a mental illness in such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, and is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior. In the play Hamlet, many people question whether or not Hamlet is crazy or not. Hamlet is in fact, not just putting on an “antic disposition,” as he is actually mad because of his hallucinations, his depression, and showing no remorse for his actions. Merriam-Webster describes hallucinations as ‘a perception of objects with no reality usually arising from disorder of the nervous system’. Throughout the play, Old Hamlet’s “appears”, but it is vague on whether or not he is actually present. “‘To whom do you speak this?’/‘Do you see nothing …show more content…

This is a good word to describe Hamlet as he does awful things to others, but he feels no remorse. “After he kills Polonius, he begins to ‘wring" his mother's "heart.’ (Colston 19).” The irony of this is that he committed murder just a moment ago, and he is acting self-righteous and accusing his mother. Hamlet shows no remorse for murdering Polonius as he even makes a joke of it to Claudius and does not even give him a proper burial. Hamlet shows even more sociopathic traits even later on in the play. In act 5, Horatio mentions that Guildenstern and Rosencrantz are dead. “Why, man, they did make love to this employment./ They are not near my conscience. Their defeat/ Does by their own insinuation grow./'Tis dangerous when the baser nature comes,” (Shakespeare V. I.61-63). Hamlet admits to sending to their death, and he even says they deserve it. Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Hamlet once were college friends, but that does not mean anything to Hamlet when he cruelly kills them. Hamlet shows no remorse for the actions he does, and even jokes about the cruel things he has partook

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