Throughout the play Hamlet uncovers horrible deeds his uncle has committed, which were “Remorseless, Treacherous, lecherous”. Hamlet wished to punish Gertrude but was prevented by his father’s ghost. In Hamlet’s soliloquy in Act 3 scene 2, Hamlet will “speak daggers to her but use none” representing his future interactions with Gertrude. Shakespeare uses this metaphor to show Hamlet’s hatred towards his mother and to create tension. In Act 3 Scene 4, Hamlet reveals Claudius’ involvement in his father’s death to his mother, but she thinks Hamlet has turned into a madman.
Throughout the play, Hamlet claims to be feigning madness, but his portrayal of a madman is so intense and so convincing that many readers believe that Hamlet actually slips into insanity at certain moments in the play. Do you think this is true, or is Hamlet merely playacting insanity? What evidence can you cite for either claim? In William Shakespeare’s classic, Hamlet, the question concerning Hamlet’s underlying sanity is a major element in the interpretation of the text. In the play, Shakespeare portrays Hamlet as a dynamic character to cause a mental state conundrum among the audience and explore the themes of suicide, spying, friendship, madness, providence, love, hate and humour.
Through his initial self-condemnation for being passive, Hamlet realizes the essence of his internal struggle and devises a plan to take action without having to go against his true nature. At the start of the soliloquy, the character foil between player 1 and Hamlet emphasizes Hamlet’s self-loathe by revealing his inability to avenge his father’s death. The
Should insanity be considered a curse or a blessing in disguise? In the play, Hamlet, by Shakespeare, there are many characters whose intentions were all masked by lies and deception. The character, King Claudius, often comes to mind since he was the one to spark the future sequence of events filled with violence and death that would occur in the play by killing King Hamlet; however, Prince Hamlet’s questionable character and sanity are often over-looked. Hamlet portrays his mental stability as rapidly faltering in order to seek the revenge of his father’s death. The need for revenge led to Hamlet’s idea to deceive those around him by seeming insane.
Hamlet states, “ The spirit that I have seen, may be the devil, and the devil hath power, T’ assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps, out of my weakness and my melancholy, as he is very potent with such spirits, abuses me to damn me” (II.ii.627-632). The ghost resembles his father and leaves Hamlet confused and concerned. From the quote in the play, Hamlet believes that the ghost could possibly be the devil trying to persuade him into evil to continue his suffering. He also believes the ghost is targeting him because of his suffering; making him more vulnerable to evil. After numerous interactions between Hamlet and the ghost, the ghost reveals that he is Hamlet’s father.
He acted strange when he was around the king and his attendants and this is evident when he tells his friend Guildenstem that "his uncle-father and aunt-mother are deceived" (Shakespeare). In addition, when they enter the court party, Hamlet tells Horatio that "I must be idle," meaning he is trying to feign his madness. He also confesses to his mother that "I essentially am not in madness, but mad in craft" (Shakespeare). For Hamlet, he had to pretend to be mad in order to plan and execute his revenge against Claudia. Hamlet’s madness played an important role in the play because he later on became insane after he had feigned his insanity.
In the play, Hamlet, written by Shakespeare, the main character, Hamlet, and his family are all driven by evil ambitions. Hamlet was driven mad by a desperate need to avenge his father’s murder. His step-father, Claudius, killed his own brother over jealousy and lust for the throne. Hamlet’s mother assisted her brother-in-law in killing her husband and persisted in up the crime so that she could remain queen as she lived in a virtually incestuous relationship with him. The cruel, bizarre, and unethical behaviors exhibited by Hamlet and his family stem from the severe depravity of mind from which they all suffer.
Regarding Hamlet is a revenge tragedy, madness is a theme of the play but he’s not truly mad. He pretends to be mad to distract his uncle and mother so that he can reveal the truth of his father’s murder. Even though he gives the signs of his feigned madness throughout the play he first articulates these words to his friend Horatio at the end of act I scene
That it should come to this”(Act 1 scene 2, 134-138). This perfectly epitomizes the theme of Hamlet’s indecisiveness. Hamlet describes how he wants to end his life because it has been only two months or less than two months since his father has passed away and his mother has already married the inferior brother of Old Hamlet, who now is the king of Denmark. But, due to his hesitation and deep religious beliefs, he decides not to kill himself because God says one will go to hell if they commit suicide. Even after the host of Old Hamlet tells young Hamlet that the cause of his death was because of his uncle, Hamlet’s uncertainty kicks in and makes him doubt his own father.
Claudius implies that he thinks Hamlet is ‘brooding’ something behind this madness and is not falling for it. Claudius’s suspicions are confirmed by Hamlet’s rash behavior during the play. Instead of letting the actors say their lines while Horatio watched the King’s expression, Hamlet decides to commentate the play. He says, “ O, but she’ll keep her word,” and, “He poisons him i’th’ garden for his estate.” (3. 2.