A select few scholars believe that Hamlet is not pretending to be mad, but in reality is insane. Hamlet reveals his insanity through his strange behavior toward others. Dr. Simon A. Blackmore claims, “The Real or Assumed Madness of Hamlet” in Shakespearean Online that Hamlet is insane because of the fact that he is able to see a ghost while others cannot (215). Dr. Blackmore in The Real or Assumed... also asserts that in Act III, scene IV, the instance when Hamlet is in Gertrude chamber and Hamlet states to Gertrude that he see a ghost.
In Hamlet, Shakespeare uses many references to sanity and insanity. Throughout the play, Hamlet goes back and forth between sanity and insanity, whether pretending to be insane just to mess with those he does not like or to save himself from getting in trouble. Hamlet is actually one of the smartest characters in the play, which is why he can pull off acting crazy so well. Shakespeare uses this idea of sanity and insanity to help the plot change and take a different directions. One of the most discussed topics of the Hamlet is whether Hamlet is insane or if he was just pretending the whole time.
With his mother's remarriage to his uncle right after her husband's funeral, Hamlet feels completely alone because the only other person who would feel the same sadness Hamlet feels is his mother. “Adults fear abandonment when there is a risk of losing a loved one on whom they are dependent, whether from divorce, death, illness, or some other cause” (Adamec ). Because of feeling betrayed by his mother for acting so impassive towards her husband's death and caring more about the wedding. Hamlet stats to act foul to her and others because of this. “ Hamlet: Ay, lady, ‘twas my word.
Hamlet, after being left alone in the hall, begins to argue with himself about whether “To be or not to be?”(III.i.57). Hamlet discusses the topic on whether he should end his life or keep on living. Throughout Hamlet’s soliloquy he comes up with reasons to support each side of his argument. Hamlet’s sanity is still intact at the moment because if someone who had lost their sanity began to contemplate killing themselves they would commit the act right away without even thinking. In addition, Hamlet manages to list reasons on whether he should go through with killing himself or not which an insane person would not do.
Gertrude asks, “O me, what hast thou done?” (Act 3, scene 4) and Hamlet replies, “Nay, I know not. Is it the king?” (Act 3, scene 4). Hamlet’s response shows his reckless behavior where he acts without thinking.
Therefore, he decides to depend on Claudius's reaction to the play to help him validate those words. To prove my point, Hamlet said, " I’ll have these players play something like the murder of my father before mine uncle. I’ll observe his looks. I’ll tent him to the quick. If he do blench, I know my course.
He is later disgusted by his mother’s quick remarriage to his uncle, Claudius, almost two months after the death of his father who was also his mother’s husband. After Hamlet’s conversation with his father’s ghost in which Hamlet was told that his father was murdered by Claudius, he became filled with even more grief because he has a difficult duty of killing his uncle in order to avenge his father’s death. This is seen in the “to be or not to be” soliloquy.
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
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. At this
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,
Throughout the story Hamlet has conflicting views on death and the act of suicide. During the monologue in act three Hamlet is able to construct a relatable view on depression. Many would view Hamlet’s speech as delusional and melodramatic, but it hides a meaning that most can relate to. “To be, or not to be” (3.1.57) asks a greater question than “should i die or should i live.” Within Hamlet’s monologue he asks the question of “should I go forth with my actions or live with complacency.”
What would one expect the personality of a man whose father was murdered by his uncle, who becomes his step-father? The personality in question points to Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark—who William Shakespeare depicts in his play “Hamlet.” A character analysis of Hamlet reveals that through his internal dialogue, his interpretation of his father 's murder, and his actions, his traits—bitterness, depression, and anger—emerge. Scholars have studied Hamlet for decades, and most have concluded that Hamlet 's personality indicated insanity. However, after observing Hamlet 's actions, his actions throughout the play do not resemble those of an insane person.
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet struggles to cope with his late father’s death and his mother’s quick marriage. In Act 1, Scene 2, King Claudius, Queen Gertrude, and Hamlet are all introduced. Hamlet has just finished publicly speaking with his mom and the new king, and after he is interrupted by his good friend Horatio, who reveal the secret about King Hamlet’s ghost. Hamlet’s soliloquy is particularly crucial because it serves as his initial characterization, revealing the causes of his anguish. Hamlet’s grief is apparent to the audience, as he begins lamenting about the uselessness of life.
He uses his deception of madness to make this sound like mad ramblings to everyone else, but he is truly asking these questions and wondering about the ins and outs of how life truly works, and what it all means. So Hamlet basically acts insane to cover up the seriousness of these questions he is seeking the answers to. “But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,/Could force his soul so to his own conceit,/That from her working all his visage wann’d,/ Tears in his eyes, distraction in’s aspect,/ A broken voice, and his
In the play, Hamlet, William Shakespeare reflects the common early modern beliefs and perspectives about madness by using the character development of the protagonist who feigns madness throughout the play. Given Hamlet 's status as a prince, current knowledge of madness during the time period, and the contrast of the different types of madness of other characters in the play, Elizabethan audiences would have found it plausible that Hamlet feigns madness as part of his plot to avenge his father 's death. This new historicist perspective steers the modern reader away from anachronistic psychological interpretations of the play. Hamlet’s status as a prince gives the character certain roles and expectations to fulfill, such as avenging his father’s