King Lear and Madness in the Renaissance
It has been demonstrated that Shakespeare's portrayal of madness parallels Bright's A Treatise of Melancholie (Wilson 309-20), yet, the medical model alone is insufficient to describe the madness of Shakespeare’ s King Lear. Shakespeare was not limited to a single book in his understanding of madness; he had at his disposal the sum total of his society's understanding of the issue. Since Lear's madness is derived from a mixture of sources, it can only be effectively described in this larger context.
Because much of Renaissance medical theory was based on premises from the Middle Ages, a starting point for our understanding of Lear's madness can be found in the 1535 translation of De Propriatibus Rerum by the thirteenth century monk Batholomaeus Anglicus. This work is based entirely on the traditional model of illness as an imbalance of the four humours: melancholy (or black bile), choler (or yellow bile), blood, and phlegm. Batholomaeus classifies melancholy and madness separately, attributing them to different humours and different areas of the brain (1-4). The condition of melancholy is caused by an excess of the melancholy humour. It makes a person "ferefull without cause, & oft sorry. And that is through the melancholi humor that constreineth & closeth the herte" (2). In extreme cases melancholy causes symptoms quite like madness, "somme fall into evyll suspections without recover: & therfore they hate - blame, and confounde theyr frendes, and sometyme they smyte and slee them" (2). But although Lear could be described as falling into "evyll suspections" he probably does not have melancholy. He is choleric by nature and it is likely that his madness is ...
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1. Bartholomaeus Anglicus. De Proprietatibus Rerum. Qtd. in Hunter 1-4.
2. Bright, Timothy. A Treatise of Melancholie. Hunter 36-37.
3. Byrd, Max. Visits to Bedlam: Madness and Literature in the Eighteenth Century. Columbia: U of South Carolina P, 1974.
4. Hunter, Richard, and Ida MacAlpine, eds. Three Hundred Years of Psychiatry 1535-1860: a History Presented in Selected English Texts. London: Oxford UP, 1963.
5. Johnson, Samuel. "Preface." Johnson on Shakespeare. Ed. R. W. Desai. New Delhi: Orient, 1985.
6. Shakespeare, William. "King Lear." William Shakespeare: the Tragedies, the Poems. Ed. John D. Wilson. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1986.
7. Skultans, Vieda. English Madness: Ideas on Insanity, 1580-1890. London: Routledge, 1979.
8. Wilson, J. Dover. What Happens in Hamlet. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1967.
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A popular topic of discussion for Shakespearian critics is whether or not Hamlet is sane at various points in the play. Usually, this digresses into a question of at what point Hamlet crosses the fine line which marks the bounds of sanity into the realm of insanity. This is a confusing matter to sort out, due to the fact that it is hard to tell when the prince is acting, and when he is really and truly out of his mind. The matter of determining the time of crossing over is further complicated by the fact that everyone around him is constantly speaking of madness. At the end we must either conclude that Hamlet is an extremely talented actor capable of staying in character under the most trying circumstances, or that he is human and as a result his sanity gives way to the many external emotional barrages coming his way. The more likely conclusion is that Hamlet is at some point insane. What is left to discover is at what point does this crossover occur, and second, what are the main contributing factors in his mental collapse. I will ignore the issue of the point of crossover, and let another paper consider that point. Rather, I propose that Hamlet's religious beliefs, acquired at the University of Wittenberg, heavily contributed to the loss of his sanity.
Skultans, Vieda. English Madness: Ideas on Insanity 1580-1890. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd. 1979.
Lear emended amount of pride not only made him blind to the reasons why he loves Cordellia most and it made him blind through to give Goneril and Regan everything and Cordellia nothing. It continued to make him blind to Regan and Goneril true quality until he becomes mad. Therefore Lears has brought about his own madness through his blind actions.
William Shakespeare’s creation of the character of Hamlet within the tragedy of that name left open the question of whether the madness of the protagonist is entirely feigned or not. This essay will treat this aspect of the drama.
Mental illness can be a virus. It attaches to those with wild thoughts, actions, and comprehensions of a world known and unknown. It hits the soul, pulling at once a kind being into anxiety, pain and loss. In Shakespeare's play Hamlet, his main character, Hamlet, comes down with the illness. It enters him through actions by friends, enemies, and even his own family. The hardest thing to understand is whether Hamlet's insanity is completely real, or an act put on to win revenge. However, no matter what the reality of his psychotic mind is, the real question is what brought this whole thing on. In 1601 when Shakespeares Hamlet was written, Hamlet would be diagnosed with suffering from melancholy, but with today's high technology and knowledge he would of been diagnosed with bipolar I disorder. In Shakespeare’s time there was no concept of depressive illnesses, although melancholy was well known during his time.
Cohen, Walter, J.E. Howard, K. Eisaman Maus. The Norton Shakespeare. Vol. 2 Stephen Greenblatt, General Editor. New York, London. 2008. ISBN 978-0-393-92991-1
Throughout the history of English literature, William Shakespeare delved into the mental component of humanity, and the disputed consequences that arise from this human mentality. The most famous revenge tragedy play, Hamlet, is an excellent illustration of Shakespeare’s study of human nature. In Hamlet, the arguable issue of Prince Hamlet’s mental health makes the readers to have two conflicting beliefs: one that shows support for a feigned madness, and the other one that stands up for an unfeigned madness. Madness is defined as an “Extreme anger, excitement, or foolishness.” (“Madness”), and “Ideas or actions that show a lack of good judgment and careful thought.” ("madness"). At the start of the play, Prince Hamlet’s plan is to pretend to be mentally ill, so that he is able to cover up his true intentions to inflict vengeance on his father’s killer. It seems clear from the theater piece that Prince Hamlet has indeed turned to true madness by believing in his own performance in the end.
“Madness” is a mutual theme in many of Shakespeare’s plays including Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear, but none of Shakespeare’s plays reference madness more often than Twelfth Night (Joost). Madness is seen in multiple instances throughout the play, especially in the final scenes of the play. Madness in Twelfth Night is used as a state of mind when the character is confused about the true reality that is occurring around them causing them to live in a fantasy (Joost). This contributes to the insanity of the plot by characterizing the mental state of several different characters.
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In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the poor treatment of Hamlet by Claudius in his feigning of madness leads to the deterioration of Hamlets true mental state. After hearing the news of the murder of his father, Hamlet devotes
Class size makes a huge impact on how the student learns. Along with many other things, there is more to the amount of kids in class than most people think. The quality one on one time is affected. Along with that, important questions that the students needs clarity on from the teacher might not be able to be answered because so many other students are in the room asking their own question. Students learn in their own ways. Teachers have to be flexible to how their students learn and in order to do that they need to know their students on a personal level. When class sizes are large, it effects students in negative ways in their learning.
Bengtsson, Frederick. “King Lear by William Shakespeare.” Columbia College. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2015.