How Does Shakespeare Present Madness In Hamlet

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Hamlet's Madness in William Shakespeare's Play

The Elizabethan play Hamlet is one of William Shakespeare's most popular works written around the turn of the seventeenth century. Hamlet is generally considered the foremost tragedy in English drama. One of the possible reasons for this play's popularity is the way Shakespeare uses the character Hamlet to exemplify the complex workings of the human mind exploring ideas of insanity and madness. The approach taken by Shakespeare in Hamlet has generated countless different interpretations of meaning, but it is through Hamlet's struggle to confront his internal dilemma, deciding when to revenge his father's death, that the reader becomes aware that Shakespeare …show more content…

Furthermore, beneath his strange choice of imagery involving points of the compass, the weather, and hunting birds, he is announcing that he is deliberately choosing the times when to appear mad. Hamlet is saying that beyond the surface of madness, he is perfectly capable of recognizing his enemies. This supports the idea that Hamlet is very sane indeed.

Hamlet's "madness" in no way reflects Ophelia's true madness, his actions contrast them. Hamlet's lunacy is only apparent when he is in the presence of certain characters. When Hamlet is around Polonius, Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, he behaves unreasonably. When Hamlet in the presence of Horatio, Bernado, Francisco, the Players and the gravediggers, his actions are sensible, calm and collected.

Other characters are still unsure whether Hamlet's insanity is authentic or not. Claudius confesses that Hamlet's actions although strange, do not appear to stem from madness:

"And I do doubt the hatch and the disclose

Will be some danger; which for to prevent,

I have in quick determination"

[Act III, scene I, lines …show more content…

The character of Hamlet, is shown as being perfectly capable of action, as well as of rational thought, in escaping the king's armed guard, dispatching Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths in England, dealing with the pirates and making it back to Denmark. In addition, the letter Horatio from him through the ambassador bound for England is clear and precise and shows no signs of a befuddled mind. This supports the argument that Hamlet is sane.

At one point in the play, the reader may believe in Hamlets insanity. In Act III, scene four, Hamlet accuses his mother of sexual misconduct. As he is doing so the Ghost of Hamlets father reappears however it is only Hamlet that can see the ghost and Gertrude is clueless of the ghost's

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