Insanity In Hamlet Essay

In "The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark" by William Shakespeare, the sane Hamlet occasionally switches between the realms of sanity and insanity. When madness suits Hamlet's purpose, he puts on an "antic disposition" (I.V.173). On the other hand, when sanity proves worthy, Hamlet reverts back to being logical. Hamlet claims he is "mad north-north-west" (II.ii.376), meaning he is mad sometimes and sane other times. Therefore, to achieve his short-term goals, Hamlet shifts between sanity and insanity, which ironically slows his overarching goal of revenge.

To begin, Hamlet shifts into the realm of insanity to achieve his short-term goals. Hamlet uses his insanity as a weapon, changing it into the form of words or action. Furthermore, Hamlet is only insane towards his enemies or his enemy's allies. For example, Hamlet attacks Ophelia, who has allied herself with Claudius, with words: "Are you honest?" (III.i.104), "Are you fair?" (III.i.106). Hamlet "speaks daggers" (III.ii.387) to Gertrude because she is an obstacle to Hamlet. Also, Hamlet slays Polonius so violently that he guarantees that Polonius is "dead, for a ducat, dead" (III.iv.25). Hamlet gravely harms both Ophelia and Gertrude with his words of insanity while sending Polonius to the grave with his actions of insanity. All three people, Ophelia, Gertrude, and Polonius, are Claudius' allies, and by wounding Claudius' allies, Hamlet is indirectly wounding Claudius. This is Hamlet's short-term goal: to rid Claudius of allies.

Besides using insanity to harm Claudius' allies, the mere presence of Hamlet's insanity troubles Claudius. Hamlet understands the potential of madness; madness blurs reality and shrouds truth, therefore causing confusion. Claudius...

Hamlet's thoughts are much more sophisticated than those of the insane. Hamlet's second short-term goal is to philosophize. Through the return into sanity, Hamlet is able to accomplish both his short-term goals of concentration and philosophizing. However, due to the constant reversal between sanity and insanity, Hamlet's revenge is slowed. Hamlet's mind becomes twisted due to constant changes in personality, between sanity and insanity. Early in the play, Hamlet says that he will put on an "antic disposition" (I.v.173). However, in the last scene of the play, Hamlet tells Horatio that "in my heart there was a kind of fighting" (V.ii.4). At one point, he says that he will fake insanity, while later, he says that there is fighting in his heart, which hints insanity. Due to this, Hamlet becomes indecisive. Hamlet's inability to act causes his revenge to be slowed.