Comparison of Madness and Sanity in Hamlet and Death of a Salesman
Could anyone really determine whether or not a person is mad or sane?
In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
each of their two main characters, Hamlet and Wily Loman, are put up to this
question, but in each situation their so-called madness differs in the cause of
them. The ways in which their madness affects their lives is proven by three
actions. These actions are neglecting their responsibilities, negatively
influencing others, and finally distracting themselves.
It is really never determined whether or not Hamlet and Willy are really
mad, but there is some good details that reflect it. Both characters were once
respectable, yet now they are neglecting responsibilities that they have.
Hamlet, we first learn, is an intelligent student. Now by the end of the play
he neglects to do what he is supposed to. The first thing he should have done
is avenge his father’s death by killing Claudius. He has many chances in
which he could, but doesn’t do it. Is he maybe questioning the the validity of
the ghost or is his conscious getting to him. Then he starts losing track of
what he should do and when he does do things he doesn’t care whether or not
it is right. For example, the killing of Polonius. He killed him without a
flinch. Finally when he does realize who he killed, he shows no remorse.
Shouldn’t he have? He killed his love’s father. Maybe he doesn’t have a
conscious or maybe from the trauma of his father’s death he’s not thinking
right anymore. Now, Willy Loman in the beginning of Death of a Salesman
is shown to be “not quite there” to the readers. He cannot keep his mind on the present, he ...
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...struggle was long and finally tragic.
Linda says, "A small man can be just as exhausted as a great man." Miller
writes, "...this man is actually a very brave spirit who cannot settle for
half but must pursue his dream of himself to the end.” Willy was so
absorbed with being number one, so that’s all that mattered. And when he
finally realizes that his son loves him and in a way holds him as number one,
then he is content and can be at rest.
By examining both Hamlet in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and
Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, you see that they are
not completely mad but maybe disillusioned. There are times when they can be fine and times when the madness overtakes them. So in determining whether or not they are mad would be a difficult task. Although the causes of their madness differs, the end of both are the same.
But I am convinced that he was "…not in madness, but mad in craft." I also
portraying Wallace’s best friend and then betraying him. He realized the error of his ways
...tive outlook on things, he shows his emotional strength to handle things in an adult manner.
death when his mother and the king enter the room and question him on his
each other, only Hamlet was stronger inside and resisted suicide. as he has a reason to live, to seek revenge on Claudius.
Intelligence is often mistaken for brilliance, and conversely genius is mistaken for madness. Some of the greatest minds have been misconstrued in there time, and it is not until their whole life is taken into observance from the outside looking in, that their genius is realized and appreciated. Websters dictionary defines madness as "the act of being foolish or illogical." Ironically this form of thought has prompted some of the greatest advancements in government, science, and technology. It was the thought that every common man and woman should be included in his or her respective governments that prompted Democracy, a form of government unheard of before the signing of the Magna Carta. It was scientists and inventors thinking outside of the lines that inspired the cure for Small Pox and the invention of the computer. It can clearly be seen that serious thought is often the by-product of irrational thinking, this is also true for literature. It is while in madness, both feigned as well as sincere, that the characters in William Shakespeare's Hamlet are able to practice true mental clarity and express themselves in a manner free of treachery and falsehood.
... cannot cope with the stress. Kesey also stresses the notion that madness is a result of the society's pressure; however, in most cases labelling is done in a wrong way. Many people are perceived to be mad when in fact they act as most average people.
... ideas that Hamlet is mad and that Hamlet is not mad. Readers and critics can agree that Hamlet is not a "man of action," but is instead a "man of reflection"-reflection that is concentrated on both himself and the world (Schucking 31).I believe it is Shakespeare's anger towards corruption and religion that makes Hamlet to fall into madness. “Finding a character in real life of a person endowed with so delicate as to border on weakness with sensibility too exquisite to allow of determined action “(Sylvia 13).While it’s difficult to point out the exact cause in Hamlet's life that lead to his insanity, one thing is for certain; he went mad, and the madness did to him what it does to everything that holds madness; it destroys whatever it touches. Insanity in The tragedy of Prince Hamlet over powered sanity which concludes that the entire play revolves around insanity
care to try to learn from what he has done. This showing of recklessness and non
going wrong, he is not able to see his own faults and do anything to
To summarize, Hamlet is a play that, in the end, nobody wins. Also with everyone dead at the end of the act,
Would it be easy for him if he had to apply his own ideas to himself? I don't know. Talk
In Lewis Carol’s, Alice in Wonderland, he tells of the meeting between two of his characters, Alice, and the Mad Hatter. Carol writes about the struggles the young girl Alice has with him due to the fact that he appears to be entirely crazy, though the question stands if there is some method to his madness. Playwright and actor, William Shakespeare, uses this controversial connection between real madness and loss in his play Hamlet, portrayed in his characters Hamlet, and his crazed actions towards his loved ones, in Ophelia and her reaction to the death of her father, and lastly, in his character Laertes and his quick, rash reaction to act upon his desire for revenge.
Hamlet's public persona is a facade he has created to carry out his ulterior motives. The outside world's perception of him as being mad is of his own design. Hamlet is deciding what he wants others to think about him. Polonius, a close confidant of the King, is the leading person responsible for the public's knowledge of Hamlet's madness. The idea that Hamlet is mad centers around the fact that he talks to the ghost of his dead father. He communicates with his dead father's ghost twice, in the presence of his friends and again in the presence of his mother. By being in public when talking to the ghost, the rumor of his madness is given substance.
Plus you can also add in the points that he is seeing a ghost that is saying is his father and is telling him how he was murdered. That would do a lot for driving someone insane. I have a ghost in my house and I have no idea how to deal with it and it makes me not want to stay here in the dark with it and nothing has happened to me yet, but it has happened to others. So i can have an understanding of seeing a ghost could mess someone up pretty good.