Essay On Hamlet's Sanity

In act I, scene V of the play, the audience learns of the “antic disposition” that Hamlet will be putting on (Shakespeare). In this scene, he tells the audience that he plans to act insane in order to get away with killing Claudius. He believes that by acting insane no one will suspect him of doing anything such as that. To many critics the “whole conduct of Hamlet’s madness is too ludicrous” and in fact he has really gone mad ( Stubbers). For Hamlet to come out and say that he is planning to act insane is, on the other hand, “purely and adequately a man of genius” (Strachey).

Hamlet knows that having the correct facts is so important because without hard evidence he may unjustly kill his uncle and have to d... ... middle of paper ... ...set with Hamlet for murdering his father, Polonius, and conspires with King Claudius against Hamlet. After all these tragic events it gets worse, Hamlet’s two very best friends plot against him, it drives him mad. It all starts with an act of insanity, then there is less acting involved and it finally ends up as Hamlet’s reality and tragedy for all. In conclusion, Hamlet could be considered insane, it is not just an act. In the beginning of the play, Hamlet is acting mad in order to avenge his father’s death, therefore he is able to gain vital information regarding King Hamlet’s death.

Hamlet throughout the play seems insane but in reality it is only an act to achieve his goal of killing his father's murderer. Hamlet chooses to go mad so he has an advantage over his opponent and since he is the Prince of Denmark certain behavior is unacceptable, so by faking madness he is able to get away with inappropriate sayings and actions. We can see this when he talks to Claudius, Polonius, Ophelia and his mother. When Hamlet talks to Horatio in the first act he says how he is going to "feign madness" and that: " There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy...How strange or odd some'er i bear myself (As i perchance hereafter shall think meet To put an antic disposition on) That you, at such times seeing me, never shall, With arms encumbered thus, or this headshake, Or by pronouncing of some doubtful phrase...let us go in toget... ... middle of paper ... ...sane because he is fully aware of his surroundings and before acting he always rationalizes everything. He fakes madness so he can say and do things that a mad man would do, but internally he is aware of what he is doing and we know he is not insane but he acts crazy in front of certain people.

In the tragic play, Hamlet written by William Shakespeare, many people consider the main character to be insane. They believe this because Hamlet himself, pretends to be a mad man throughout the tragedies he endures. What one must do is study how he thinks and the rationality he shows during these disasters, all the while fooling everyone he is going mad just to get revenge on the new King. “Hamlet is never insane. He may approach the brink of insanity but he backs away and instead chooses to act insane in order to achieve his ends and eventually victory over Claudius,” it is all just part of the bigger plan.

Hamlet and the Devil Hamlet, for reasons of trepidation chooses not to kill Claudius, his nemesis, in the altar room. This fatal procrastination results in the unnecessary deaths of Laertes, Ophelia, Gertrude, and Hamlet himself. This casts a most inauspicious light upon Hamlet, but only if the original premise is true. The obverse side of the argument is that Hamlet, because he desires all those who are in league with Claudius to suffer the same ignominious fate that his father suffers. Thus he delays his revenge in order to intensify the misery of the other characters.

Hamlet acting crazy will help him prove that his uncle indeed killed his father. Hamlet wanted to know if what his father's spirit told him about his uncle killing his father was true, so he got the best actors he could find and reenacted what he though the death of his father was like, to see what his uncle's reaction would be. When he saw his uncle storm out of the room he knew it was true. If he were insane he could not have thought of such a good plan to "catch the conscience of the King" (Act 2, scene 2, line 634). Hamlet wanted the king to think he was insane.

However, Hamlet is reluctant to believe what he witnessed and wants to completely the ghost's information is correct before killing Claudius. By the time Hamlet confirms that the ghost spoke the truth, he has lost the ability to surprise Claudius and avenge his father. The next consequence of Hamlet's hesitation is the death of Polonius when he attempts to spy on Hamlet and his mother Gertrude's conversation. Hamlet is reluctant to kill Claudius before meeting Gertrude because Claudius is praying and wishes to kill him “When h... ... middle of paper ... ...as now vanished. Had Hamlet anticipated the dept of Ophelia's guilt for driving him towards what she believed insanity and her love for Polonius, he might have been able to save her life.

His various reasons for delay in seeking revenge is that he wants to make sure his uncle Claudius is one hundred percent guilty and at the same time does not want to hurt his mother. He has too much Oedipus complex, love for his mother. Hamlet is having a hard time finding his courage mentally and physically. He needs more proof of his uncle’s murderous acts before revenge the death of his father. Hamlet decides to set his uncle up by using a play that is set up exactly like his father’s death.

Once the ghost of his father appears, Hamlet is furious and automatically begins to make plans to avenge his father’s death.“Here, as before, never, so help you mercy,/ How strange or odd soe 'er I bear myself/ (As I perchance hereafter shall think meet/ To put an antic disposition on), (1.5. 170-73). In these lines of the play, Hamlet is talking to his two friends Marcellus and Horatio about his future behavior. He is making sure they never speak of his future actions no matter how crazy he gets as he tries to get revenge. In my opinion, this supports the fact that Hamlet is indeed mad because he is predicting his future sanity and behavior and decides to warn his friends because he knows that he is mad and they need a

The way Hamlet responds to the situation, rash and without a thought, are the similar characteristics of a mad man. At this point his madness appears very real but it could all be part of his plan to avenge his father's death by making people really believe his was insane making it less obvious of his real inte... ... middle of paper ... ... they discover the real cause of his madness, even though he is pretending to be mad, it gives Hamlet more time to avenge his father since they are focusing on what caused it instead of what he will do next. In the end, it may seem like his madness was real, but throughout the whole play he only pretends to be mad. The way Hamlet was able to face on certain situations proves that he is not mad, but was trying his hardest to do the task assigned by his father. He may have made some rash decision but he only made them because if he were to wait, it could have ruined his whole plan of avenging his father by faking his madness.