Free Hamlet Essays: Hamlet’s Fatal Mistake

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Hamlet’s Fatal Mistake

When you play a part or a role to disguise your true character it harms you in the end. Hamlet’s antic disposition was a tragic error on his part because it let to his eventual demise. Hamlet displays the antic disposition in order to fool Claudius, although Claudius is the only character to not be fooled. When Hamlet denies Ophelia his love, she goes mad and takes her life. Hamlet becomes confused as to whether he is insane or not. For these reasons, Hamlet’s decision to portray an antic disposition is a tragic error.

When Hamlet found out that Claudius killed his father Hamlet was furious, and got right to work on how to get his fathers revenge. Hamlet went to work by coming up with a plan to act mad so that it would hide the truth from Claudius, which was that Hamlet was going to kill Claudius. Hamlet has no such luck. Claudius does not believe Hamlet’s attempt at pretending that he is mad. "Was not like madness. There’s something in his soul" (III; I; 161). This means that Claudius does not believe that Hamlet is insane, but rather has some sort of plan being brewed. Claudius also has a plan that is to kill hamlet. This is ironic because in the end they end up Claudius is in the end murdered by Hamlet.

Hamlet must act mad if he wants Claudius to believe him, so Hamlet uses his confrontations with Ophelia to display it. Ophelia is manipulated by Hamlet for his own personal gain. Hamlet uses Ophelia to get the word that he is mad around the kingdom. This is sad because Ophelia is innocent and she ends up committing suicide in the end. One of the way’s Hamlet fools Ophelia into believing that he is insane is by scaring her. (II; I;75). " I have been so affrighted". Hamlet fools Ophelia into believing that he is mad by killing Polonius behind a curtain in the Gertrude’s room. This incident drives Ophelia into becoming insane and leads to her taking her own life.

Hamlet spends much of his time pretending to be mad, that he starts to believe that he really is insane. Hamlet feels as if he is losing control when he sees his father’s ghost in Gertrude’s chambers. Every other time the ghost appeared, someone else saw it as well, only this time his mother did not see it.

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