Questioning the Sanity of Hamlet in Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

The difference between these two characters, however, is that Hamlet is somewhat mad, even though he does act mad for most of the play. King Claudius is not innocent whatsoever. Moreover, when Claudius attempts to regain some innocence, he is unable to repent for his sin. For most of the play, Hamlet does indeed pretend to be mad. The audience can understand that Hamlet is only pretending because Shakespeare leaves clues in characters’ lines.

This madness is not, however, sustained when guard is unnecessary. Maybe Hamlet thought too much, but he thought as a sane man would. He commits no actions without reason, and he is far too astute and organized to be proclaimed mentally unstable. Hamlet?s portrayal of a madman is also very complex because it allows not only his points to be made, but in a believably insane way, which contrasts greatly with the expected ramblings of a truly insane person. Bibliography: Shakespeare, William.

Finally, Hamlet's madness is also clever because it allows him to express himself and his thoughts clearly, and through comments full of wit that show his awareness of reality when he mocks other characters in their faces without their noticing. Therefore, Hamlet's antic disposition is not true madness; rather it is feigned because it is self imposed, methodical and clever. Hamlet's antic disposition is self imposed, meaning that he chooses to impose this disposition upon himself. He willingly appears to be mad in order to obtain all he wants. This comes up in the situation after Hamlet has seen his father's ghost and is with Horatio and Marcellus.

This speech is his internal philosophical debate on the advantages and disadvantages of existence. While this soliloquy may seem like madness on the surface, it actually works to dispel the notion that Hamlet is truly mad. It makes clear the fact that Hamlet still has his senses and his madness is simply an antic. In this act, the king also becomes suspicious of Hamlet’s madness and is never quite convinced of it. His instructions to his henchmen from earlier in the play, “Get from him why he puts on this confusion” (2.1.2), imply that he perceives it as a pretense.

Logan Gaertner Mrs. Amon English IV 1 March 2014 Is Hamlet’s Insanity Real? Is Hamlet truly insane? While the play is not extremely clear on the matter and often contradicts itself, many of Hamlet’s wild ramblings and words of nonsense seem to be not the true words of a madman. Hamlet says himself that he is merely “putting on an antic disposition” (Act 1, Scene 5, Line 181). He admits very early on in the play that his insanity will be nothing more than a ruse to fool those around him.

Claudius pretends to be a loving father, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern pretend to be loyal friends, and Hamlet pretends to be mad. How they appear varies greatly from reality. They lie to protect themselves, and they lie in order to trick others. This is indicative of real life, where people often hide who they truly are. Through the theme of appearance versus reality, Hamlet proves the truth is rarely as it appears.

Mercutio of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet Although the story of Romeo and Juliet does not focus on Mercutio, to many, he is one of the most interesting characters in literature. His name puns on the word mercurial which meansunpredictably changeable. His unsteady behavior makes him wise beyond his intentions. Arecurring trend in Shakespeare’s plays is the existence of a witty fool and many foolish wits. People such as Romeo, Friar Laurence, and Capulet are people who are made out to be wise, but,in the end, they make all the wrong decisions.

This shows how Hamlet is conscious of their deception and how they are being used by Claudius, although it just confuses them when they hear the words that come out of Hamlet. In addition, Hamlet uses his actions as a way to show that he is sane by leaving the people around him looking like fools. This is first seen when the first explanation for his “madness” is his love for Ophelia. As Ophelia tells Polonius, her father, the way Hamlet acts towards her, Polonius starts wondering if he’s mad in love. He makes a plan, along with Claudius, that consists of putting Ophelia in

Perpend. I have a daughter--have while she is mine-- (2.2.97-105) Polonius declares Hamlet as mentally incompetent and bases his claim solely on Hamlet's recent behavior. This again shows that Polonius is a pretty ignorant old man, who only tries to show that he is still useful to the King. After spying on Hamlet and questioning Ophelia, all three of them (Polonius, Gertrude and Claudius) come to a conclusion that Hamlet is truly insane. However, there is, in fact, a textual evidence that Hamlet feigns his insanity: Make you to ravel all this matter out That I essentially am not in madness But mad in craft.

Another argument commonly made in Hamlet is whether or not Hamlet and Ophelia were truly in love, which by analysis the audience can see that it was probably no more than the ordinary crush someone has on another. In this essay, it will be discussed why Hamlet is not mad but in fact feigning his madness; the cause of Ophelia’s madness; and finally the complicated love between Ophelia and Hamlet. To begin, the character of Hamlet is not mad but he is feigning it as part of his master plan for revenge. He fakes the madness so that those people around him do not question any of actions that may seem unordinary; he did not want people to catch onto his plan for revenge against King Claudius and get caught for planning against the king. Hamlet believed that if he feigned madness then people would just assume that when he did something out of the ordinary, it was just because he was insane.