Was Hamlet acting Insane or was he actually Insane?

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.

His second flaw completely opposite from the first, was acting on impulse out of passion making him kill the wrong man, Polonius. Hamlet’s acting out of passion and anger not only killed the wrong man but it was also Ophelia’s father, causing her to commit suicide. Hamlet was a hero trying to do the right thing, but his tragic flaws turn everything around when everyone including himself dies . One of Hamlet’s flaws is that he over thinks things a lot and it is first shown the most at the prayer scene with Claudius. Once Hamlet sees how Claudius reacts to the play he knows that Claudius killed his father and that the ghost was right, he has a chance to kill him and doesn’t take it .

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.

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.

As Christina Autiero asserts in a paper given at a conference held in Westchester - Putnam School, “Blinded by [his] passions,...Hamlet indirectly causes the death of Ophelia and his mother...revenge and Hamlet’s method of madness primarily cause his death and actions. Unfortunately, the only approach [he] felt would vindicate [his] honorable name essentially destroyed [him]” (Autiero 53). Young Hamlet believed that the only choice to redeem his father was to murdering the murderer. In doing so, however, Hamlet became mad, and struck out at any and all who crossed his path. At one point in the play, Hamlet stabs Polonius, believing him to be King Claudius.

Hamlet beings his brilliant acting and conniving when he learns that he must avenge his father’s murder. Not only does Hamlet fool his family when acting insane, but the genius of his work has fooled critics all along. As the play begins, the ever popular question “Who’s there?” “Betrays the insecurity of Hamlet’s world” (Salkeld and Shakespeare). Starting the play with a question was pure genius on Shakespeare’s part; the symbolism of the questionable state of Denmark which is “in a state of shock and confusion,” along with the people in it, leads the readers right into the questionably unstable life of Hamlet (Salkeld, Strachey). In act I, scene V of the play, the audience learns of the “antic disposition” that Hamlet will be putting on (Shakespeare).

Although Hamlet and Ophelia are very different from one another, their madness serves a common purpose to mask and disguise their emotional agony but it ultimately leads to their tragic deaths. The death of Hamlet’s and Ophelia’s fathers prompts their madness. The day Hamlet realizes that his father’s murderer is his stepfather and uncle overwhelms him. Therefore, he suggests to feign madness, “As I perchance hereafter shall think meet / To put an antic disposition on.” (I. V. 172-173) He pretends to be mad so that he can safely investigate his father’s murder without alarming others with his snooping. Ophelia’s madness begins when she realizes that her father is dead, “He is dead and gone, lady, / He is dead and gone, / At his head a grass-green turf, / At his heels a stone.

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.

Although Ophelia does go insane and ultimately commits suicide, the central lunacy of the play revolves around Hamlet himself. Hamlet's plan to act mad is completely unexplained. It is safe to assume that he is pretending to be mad so he can get away with saying and doing things that would not ordinarily be tolerated. Also, if people think that he was crazy, they would not pay any attention to him in his plot to kill Claudius and avenge his father's death. This plan backfires though, because his family and friends bend over backwards to find the cause of his madness.

Hamlet Essay- Truly Mad, for Feigned Madness ? Throughout Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, the main character, Hamlet, must seek revenge for the murder of his father. Hamlet decides to portray an act of insanity, as part of his plan to murder Claudius. Throughout the play, Hamlet becomes more and more believable in his act, even convincing his mother that he is crazy. However, through his thoughts, and actions, the reader can see that he is in fact putting up an act, he is simply simulating insanity to help fulfil his fathers duty of revenge.